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| Monday, 30-Aug-2004 00:00 |
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Pyramid Hill, Cincinnati
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I've managed to get into Fotopages after two day's slog. Have there been problems, from the server not being found, to db errors and what not.  This has been a frustating period. 
Anyway, on to other things!! Pyramid Hill. Last stop in Cincinnati. It's an amazing place. Privately sponsored, I believe and, it calls itself a sculpture park, all 265 acres of it. All the sculptures have been made by different artists who, I believe, choose the location where their sculptures are to be placed. The titles are the names of the sculptures, barring 'Corporate Life'. The actual name of 'Corporate Life" is 'Still Life' but, I felt that it depicted 'Corporate Life' pretty accurately. 
I went to the park a sceptic. I came out a fan!! They have cultural events and music festivals once in a while, by the way. Hell, I sound as if I am marketing them
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| Friday, 27-Aug-2004 00:00 |
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The Park in Cincinnati
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Okay, this is one of the last entries about Cincinnati. There is a wonderful park there, next to the University. It's a great place to go for a stroll or, walk in the evening or, the morning. ShangHai has some parks. Some nice ones but, none to measure up to this one. It's lovely and, the trees look great in the evening sun.
Sitting by in the evening sun, watching the sun go down is beautiful.....
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| Thursday, 26-Aug-2004 00:00 |
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Very Strange!!
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I tried to upload some pictures today but, I saw the fotopages logo being uploaded. Extremely strange. I'll try again tomorrow. Or, later in the day!!
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| Tuesday, 24-Aug-2004 00:00 |
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Cincinnati - Some Buildings
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I loved some of the buildings in Cincinnati. Reminded me of Ye Old Merry Englande! These parts of the town are really nice and, I quite enjoyed photographing some of the buildings during different times of the day. The red brick in the buildings acquire a different character, depending on the time of the day. The shot of the modern building was done through the windscreen of a car so, the sky looks a little blue-er than it should. That was a marvellous filter  . The Old Folks home (if my memory serves me well) really is a beautiful building. It is superb and, has a wonderful feel about it.
The skyline? Shot from the railway station, which is now a lovely children's museum.
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| Wednesday, 18-Aug-2004 00:00 |
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The Concert In The Park
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Hi there, from Bangkok!! Hope I get some time to take some pictures here! Anyway, back to the USA for a while.
These are pictures of a Jazz and Blues concert in a large park. This was one of those events where I deliberately chose to stay back and take a more panoramic view of the concert. Actually, that's not true. My camera did not have a powerful enough zoom and, because I was constantly on the move, I could not get too close. Also, the concert had taken place after a storm and, the grass was pretty muddy. Still, it did not stop people from enjoying themselves. The long summer evenings that you guys in Europe and the USA have, really make these kind of evenings possible and, really enjoyable. 
Anyway, the panoramic view, in my opinion, gave me a chance to try and use different elements of the landscape - like the yellow bridge. The jazz and gospel concerts were taking place under more traditional bridges. Lousy lighting for the gospel stage. So, these two pictures are not really very nice pictures  .
I think that the best stage was given to the guys singing the blues/country music. The gentleman at the time that I was there goes, I was told, by the name of Mr Roy Rogers. Apparantly, pretty well known. I'm out of touch!! But, he is coming out with a new CD soon.
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| Monday, 16-Aug-2004 00:00 |
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The Zoo!!
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I'm back, after a long gap. As I said, this series is pretty touristy but, sometimes you need to do this as well!!  This entry, kind of, documents our trip to the Zoo at Cincinnati. Pretty nice zoo and, even though I really like animals, I am not familiar with the names of all of them. So, I may have made one or two mistakes here and there and, as you will notice, I have cunningly avoided anything but the most generic names of the various animals.
Animals are beautiful and, they help to make the world a better place. It's a pity most of them are disappearing. The more the number of species that disappear, the greater the poverty of the human race. We really ought to try our best to preserve habitats.
An interesting section in the zoo, which I could not photograph, was the insect section. Especially the part where they had a board explaining the protein content in most insects and, predicting that insects may become a part of the diet of future generations. Well, if we want to avoid this future, we had better do some hard thinking!!
The shot of the okapi, incidentally, was taken by my 6 and a half year old daughter!
A philosophical note: Zoos do us the great service of bringing the animal kingdom close to us and, trying to make us aware of the amazing diversity of nature. Without them, we would not be aware of this amazing diversity. 
But, I wonder - how would we react to being caged and gaped at? Not with pleasure, I think. You know, 'The Planet of the Apes' expresses this pretty well, what do you think??
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| Sunday, 8-Aug-2004 00:00 |
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Another Post Soon
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I'm finally back from my holiday. But, this was a very democratic -"Of the family, by the family, for the family" kind of holiday so, it's going to be filled with very touristy pictures.
I was in California and Cincinnati. My first trip to the USA, in fact. Got back yesterday and, am off to YangShuo in South China tomorrow. I'll arrange and clean up my pics and, should be ready to upload my pics in a couple of days.
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| Wednesday, 21-Jul-2004 00:00 |
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Death Becomes Him!!
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This is a set of pictures I took a few years ago, in Madras. Madras or, Chennai as it is now called, is in South India. These pictures are of the memorial of M G Ramachandran, who was the most popular filmstar of his time. He also became Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. When he died, several people committed suicide by immolating themselves.
The memorial is on the beachfront in Madras and, I took these pictures early in the morning. So, why does "Death Become Him"? Famous people get memorials. The fools who committed suicide probably left only problems for their families. That's life. And death..
The last two pictures?? Well, I think that we, in India, desecrate too many of our historic structures, which is a pity.
Anyway, from a gloomy mood to a good one!! This is my last entry for a while. I go on holiday tomorrow and, I should be back in 3 weeks. I'll try and keep up with all your fotopages. I have tons of new material that I shot recently. I'll come back and put them up.
See you all till then!!
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| Thursday, 15-Jul-2004 00:00 |
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Three Little Birds
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Bird in Old Window
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Crow On Street Light
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The Crow
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It's late at night and, I am supposed to be doing my office mail. And, I was supposed to re-print the shot of the crow on the street light before putting this up, as the print is old and damaged. But, I am a little high. And, I got to thinking about a great sond from Bob Marley, which I am about to misquote from!!
"Don't worry about a thing.
'Cause every little thing's
Gonna be alright.
Saying don't worry about a thing,
'Cause every little thing's gonna be alright.
Rise up this morning
Smile with the rising sun
Three Little Birds
Sit by my doorstep
Singing sweet songs
Of melodies pure and true.
Saying, this is my message to you...
Don't worry......."
Great song, simple sentiment about love and friendship. Yes?? You know, when you look at the world today and, all the crap that's going on in it, the message from the three little birds can remind us of some simple truths. Politicians would say it's simplistic but, I think that simple truths are all that matter.
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| Saturday, 10-Jul-2004 00:00 |
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Some Faces of Japan
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Okay, this is my last entry from my holiday in Japan. This is entry is part quirky and wholly serious. Not an entry for a Great Photography Award. But, I love the bicycle shot. So please, tell me you like it, if only to make me happy 
So, why do I call it the 'Faces of Japan'? Superficially, there is the young, to the old. And, all different in certain ways. The kids seem to start with cell phones pretty early. The couple with the legs, the epitome of modernity and, the old gent. Well, solemn dignity. He is the kind person who took a bus with us to show us the way to Kiyomizu Dera. And, went quite out of his way in the process. To him, I doff my hat. 
Now, here is where I get into the interpretation process. Despite the fact that they are all different in many ways, all retain that unique Japanese character about them. Something of dignity in the way they move, their obsession or, concern for their own private space, into which you cannot enter forcefully. The leggy couple drove off a few minutes after I tok this shot and, my host was jumping up and down telling me that I had offended their private space. 
So, despite the outward differences, they retain a common thread.
And, where does a bicycle fit in here? I spoke earlier about the fact that the Japanese seek harmony in their day to day lives, and in the things around them. I saw this bicycle on the pier and, to me, it seemd to blend in with the colour of the railing, the sea colour and the sky colour. No photoshop editing in this picture. The bicycle seemed to belong to the scene.
For all this, I'm not too sure if I'd like to live there. Maybe I am being a little too hasty in saying this but, as a good ol' Indian, I think that I would end up offending the Japanese or, I would become a claustrophobe!! We are all too chaotic and noisy. I fit better with the Chinese culture. The Chinese, in my opinion, are a naturally expressive race, in my opinion. Travel by train in Japan and China to know the difference. In Japan, it is quiet and restrained. No invading your persoal space. In China, there's much fun and merriment. And yes, they do enter your private space, if you give them a chance. Fun times .
Now, I need to figure out how to use Photshop. This drives me nuts!!
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