My Final Frame

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My final frame shot at the Kurmaguda Academy for Relief and Education in Hyderabad. Housed over several floors in an old building to the south of the city, hundreds of local children are provided with a free education. One of my favourite places that I have visited in India over many years, KARE is an inspirational project. Visiting and meeting the staff and children was one of the highlights of my year. Thanks Tom Holloway for the opportunity to visit.

Stars Shining Brightly

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In a world where world leaders and potential US presidents, openly push forward anti Muslim sentiment, three small muslim girls living in the slums of a poor Hyderabad neighbourhood grasp an opportunity to get an education. Hurting nobody, their Hijab offending nobody, they pose happily for my photograph. Hyderabad August 2016

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I was given the opportunity to photograph the staff and students here by a friend of mine, Tom Holloway. Tom lives in India and works extensively in humanitarian causes. Thanks also to Ghouse for getting me there.

Tom Holloway, thehindu.com news

“Education breeds confidence, confidence breeds hope, hope breeds peace” Confucius

More photographs from K.A.R.E

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A small boy sits in class at the Kurmaguda Academy for relief and Education, Hyderabad, India, August 2016. K.A.R.E provides care and education for children and young adults who would otherwise go without.

Krishnashtami Boy

In India recently with only my mirrorless Fujifilm x100, I’ve been really enjoying the simplicity of the single f.2 /23mm focal length available with this camera (35mm approx ‘Full Frame’ equivalent)

Ive often heard photographers talk of the joy of actually losing an entire range of focal lengths, in the form of a zoom lens. Apart from the odd occasion where a wider lens or even a telephoto would have been useful, I was almost entirely content to shoot like this.

I’ve used DLSRs that have the edge on this little camera here and there, but really and especially far from home, I can’t see how I’ll ever look back,

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A small boy in the north of the city of Hyderabad seen dressed up for Krishnashtami celebrations, Telengana, India, 2016

 

Me and Asha Bhosle at Mumbai Airport (3 images)

With a good six hours stopover recently at Mumbai, through the middle of the night, I had little else to do but wander around the domestic departures lounge, eat an Aloo Paratha and take a few pictures. I noticed an extremely famous Hindi Cinema playback singer, Asha Bhosle. In a pretty much deserted lounge and missing home already, I thought I’d get a few snaps of this Indian legend!

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At Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, Mumbai, classic photographer selfie with my second hand Fujifilm x100

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Asha Bhosle

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Asha Bhosle

Kurmaguda Academy for Relief and Education

I’ve not posted on my WordPress Blog for nearly six months now, life has a funny habit of throwing lots at you at once. During that time, I have sold any cameras and lenses that I owned and lost my interest in my photography. By a stroke of good fortune, I had to make a trip back to the city of Hyderabad this month. Having no camera at all, and very short of money, I bought a used 6/7  year old Fujifilm X100 for £370. Really, what I didn’t know was that this used and older Fujifilm camera and an unplanned trip, would bring me back to the photography that I love. Now that I’m back, Im looking forward to catching up with my friends from around the world.

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A small girl smiles by a window at the Kamaguda Academy for Relief and Education, Hyderabad, India, August, 2016

One Hour in Kurmaguda Academy for Relief and Education

With a very small window of time to get to meet the staff and students at K.A.R.E and extremely low light, I had to move fast to get any pictures at all here. For anyone interested, i was shooting at iso values between 2500 and 4000, with a first generation Fujifilm x100. This was to get shutter speeds of between 1/40th and 1/60th sec with a wide open aperture of f2. Some were even as slow as 1/15th. I’m continually impressed with Fujifilms mirrorless cameras since I stopped using DSLRs. 

The light was a lot lower than it looks here, but I chose subjects as close to windows as possible to make the most of the daylight outside. This wasn’t such a bad thing, as I really like window light which is beautiful and which suits my style of photography.

Ultimately, whatever I got in terms of photographs was less important than being able to meet some remarkable people who gave me their time and patience, told me about themselves, laughed with me and made me feel welcome. Thank you..Untitled

 

 

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Nagapoojitha 3 years later

Nagapoojitha

I first met Nagapoojitha in February 2013. She had very bad hearing and was able only to sit at the front of class and just try her best. Her picture featured in my India’s Forgotten Children Exhibition in London the following year. Last week I met her again and she is doing very well at the Patashala School. Seen here, she proudly holds a school book that three years ago, she could never have written in or read. 

A small girl with hearing difficulties sits on the floor in class, Hyderabad, 2013

Patashala; Catching Up

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A very small child looks up at the camera, Patashala School. India. The school supports children from very poor migrant worker families, new to the city. There aren’t many options for them, so being able to come to a school each day really adds to life chances. New and qualified staff are making things better and happily the future is looking brighter.

Preparing For Krishnashtami

Walking past a small workshop in the dusty streets of Kukatpally, India, I stopped to talk to Savitha, who invited me to take a look around her family business. With the festival of Krishnashtami days away, work was in full swing. Despite my obvious love of black and white photography, this set could only be in colour!Krishna4

 

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After Dark

Playing in the street after dark in the dusty streets of Andhra Pradesh, these kids reminded me of moths around a candle, running around and around in circles under a street light. This was shot from the rooftop of my friend Priyanka’s house. A few of us were sitting up there after working all day and having watched the sunset and enjoyed a cup of chai. Relaxing times.

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Gallery

The Gallery.. A Study of a Study.

 

Testing out a new lens this week at the V&A Museum in London and found the holy grail of lighting via these big windows overlooking a courtyard. I have been talking to a trans-Atlantic friend about the subject of candid photography like this (Hi, J.H!) and how acceptable it is to make photos in public with unaware subjects. These are all shot from about 5 metres away with a short telephoto prime lens. What do you think about this? Is it ok… or is it intrusive? I’m not sure if I’m honest.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Almost Nothing Needs To Be Said When You Have Eyes

In a small unknown and forgotten corner of the developing world, surviving with some of the poorest people on earth, a young Dalit girl smiles. She wanted to smile and be in every photo I made there; her real feelings though, lie deep within her eyes. A Repost from 2013, but this pictures deserves, more than almost any of mine, not to be forgotten. From a photographic perspective, a flawed portrait of mine in lots of ways. But none of that really matters at all. Whatever happened to this lovely little human being I will never know… Please pray for peace and happiness in our world.

 

 

Chinatown Window

Shot through the window of a small cafe in London's Chinatown, a worker makes what I think might be dumplings (any corrections on this welcome) A fascinating late afternoon on Sunday, since it was the Moon Festival and the streets were packed. Please look out for my forthcoming post on this, shot entirely from chest level. Love Chinatown!

Shot through the window of a small cafe in London’s Chinatown, a worker makes what I think might be dumplings (any corrections on this welcome)
A fascinating late afternoon on Sunday, since it was the Moon Festival and the streets were packed. Please look out for my forthcoming post on this, shot entirely from chest level. Love Chinatown!

Contentment

I often find that what I love about India is its incredible diversity. It's usually the first thing visitors notice. Tine and time again I find that its greatest asset is its ordinary people. Happiness is a gift that this boy seems to possess. Maybe only for right now, but possess it he does. One of my favourite quotes; "Realise deeply that the present moment is all you ever have." Eckhart Tolle

I often find that what I love about India is its incredible diversity. It’s usually the first thing visitors notice. Time and time again I find that its greatest asset is its ordinary people. Happiness is a gift that this boy seems to possess. Maybe only for right now, but possess it he does. One of my favourite quotes;
“Realise deeply that the present moment is all you ever have.” Eckhart Tolle

Outside Wong Kei 2

Outside Wong Kei in Wardour Street London, famously, the rudest restaurant in Chinatown. One trip adviser reviewer says: “poor service, but thats what makes this place so special” Brilliant! I have been using a new and very small Fuji lens which has quite a wide angle (26mm in ‘full frame’ terms) so I am really very close here. Still, these guys seem fairly unconcerned and despite the candid feel, they are perfectly camera aware!

Outside Wong Kei in Wardour Street London, famously, the rudest restaurant in Chinatown.
One trip adviser reviewer says: “poor service, but thats what makes this place so special” Brilliant! I have been using a new and very small Fuji lens which has quite a wide angle (26mm in ‘full frame’ terms) so I am really very close here. Still, these guys seem fairly unconcerned and despite the candid feel, they are perfectly camera aware!

Outside Wong Kei

Outside Wong Kei in Wardour Street London, famously, the rudest restaurant in Chinatown. One trip adviser reviewer says: "poor service, but thats what makes this place so special" Each to their own I guess!

Outside Wong Kei in Wardour Street London, famously, the rudest restaurant in Chinatown.
One trip adviser reviewer says: “poor service, but thats what makes this place so special”  Brilliant! I have been using a new and very small Fuji lens which has quite a wide angle (26mm in ‘full frame’ terms) so I am really very close here. Still, these guys seem fairly unconcerned and despite the candid feel, they are perfectly camera aware! 

Hope

I opened this file a few week ago from my archive. Originally shot in RAW colour and imported to lightroom in adobe standard colour, I really liked it. I mostly make my own black and white conversions from scratch and knew this was an obvious choice here. Once I'd finished, I exported to my desktop as a full size jpeg and cried. A traumatised child living on the edge, but with the hope of all humanity in her eyes. The hope that she might not see her father hit her mother tonight. The hope that she might sleep on a real bed, not a piece of cardboard on a concrete floor. There is no need to worry about tomorrow when all that matters is tonight.

I opened this file a few week ago from my archive.
Originally shot in RAW and imported to lightroom in adobe standard colour, I really liked it. I mostly make my own black and white conversions from scratch and knew this was an obvious choice here.
Once I’d finished, I exported to my desktop as a full size jpeg and cried. This is a traumatised child living on the edge, but with the hope of all humanity in her eyes.
The hope that she might not see her father hit her mother tonight. The hope that she might sleep on a real bed one day, not a piece of cardboard on a concrete floor. There is no need to worry about tomorrow, when all that matters is tonight.

Beauty; The Oldest Photography Trick in The Book

Beauty, or in this case cutie, the oldest photography trick in the book. I heard a photographer say this recently. I can't remember who it was, but it is a statement with merit! My dear friend Kanjee in Bangkok, took me to temple she often visits. One of the volunteers that looks after this particular shrine, brings her grand-daughter in to pass the time. She brings several toys and the all important smart device to play games! Bangkok, 2015

Beauty, or in this case cutie, the oldest photography trick in the book. I heard a photographer say this recently. I can’t remember who it was, but it is a statement with merit!
My dear friend Kanjee in Bangkok, took me to temple she often visits. One of the volunteers that looks after this particular shrine, brings her grand-daughter in to pass the time. She brings several toys and the all important smart device to play games!
Bangkok, 2015

More Jellyfish

I saw this room at the Siam Paragon Aquarium, dropped what I was otherwise doing and headed inside. I would have happily camped out for the night there. What beautiful lighting and elegant scenes inside. I posted a picture last month from the same place http://pskphoto.com/2015/08/15/delicate/ This is a wider shot to complement the original one called

I saw this room at the Siam Paragon Aquarium, dropped what I was otherwise doing and headed inside. I would have happily camped out for the night there. What beautiful lighting and elegant scenes inside.
I posted a picture last month from the same place
http://pskphoto.com/2015/08/15/delicate/
This is a wider shot to complement the original one called “Delicate”
Bangkok, 2015

New Website

Through some constant hassling of a few friends mine, I have been fortunate to get myself invited to Nepal (via North India) to photograph a worthy project and also one in Amritsar too. I’m intending to make more time to work like this and an actual website, as opposed to a blog, is going to be useful, if not essential. 

I used Square Space to make it and I hope it’s turned out quite well. Hopefully, easy to navigate, clean looking and not too cluttered. 

http://www.pskpictures.com

There is even an “obligatory photographer selfie” on the about page!

Less Photography…My Personal Journey and Shining Light On The Taboo of Mental Illness

Having suffered form Post Traumatic Stress Disorder for many years, I have been searching for peace in my mind for just as long. A recent trip to Bangkok bought with it a blessing in the form of being introduced to a Buddhist Monk at this very old temple. My first attempt at meditation took place through these doors under his guidance. The result is a work in progress but, with time and practice, I am hopeful that I can let go and move on. Wat Yannawa Temple, Bangkok, 2015

Having suffered form Post Traumatic Stress Disorder for many years, I have been searching for peace in my mind for just as long.
A recent trip to Bangkok bought with it a blessing in the form of being introduced to a Buddhist Monk at this very old temple.
Alone except for the occasional gentle ring of bells and singing birds, my first attempt at meditation took place through these doors, under his guidance. The result is a work in progress but, with time and practice, I am hopeful that I can really improve my outlook on life.
My own elusive peace seems nearer.  Wat Yannawa Buddhist Temple, Bangkok, 2015