Picture perfect ------ contrast ~

We are so made that we can derive intense enjoyment from a contrast and very little from a state of things....so said Freud. I for one subscribe to this theory wholeheartedly....as a photographer , one is always chasing light....some thing subtle in the background....to bring out the intensity of what we want to portray in the forefront.
Life....is such an amazing potpourri of contrasting emotions....almost always...that fine balance that is so sought after, is never really achieved. Life as a whole is forever divided between the big picture and its smaller moments...in constant conflict .

I have included here 3 photographs, which are my personal favorites ...some of you from multiply, may have already seen these on my blog there ....What appeals to me in these is that if one looks carefully , endless contrasts can be drawn here....ranging from colour , and depth of field and textures and even emotions in a single frame.......

 

 

sonny [all rights reserved ]

three kinds of lonely

 


today has been smoothly haphazard

 

organized chaos or chaos organized

closing my fist around a ray of sunlight
honey gold
and warm
imbibing the fluidity of a bumble-bee
drunk on life
or hoping to at least
shrugging my shoulders at the pariah kite
circling
always with 10,000 reasons to fly away

do you see me

 

pressed between the pages of your old spiral notebook
forgotten under the succulent syllables of poetry
you penned many moons ago

today has been haphazardly smooth
of wayward thoughts supremely uncouth
i pedaled to greener pastures
climbed a high
munched on the lows
pocketing that final piece
of a never ending puzzle
called 'us'
trapping it forever
under the weight of right answers

Today i pulled out my bicycle ....put my breakfast in an old lunch box.....pedaled towards india gate....along rajpath....found this old structure one could climb up onto.....settled down to read my book...take a few pics.....marinate in some thoughts and sunlight....soak it all up.....


Its open link night at dverse ...:)


~o0o~

monday mojo ~

when i was little....my mother had passed instructions to everybody in our home...a tap on sonny's shoulder every time she starts talking and takes off as if somebody has pressed the fast fwd button on her precious red n black philips two -in -one . This was her effort at teaching me how to speak concisely without eating up half my words....slow me down a tad .
The philips two in one , which in those days meant that you had a tape recorder and an in built radio, went everywhere with me ....i saw , soaked , breathed life in technicolor ....and in my head...there was a song in the back ground of every scene life presented . Life it seemed was unfolding at such  humongous velocity , it felt almost natural to have a head brimming with words and speak at the same speed to keep pace .

It is now....a fortnight away from turning 35 , i realize....i am probably a late bloomer . Still the same somewhere inside....still brimming with words and thoughts...still overwhelmed with seemingly mundane things which come across as ordinary everyday life to most ....emotions like cumulus clouds ....
..................What HAS changed is my need to communicate or even attempt doing the weirdo act of speaking aloud about the frames as they filter through the sieve of my eyes, mind and heart...and get absorbed into the very marrow of me . You cannot . Its impossible . Needless to say, i make extremely bad company , i can walk quietly by your side endlessly without feeling the need to say a word , disconcerting to many... at the most i might look up at your eyes , it isn't that i am not paying attention to what others around me are saying , what you are saying , au contraire every syllable , every nuance of body language gets registered .....

The change is in the velocity i mentioned above . With each passing year....i have learned to slow down ....and set my own pace so to speak . On the graph of life...a longer arc ...all my own . 

Which is why i write and make pictures ......i set my own pace . I once heard Gulzar say that words are like solid rock formations....they always have shadows underneath , tilt one and see what crawls out...and sometimes the weight of them becomes too much to keep inside . There is that weight...and then , there is the literal weight every word carries which you share , communicate to anybody . Therefore i dole them out in precious miserly bits....because somewhere...someone is simple enough to hold them close to their heart .

My pictures , i am often told...reflect the same . Reflect what i was feeling when i took the shot...or rather when i saw the frame....hopefully , in time ...i will learn to detach myself from the subject and convey the subject matter in my pictures , in their own light , so to speak .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I still view life , sometimes through technicolor glasses...sometimes in sepia or black and white... , still a song in the background ....chewing on thoughts and feelings ....catapulting them onto the paper my way...to see what crawls out . Concisely .

I guess ma's plan did work out .

~o0o~

picture perfect ....aglow ~

I don't know if all of you notice...every time somebody speaks of fall colours....well , because thats the season we're in the middle of at the moment...but any season for that matter...every time we describe it....we say....the best colours are yet to come, the best flowers are yet to bloom, the mad snow is yet to be ...and i start  thinking about these two paradoxical analogies we live our lives with....never living in the moment...and yet positive and hopeful in our beliefs...that the best ---is yet to come .

I am becoming one of those people...who live their lives according to alarm clock pings built inside their heads....pretty desaturated if you ask me ...there is no other way to juggle what is , what needs to be, what has to be and what must be . Its a lot like free falling and returning to the same place again and again . Life.

How many chances does one really have...to get it right . How much luxury...to get it all wrong . Left or right , well trodden paths or the one less traveled ....as you keep chanting ----the best is yet to come.....you stand smack in the middle .

there's no cheat sheet to life ....:)
My wit has flown out of the window .....and i find ...the easiest thing to focus on is....the light....always the light.
And thats my comfort...no matter how confusing it all gets....no matter how bottomless the hour glass ....even under the darkest shadows...

There's always light .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

sonny [all rights reserved ]

 

 

~o0o~

Pirouetting melodies trailing me home

  
i've felt the numerous unspoken dreams in those eyes
 i've seen the yearning behind the confident facade
is there a name for this?
isnt it enough that i felt it
it is after all just a feeling
to be felt in your soul......


fingers busy , trying to fit the key into the lock
the mind an absolute blank and yet this deep rooted urgency to record
each frame as it had happened or even while it was happening
for all the times to come
she knew without a doubt that today would be the scale against which all first meetings
would forever be measured against
biting that lower lip furiously
she still couldn't wipe the grin off her face
yes....
grinning not smiling
grinning like idiots was how they had sat in the car
talking about mundane things like beggars and price of gas
there hadn't been any need to say...shake hands ...introduce oneself or smile that first polite smile
nothing......
an instant easy camaraderie riding high on under currents
undercurrents....
while they talked, traversed the traffic
her sub conscious stretched herself out into a diva pose hissing in her ears

stop staring at your feet dork....look up....see his eyes resting on your hand...deliberating on the right moment to hold it and lighting a cigarette instead

 he took her hand the minute they entered through the gate and started walking towards the ruins....unapologetic ..whence...of their own accord his fingers entwined hers , unapologetic in the way his eyes traveled slowly starting somewhere near her ear lobe and moved down towards the point where the neck meets the shoulder....and when she paused to take a picture...unapologetic...in the way...he tucked that lone strand of hair behind her ear .

he noticed all of her and she pretended not to notice

and maybe it was this...this very quality...in him...in the atmosphere...that put her at ease . None of it felt wrong.
 
softly like footsteps fading away
if every stirring was analyzed
reason behind that warm rush of joy
on hearing that treasured laugh
or a slow smile
a moment shared
isn't it enough that we felt it..

all this while...the conversation
and laughter
the carefree kinds
flowed and filled up the cracks in the cobble stoned path they walked upon

and when he took a side turning , what was it she had said ?........

" why are we taking the longer route ? the main entrance is in front ! "

He had looked at her indulgently and said...." its called delaying gratification  "

" and thats called an innuendo ".....she had replied

he had thrown his head back and laughed...impulsively lifting their still entwined fingers and placing a kiss on the back of her hand

she'd read a phrase once----" a parade of soft first kisses trailing behind us , the sort of little bread crumbs , that i sure as hell hope, Gretel grew up to enjoy... "  Now she knew , what it meant....

Then there was the moment , when trying to cross the road , she had grabbed his arm...a little above the elbow and later marveled at how natural and simple it had felt ...as if she had repeated this same actions millions of times before...that feeling of deja vu

turning the key that finally fitted , she unlocked the door
and walked inside
knowing fully well
about firsts
about the futility of dwelling on them
just
little gusts of wind that comes...lifts your hair a bit and lets you breathe......
reminding you little details about yourself , which sometimes
one forgets
in this business of daily living

 

like my secret box of memories , taken out now and then.... 
as i sit all alone looking out of my window , 
and feel again
the pleasure of undefined moments
undefined bonding 
undefined silence 
that speaks a thousand words
yes..... its enough that we've felt it
because, some things in life are simply to be felt
its enough....

© Sonny

 

 

A very interesting exercise at dverse this time....giving rein to your imagination , and weaving poetry and prose together....irresistible to me .....!

 

 

 

~o0o~

You say..........

you say

come
not because i ask you to
not.... because i don't know what else to do
not for me and my unsentimental trivialities

but for the patch of green moss in my yard
under the fig tree
and a lone aster beside
that awaits to see your mouth
chewing a pencil end in concentration
as you sprawl and write

come
because its time
needing someone so bad ....has to be a crime

come, not for the silence that seeps every pore
when an ochre august dusk peeps through the door
but for the guttural call of the cicadas
as if imitating the roar in the pit of my stomach

come
for that tug
you know which one

for mornings laced with the smell of strong coffee
and a toast wanting to burn in your hands
the breeze that refuses to lift the curtain
 i am almost certain
it awaits a pair of green eyes

smiling
shrugging
tilting

playing.....watching its each and every antic

don't listen to me
but give in to their demands
come now

for the subtle glow from my night lamp
longing to infuse
bathe your skin
for the side of the bed
which you will claim as yours

end their strife

fill up my life

with possibilities

once again

come
because its time
needing someone so much.....so bad
 has to be a crime.....


sonny [ all right reserved ]
 
* ya.....even though i am old fashioned......and would rather have you come....you could put up a mighty good argument if you say that........


Its open link night at dverse.....



 ~o0o~