I was in for a very pleasant surprise when my son asked, "Mom, would you go with me to town on Sunday early morning? I need to shoot some street photographs.” I jumped at the offer! It has been quite a while since I went for photography shoots.
Since my son was preparing for the portfolio, I offered him my camera and announced that I would be shooting only with my cell phone. My plan was to take him to places where a complex human drama unfolds as the backdrop and observe him capture images and see how he "saw" subjects.
It is amazing to wander lonely streets in unknown cities or unknown streets in my very own city of Mumbai, my muse! A walk down to dense, old part of the city introduces you to innovations and ways of life that takes nothing for granted. These are the places where there is elbow room created from nowhere, that would put the best magicians in the world to shame.
The most fascinating element in this urban sprawl is the nonchalant way people go about their struggle everyday and take chaos around them in their stride! We often admire realistic depiction of life that is romanticized in movies. But when one observes reality with such proximity, it is a different experience all together! There are layers and layers to these "invisible" different worlds, swirling into myriad patterns of juxtaposing and coexisting in this effervescent city that exudes such aura of power and wealth! Oh, I am digressing!
It was so early and dark that while we walked, the feet pounded the pavement, irritating dogs that were asleep. I barely clicked a few pictures through my cell phone as I was more absorbed with interesting sights and sounds, slowly increasing as the morning passed. After few hours of exploring the city, we returned home overwhelmed and deeply humbled with the experience.
As I started scanning my photographs, some pictures started growing on me and haunting me. I knew, I was drawn to the subjects and something within me had snapped, subtly while capturing those images that morning.
One of the hawkers sleeping in most unimaginable corners of a few square feet “bed” in shrunk shadows of who he was. One tiny part of a vicious cauldron of urban destitution.
Condition of this man was arresting. In a large, open space he was hiding behind a barricade which was symbolic of his state. One of those people we like to pretend is invisible or whom we treat with servile disdain. While he was bereft of any clothes and evidently suffering with drug abuse or some mental ailment, I could discover his sensitive, vulnerable emotions of piercing agony that had festered and was breeding, making a cosy home within.
The intensity of the gaze of this child who was waiting for his mother to wake up on that cold morning, kept me captivated long after the shoot was over. Those eyes! Those sleepy, keen, eyes reeking mischief and boundless love!
There we were, trying to capture some pictures and in the process were left spellbound by inspiration from every corner. This seemingly shaded world is always willing to impart lessons about life, business and human nature that no "art of living" class or management school could ever teach.
There are enchanting hues of life on the street; interesting microcosms, exceptional stories of survival and human grit. Not all are as alluring. Some move you deeply, some make you realize value of your blessings and some simply make you bow to human spirit, if you are open to see and learn to respect what a wonderful gift life is despite everything!
