Photos from Designldg

The Sustainer

nobody@ipernity.com (Designldg) — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 19:57:34 +0000

“I surrender to you, Lord Ganesha.
You are the speaker.
You are the listener.
You are the giver.
You are the sustainer.
I am your disciple.
Protect me from the front and back.
Protect me from the north and the south, from above and below.
Protect me from all directions...”
(from Ganesh Upanishad - Ganapatyatharshirsham)

In the jungle of Bandhavgarh which is in the Indian state Madhya Pradesh, there are the remains of a fort spread over 580 acres at an elevation of 811 metres above the sea level.
It was built in the 3rd century AD and it was the seat of power of the Vakatak, Kalchuri, Solanki, Kuruvanshee and Baghel dynasties.
The poet Kabir stayed here during the 16th century.
The fort also gave shelter to the Mughal emperor Humayun’s wife when Shershah pursued him.
To acknowledge this help, Humayun’s son, Akbar, issued silver coins in the name of Bandhavgarh.
In 1617, the capital of Baghel dynasty was shifted from Bandhavgarh to Rewa and the fort was vacated after a while.
It was then taken over by wildlife.
By chance I saw this beautiful statue of Lord Ganesha standing at a Bandar-log (term used in Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book to describe monkeys - specifically, Langur monkeys).

The King of the Swingers

nobody@ipernity.com (Designldg) — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 21:34:58 +0000

“Now I'm the king of the swingers
Oh, the jungle VIP
I've reached the top and had to stop
And that's what botherin' me
I wanna be a man, mancub
And stroll right into town
And be just like the other men
I'm tired of monkeyin' around!

Oh, oobee doo
I wanna be like you
I wanna walk like you
Talk like you, too
You'll see it's true
An ape like me
Can learn to be humen too...”
(“Wan'na Be Like You” by Louis Prima - “The Jungle Book” - 1967)

This is a portrait of King Louis who wants to be a human.
This expressive langur was the first animal I met while entering into the jungle of Bandhavgarh in the Indian state Madhya Pradesh.

Shere Khan, the King of the Jungle

nobody@ipernity.com (Designldg) — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 20:18:47 +0000

[as Kaa is about to eat Mowgli, Shere Khan pulls on his tail, which makes a doorbell sound]
Kaa: Ooh! Oh, now what? I'll be right down. Yes, yes, who is it?
Shere Khan: It's me. Shere Khan. I'd like a word with you, if you don't mind.
Kaa: Shere Khan, what a surprise.
Shere Khan: Yes, isn't it. I just dropped by. Now forgive me if I've interrupted anything.
Kaa: Oh no, no, nothing at all.
Shere Khan: [brandishing his claws] I thought perhaps that you were entertaining someone up there in your coils.
Kaa: Coils? Someone? Oh no, I was just curling up for my siesta.
Shere Khan: But you were singing to someone. Who is it, Kaa?
[Shere Khan grabs Kaa's throat with his paw]
Kaa: Ah, um, oh no, I was just singing, uh, to myself.
Shere Khan: Indeed.
Kaa: Yes... yes, you see I have... trouble with my sinuses.
Shere Khan: What a pity!
Kaa: Oh, you have no idea. It's simply terrible. I can't eat, I can't sleep, so I ssssssing myself to sleep. You know, self-hypnosis. Let me show you how it works.
[Kaa prepares to look in Shere Khan's eyes and try to hypnotize him]
(from the movie “The Jungle Book” - 1967)

Deep in the jungle of Bandhavgarh in the Indian state Madhya Pradesh this beautiful tiger was waiting for us, soon another one joined and both stayed with us during more than 45 minutes.

Strange Legends

nobody@ipernity.com (Designldg) — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 19:22:44 +0000

“Many strange legends are told of these jungles of India, but none so strange as the story of a small boy named Mowgli.
It all began when the silence of the jungle was broken by an unfamiliar sound.“
(Bagheera in the motion picture “The Jungle Book” - 1967)

On the top of a hill lost in the jungle of Bandhavgarh in the Indian state Madhya Pradesh, there are the remains of old temples and palaces where tigers like to spend their days.
This was shot there at sunrise when everything all around seems to be still sleeping.

Sunrise at Bandhavgarh

nobody@ipernity.com (Designldg) — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 14:43:26 +0000

"I have no gift of words, but I speak the truth."
(Rudyard Kipling - The Jungle Book, Mowgli's Brothers)

This picture was shot at sunrise as we were entering into the jungle of Bandhavgarh in the Indian state Madhya Pradesh.
Everything seemed to be quiet then, it was the begining of the adventure...

A Dreamer Among the Humblest

nobody@ipernity.com (Designldg) — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 11:16:03 +0000

“I prefer to be a dreamer among the humblest, with visions to be realized, than lord among those without dreams and desires.”
(Kahlil Gibran - Lebanese American artist, poet, and writer, 1883 – 1931)

This Sadhu was sleeping at Munsi ghat in Varanasi (Benaras).
It was before sunset when the golden light was reflecting from the holy waters of the Ganges providing a dreamy atmosphere to the oldest living city in the world.
Whenever I talk to those ascetic men I find out that most of them had a diferent life before, sometimes with a wife and children, and a job.
One day they left the modern world for this life where they realize their dreams with visions...

Lal Baba, the Ultimate Sādhu

nobody@ipernity.com (Designldg) — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 22:23:11 +0000

“Some offer their wealth, their austerity, and their practice of yoga as sacrifice, while the ascetics with strict vows offer their study of scriptures and knowledge as sacrifice.”
(Bhagavad Gita)

This is a picture of Lal Baba who is a Saivite (follower of Shiva) sādhu.
He was born in the Indian state of Bihar but he stays most of the time in Varanasi (Benaras).
I didn’t see him since a few months, no one could tell me where he was whenever I was asking at the ghats so I was happy to see him again a few days ago as I was walking with my friend Rajesh along the Ganges.
People call him Lal Baba because he mostly wears garments in red shades, in Hindi “lal” means red.
His huge turban keeps a few meters of dreadlocks and gives him an impressive presence.
Sometimes people think that he can’t see much because of cataract but in fact his eyes have an amazing deep blue colour.
I told him that Benaras is not the same without him and he laughed.
This is a link to another picture with him shot a few years ago:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/designldg/422170201/in/set-72157600...
I might go and see him tomorrow as I told him that I’ll give him a few pictures this week.

Take Your All

nobody@ipernity.com (Designldg) — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 19:26:51 +0000

“Your daily life is your temple and your religion.
When you enter into it take with you your all.”
(Kahlil Gibran - Lebanese American artist, poet, and writer, 1883 – 1931)

This picture was shot last Saturday morning at Munsi ghat in Varanasi (Benaras), those men took a bath in the Ganges.
They saw my camera and felt very easy with it.

210 000 "golden" viewers

nobody@ipernity.com (Designldg) — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 07:01:31 +0000

Those past days I was too busy to make a picture with me in order to celebrate my 10 000 new viewers like I always do.
Thank YOU all, you have been 216 284 Flickr viewers, 65 232 Ipernity viewers and 85 719 visitors on my Worpress photo-blog.
I really appreciate your support, kind comments and mails.

This picture was shot last Saturday evening at Queritica Gallery in Varanasi (Benaras) while the Culture Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Subhash Pandey was visiting my photo exhibtion “THE GOLDEN HOURS - A daydream in Benaras”.

With this image I wanted to thank Yogesh Agrawal who kindly invited me to show my work in his gallery which is facing the Ganges where most of my pictures were taken.
I also want to thank Swami Avimukteswaranand Saraswati who opened the show, the Culture Minister for his kind words, my friends and Indian family for their support, and the visitors who gave a significance to my work, showing that whoever we are we are all brothers and sisters.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/designldg/galleries/72157622958517538

An Orange Delight

nobody@ipernity.com (Designldg) — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 22:24:09 +0000

“When you are sorrowful look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight.”
(Kahlil Gibran - Lebanese American artist, poet, and writer, 1883 – 1931)

Those ladies came in front of the main door of Ramnagar fort which is still the residence of the maharajas of Varanasi (Benaras) and which is lying across river Ganga beyond Asi Ghat.
My eye was attracted by the shades of orange.
There is something sorrowful in this place, a kind of melancholy, maybe this feeling comes from the state of decay of the palace which used to be a splendor once upon a time...

Life According a Dream

nobody@ipernity.com (Designldg) — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 10:27:38 +0000

“We plan our lives according to a dream that came to us in our childhood, and we find that life alters our plans.
And yet, at the end, from a rare height, we also see that our dream was our fate.
It's just that providence had other ideas as to how we would get there.
Destiny plans a different route, or turns the dream around, as if it were a riddle, and fulfills the dream in ways we couldn't have expected.”
(Ben Okri - Nigerian author, 1959)

I met this boy last Saturday on a ghat along the Ganges in Varanasi (Benaras).
He asked for a picture, I did several and I showed him, then he asked for chocolate and I gave him a candy which was kept in my pocket.
Deep in his eyes there is my reflection as I was holding the camera.

What'd I do?

nobody@ipernity.com (Designldg) — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 17:18:41 +0000

“The first time that I appeared on stage, it scared me to death.
I really didn't know what all the yelling was about.
I didn't realize that my body was moving.
It's a natural thing to me.
So to the manager backstage I said 'What'd I do? What'd I do?'”
(Elvis Presley - American Singer and Actor widely known as the "King of Rock and Roll", 1935-1977)

A group of dancers had to perform in front of officials, like the minister of culture of Uttar Pradesh at Assi ghat along the Ganges in Varanasi (Benaras).
I managed to go backstage in order to take a few pictures.
This lady was doing her make-up, she was concentrating on the image that the mirror was giving back, I don’t know what she was really feeling then.
I didn’t ask as I didn’t want to disturb.
Those days there are many exhibtions, concerts and shows going on. in the city reflecting the culture of the oldest living city in the world...

With Our Own Dust

nobody@ipernity.com (Designldg) — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 19:54:47 +0000

“Whether we fall by ambition, blood, or lust, like diamonds we are cut with our own dust.”
(John Webster - English Writer and Playwright, 1580-1632)

This will be the last picture which belongs to the series shot in my street in Varanasi (Benaras) while four men were emptying plaster bags from a truck.
I might upload more in this set later.
Those poor guys have to work with dust all day and no one seems to care about the danger on their lungs.
This is why they kept on reminding me “butoh” dancers performing with white-body make-up in a choreography showing the suffering of Hiroshima's atomic bomb.
Of course it is easy to compare this concept of art to those workers living in dust.
My attempt was to show a kind of beauty among what I find a painful condition in order to attract the attention on those men’s fate.

Thank you again for all your mails and comments on this set.

The Dust of Daily Life

nobody@ipernity.com (Designldg) — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 09:21:02 +0000

“The purpose of art is washing the dust of daily life off our souls.”
(Pablo Picasso - Spanish Painter, 1881-1973)

This is a close-up of one of those four men who were emptying plaster bags from a truck in my street in Varanasi (Benaras).
It was very dusty, although they reminded me “butoh” dancers performing with white-body makeup.
This japanese contemporary dance came after the second world war and among several things the choreography is a remembrance of the suffering of Hiroshima's atomic bomb.
It raises the question of how is it still possible to dance after such a thing and in some ways it is easy to compare this concept of art to those workers living in dust.

A Mass of Dust

nobody@ipernity.com (Designldg) — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 18:13:19 +0000

“A mass of dust, world's momentary slave, Is man, in state of our old Adam made, Soon born to die, soon flourishing to fade.”
(Barnabe Barne - English poet, 1569—1609)

This is a close-up of one of those four men who were emptying plaster bags from a truck in my street in Varanasi (Benaras).
It was very dusty, although they reminded me “butoh” dancers performing with white-body makeup.
This japanese contemporary dance came after the second world war and among several things the choreography is a remembrance of the suffering of Hiroshima's atomic bomb.
It raises the question of how is it still possible to dance after such a thing and in some ways it is easy to compare this concept of art to those workers living in dust.

Like Dust, I'll Rise

nobody@ipernity.com (Designldg) — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 05:45:59 +0000

“You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may trod me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I'll rise.”
(Maya Angelou quotes - American Poet, b.1928)

This picture belongs to the series shot in my street in Varanasi (Benaras) while four men were emptying plaster bags from a truck.
It was very dusty, although they reminded me “butoh” dancers performing with white-body makeup.
This japanese contemporary dance came after the second world war and among several things the choreography is a remembrance of the suffering of Hiroshima's atomic bomb.
It raises the question of how is it still possible to dance after such a thing and in some ways it is easy to compare this concept of art to those workers living in dust.

Fear in a Handful of Dust

nobody@ipernity.com (Designldg) — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 06:11:37 +0000

“And I will show you something different from either your shadow at morning striding behind you or your shadow at evening rising to meet you; I will show you fear in a handful of dust.”
(T.S. Eliot - American born English Playwright and Poet , 1888-1965)

This picture belongs to the series shot in my street in Varanasi (Benaras) while four men were emptying plaster bags from a truck.
It was very dusty, although they reminded me “butoh” dancers performing with white-body makeup.
This japonese contemporary dance came after the second world war and among several things the choreography is a remembrance of the suffering of Hiroshima's atomic bomb.
It rises the question of how is it still possible to dance after such a thing and in some ways it is easy to compare this concept of art to those workers living in dust.

Thank you all for your many comments on this set of pictures.

All We Are Is Dust In The Wind

nobody@ipernity.com (Designldg) — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 03:48:26 +0000

“I close my eyes, only for a moment, and the moment's gone
All my dreams, pass before my eyes, a curiosity
Dust in the wind, all they are is dust in the wind...”
(“Dust In The Wind”, Kansas - Lyrics by Kerry Livgren)

This picture belongs to the series shot in my street in Varanasi (Benaras) while four men were emptying plaster bags from a truck.
It was very dusty, although they reminded me “butoh” dancers performing with white-body makeup.
This japonese contemporary dance came after the second world war and among several things the choreography is a remembrance of the suffering of Hiroshima's atomic bomb.
It rises the question of how is it still possible to dance after such a thing and in some ways it is easy to compare this concept of art to those workers living in dust.