my drunken boat

the straight and the curls

2006-04-18T14:40:00.000-07:00

This was in Brooklyn, I remember that well. I'd always get lost there. While Manhattan was a precise and simple network of vertical avenues and horizontal streets, Brooklyn was a mess of avenues, streets, roads, courts, and others.

But that's not to say I got lost this time, because I didn't. My classmate had brought me to his place to go over the short he would be directing and I was to shoot. When I got out of the car on this street I was taking in the fences, the faces, the bricks, the gardens, and I recall turning at the front door, on top of the steps, and looking back down. Since I used to carry my trusty old Canon FTQL everywhere, it was up to my eye in a jiffy and in a moment I was through the door.

bars of shadow

2006-04-10T10:37:00.000-07:00

While at the film academy, I used to visit the MET often. It was only on the fourth visit there, my first time with a companion, one of my classmates, that I learnt the $7 dollar fee on the sign was only the 'suggested' donation. I had been paying the full 7 every time before that, and I ran the amount of money I could have saved for food(!) through my head as my friend quietly placed a quarter in the tray and stepped away with the tag. Stepping forward I quickly tucked the dollar bills I had ready into my breast-pocket and searched for a quarter. I slipped it onto the tray and endured the glare the guard behind the counter gave me as I closed the coloured tag onto my collar and shrunk away.

It was during that visit I took this picture. I remember it so well because I remember as well how happy I was, planning how to spend the money I had just saved. I couldn't bare to think of what I could have done with the money I had carefully spent on my earlier visits. I reasoned that it was the least I could do for the MET, considering how much it was giving me.

Still, during my subsequent visits, I used to pay a couple of dollars or more atleast because I felt so guilty giving them just a quarter. Maybe because it was too much like mistreating a teacher one is fond of.

2006-03-06T00:55:00.000-08:00

I'm beginning to slowly get my old black and white slides scanned.

the passion of the drummer...

2005-12-30T12:52:00.000-08:00

We were carrying our equipment in the subway as we changed trains, on our way to a location. And as my team-mates hurried through the open doors of our train, I spotted this chap beating away at the drum set. I knew exactly how this shot would turn out as I pressed down on the clicker. In a moment I was jumping through the closing doors of the subway. This was back in those early days when I still imagined I could get stuck in those sliding doors until the next stop. Later, I could never remember which stop we had changed trains at.

bicycle, snow, post, bars...

2005-12-12T10:18:00.000-08:00

Before that winter in new york, my idea of snow was tiny flakes of soft whiteness floating down to earth. However that soon changed. My first day, my idea of snow was the cold wetness of my trousers when I entered a building. My first week, it was the ice on the pavement and road I kept slipping and falling on, flat on my cold bum. My first month, it was the cold, the wet, the ice, the flakes, the covered rooves and branches, the crunch with every step.

I took this shot after a day of class. When it was taken, it was actually darker than it looks here. I was on my way back home. There are some interesting little details in this one. For instance, that's NYFA in the top left corner.

gugenheim...

2005-12-05T00:12:00.000-08:00

This one was taken outside the Gugenheim Museum in February of 2003. We were doing a student film in the area and I had never seen the building upfront before. Ofcourse I had seen pictures and read articles on it, always fascinated by both its exterior and interior structure and beauty, but this was my first opportunity to truly appreciate its scale and dimensions.
Here, I especially liked the snow on the branches, outlining them.

new jersey shoes...

2005-12-02T01:51:00.000-08:00

My first room when I was studying at NYFA was 2 miles from a PATH station in Jersey City. So every morning it was either getting a ride, or walk. There were so many things on the way I could have and really should have taken a picture of, but I was always occupied by either thinking up excuses for being late or just plain running.
I used to always pass these shoes hanging on the wire, and one day, rather than just pass below wondering as I always did why it dangled instead of walked, I took a picture. The week before I shifted to another apartment, I noticed another pair was keeping it company a few feet along on the wire. It didn't occur to me to take a picture then because I was too busy realizing I would miss the long walk, and those shoes.

rest of the old scans...

2005-11-29T05:30:00.000-08:00

These are the remaining 6-year-old scans of my first comic that I've recovered from the floppy.

an old one...

2005-11-06T03:44:00.000-08:00

I found some old 1.44 Mb floppy disks when I was looking for something. Of course I didn't find what I was searching for but I was thrilled by this discovery. They had some 6 year old scans I had taken of a comic I had done at the time, when I was 15 or 16. I looked over the real thing, that I keep quite safe, and it got me thinking about maybe starting another one.

The funny thing about this picture is how difficult it was to get it transferred from the floppy into my comp, because mine doesn't have a drive. So I went to some offices near here, but they couldn't help either. I finally found one in a cyber cafe, the machine that nobody uses because it's too slow. Once there, it was just a matter of e-mailing the files to my account, very slowly.

The comic was also my first attempt at using a Quill pen. You'll notice its in black and white - the scanner I used for this, at the time, simply ruined everything about any colour it had to deal with. There are some more scans; I'll post them soon.

dancer by outline...

2005-11-06T03:39:00.000-08:00

hey, dancer...

2005-11-04T13:00:00.000-08:00

Again, this was another picture taken the same day as the wider shot I had posted earlier. The different angle is because I simply can't stand still when I'm taking pictures. I have to move around and I'll do the wildest stuff to get interesting pictures that I'd never think of doing if I wasn't holding the camera. I was very quiet as well. She was afterall hanging some fifteen feet above the ground. I'd move aside after a couple of snaps, having already figured the next best position, and if necessary I'd switch the lens, either the 50 or the 28.

dancer on the rope...

2005-11-01T13:16:00.000-08:00

My first exposure to movies, at least the ones that got me to really start enjoying them were the old Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire MGM pictures that used to come on TNT(later TCM, and then discontinued) in India when I was eleven and twelve. And of course I'll never forget Cyd Charisse - those legs... She was the first female dancer who struck a cord in me, and not just for that marvellous appearance in Singin' in the rain, but her films with Fred Astaire like The Bandwagon as well. It was with this background, plus my exposure to Cirque du Soleil in NY, and other performers, that I first watched the girl in this picture do her rope routine.

All I can say is, I wasn't stunned, but it was amazing, as it is always the case when a fellow human being has such grace and skill(not to mention calm) while dangling from a rope. She is only as old as I am, but has already been dancing for eight years. This picture was taken last year, and I have no idea why I only took Black and White shots when the setting would have been better expressed with well saturated colours, especially the wonderful thatched roof in the background. I remember I was also very worried about the contrasts in the light outside and inside because this was right at noon, with the sun pretty harsh and only a small amount ultimately leaking in that I could use. Though I had wanted to actually watch rather than reflect on the troublesome lighting issues, I didn't want to lose the opportunity having no idea how long the rehearsal would be.

But, after taking some interesting snaps, I couldn't resist the temptation to simply put my dear Canon FTQL gently aside and become a spectator.

he was sitting up there holding the light...

2005-10-09T22:20:00.000-07:00

Last year, I had been an Assistant Director for a bollywood comedy flick. It was this huge affair with a lineup of big names. However, my main intention was to observe the manner and attitude of making films in mainstream Indian pictures. I was fresh out of NYFA and suddenly plunged into this chaotic world and I planned to document the shoot with my old companion, my still-camera. Though I had taken her along every day, it was only during the seldom moments of calm I could take some snaps. To give an idea of the hectic nature of a single one month schedule (there were 3 totally), I lost 9 kilograms during one. And ofcourse that's what I've always loved about the production stage. I had only managed to use two rolls, both color transparencies and this is from one of them. But it is a survivor of a catastrophe.

Once the shoot had concluded, I gave the rolls for processing in the city where we were at the time. I went to pick it up and they hand me a single narrow plactic box, impossible to fit even 15 shots, let alone all 72. I opened it with dreading fingers as though it was some miniature casket and almost did a Ralph Fiennes from the end of English Patient. There were only ten. As it may be evident from the other pictures I've posted, I prefer darker tones and expose to get them. These (now control yourself, Vikram. These folks online don't want to read two paras of you cursing) 'guys' at the photo studio had thrown away the rest of my babies because they thought they were too dark to make good pictures. I simply walked out without a word, incapacitated with grief.

This picture was taken while we shooting the climax, a wedding. The house was dressed with wide saffron ribbons and strings of flowers hanging from the walls, and I saw this chap sitting on this platform, that can be built from a pile of metal pipes and wooden planks in a matter of 5-10 minutes. He was waiting for the order to switch on the light before the shot was to be taken.

dolly shot

2005-10-07T22:44:00.000-07:00

This was taken during the course at the NYFA in 2003. We were shooting an exercise employing the dolly entensively. The chap at the rail on the left, overlooking the track setup was our cinematography instructor Tim Naylor, always a combination of authoritative and cordial. This was also taken on blackandwhite transparency, and cropped on the right side.

this morning

2005-10-07T22:29:00.000-07:00

Had a late night, and woke up to my bed shaking. I live with a crazy big sister, so I looked under the bed. Nothing. But I couldn't help notice I was still shaking. Oddly when I stood on the ground I couldn't feel anything. I quickly switched on the news and - Tremors all over northern India. However, there was no damage done (touch wood).

old security guard

2005-10-06T12:46:00.000-07:00

This one was taken last year. I had shot many of this charming old man, with his clusters of wrinkles that resemble the dry mouth of some ancient river and marvellous long-running gorges, with a sprinkling of dark spots. I thought his face had so much character, and yet, though my pictures of him looked pretty, that's all they were, stuff to be framed and hung. However, I could see there was so much story in those eyes; a thick grey border around his pupils.

I knew he wasn't like me. Who am I kidding, I'm 21; I haven't really lived at all and I'm already willing to divulge my life story to most anyone, but not him; there's something about a man who's lived so much... There's something about the way those greyed brows droop over the eyes. All I know is he is Ex-Indian army, retired...a security guard now. Whenever we had our conversations some evenings, he automatically spoke in nothing less than impeccable English. This was taken one evening and I knew when I heard my camera's loud mechanical click, that I had managed to capture 'some' of what I had intended.

my first post

2005-10-06T03:25:00.000-07:00

This is Vinnie, he was one of my classmates at NYFA. Taken in 2003, it's the first picture I ever scanned. Photography is not just a hobby, but a love of mine, and I always carry my trusty 2nd hand Cannon FTQL whenever I'm in an interesting place, and it's not surprisng that I had it with me every single day I was in NY. My favourite aspect about this is that I have only two lenses. The 50 mm that came with the camera, has an eerie image of a tree "inside" it, at least thats what the sweet old chap who sold it to me said it was. Although I was convinced it was fungus or dirt. It's strange because I've shown it to some other photographers as well, and though they are sure it isn't fungus or dirt, they haven't a clue what it is. Well, it's delivered crystal clear images these past four years, and it's a curious conversation-piece. In NY, I picked up a 2nd-hand 28 mm lens for $28 and it hasn't failed me yet either (touch wood). The fun with having the limitations of these two contrasting lenses is the movement and placement of your own body, closer or further away, from the subject to obtain the desired frame and effect, but without too much hesitation.

This picture was taken on the second roll of black-and-white slide film I had ever used. I was so ecstatic about the thrilling results with the first one, I missed a couple of meals without much effort so I could afford the roll and printing expense, and set out to experiment. I like to use natural light and capture a moment (a moment is described in an online dictionary as 'infinitely short period of time), rather than have someone pose and light them. I'm not pretentious, I'm just lazy. There is also the contention that I get more interesting pictures using this straightforward method. However, I'm also a failure at this, because I if do see something amazing, I'd rather absorb it with my own eyes rather than through a viewfinder. This was in fact a conscious decision I had made following a sunset boatride when I was 13. I had borowed my uncle's videocamera, and the colours in the sky were so stunning I simply had to record it. I saw the entire sunset through the blackandwhite viewfinder and was hugely diappointed by the shakey handheld and dull results on the television set back home. I realised I had missed it.

As I had mentioned, I carried the camera everyday, and so my classmates naturally got used to my often covert clicking-away during shoots and location scouts. This one of Vinnie was while he was DP-ing one of the shoots. I always imagine a picture when I'm taking it and the slide came out exactly like it looked in my head.

Getting this picture to look like it does on the slide, maintaining rich gray shades amid the blacks of the high contrast, was the hardest task. Every time I scanned it the machine would auto-balance and the result was a grey soup of lines and grain, with only some features barely distinguishable. Following numerous attempts, I simply had to work on Photoshop with what I had, and somehow managed to get the blacks without losing the detail of the hand and mouth. It was especially tricky to maintain the subtlety of the cap and the ear, and the patch in the bg lining the bridge of the nose. However, the result is still far from satisfactory with the predominance of so much grain in some areas. I posted this one first because it was the first I had scanned. There's still about 90 % of my negatives left to scan, and I think I should get to it sooner than later.