the portraits i posted in the previous few posts began from this image … i was walking through one of the many metal-working districts in chennai last week when i came across these figures. the guys working on them told me they were for a festival down the street, so i walked into the neighborhood and learned that their mariamman festival was starting the next day. the mariamman festival started with the setting-up of the stage and the idols, followed by a neighborhood meal; afterward, the temple priest held ceremony in which, traditionally, he asks mariamman if she is ready…
Month: September 2012
four more group portraits
as i said, people like to have their pictures taken. well, most people. i took these photos at a local festival for the goddess mariamman, the mother goddess. more on this shortly.
tableau
two portraits and one group shot
people like to have their photos taken.
ooty
over labor day, we went to ooty, a hill station in the nilgiri hills of tamil nadu. james and i drove the 12+ hours each way so we could bring the dog, while our wives flew to meet us. the drive was typical for tamil nadu – fantastically smooth national highways punctuated by the occasional lorry traveling toward you head-on; state highways that wind through villages, on which you will get stuck behind two buses with no room to pass; and mountain roads that are full of switchbacks, on which you will get stuck behind two gravel trucks with no…
postscript
as a follow up to the previous post, here is a photo james took of me with the boy from the railway platform:
portraits and construction
a few random shots from james’ and my last photo walk, in pallavaram (near the airport): first, the portraits. as we crossed the railroad tracks at pallavaram and made our way deep into the village, a few drunk guys accosted us and asked for photos. (the second guy was a tea wallah, not one of the drunk guys.) the kid was someone we met on the train platform. he was fascinated by my olympus om-d, particularly the feature that allows you to scroll through the photos by swiping your finger across the screen. finally, we found a bunch of schoolchildren…
