His Master's Toys » photography

The edge of chaos

soum — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 06:18:42 +0000

I am back in Mumbai again. The inherent chaos of this city matches well with the ongoing chaos in my life, and so I like it here. Behind the euphoria that seduces dreamers and wanna-’bees’, there is an underbelly of constant struggle, a push-pull between creation and decadence. It keeps one occupied, but whether that occupation is productive or useful, is a question one dare not ponder upon.

Yet the most cliched question comes to mind – what would the city look like in fifty or hundred years. Would it be the future glam-town sketched by the candy-bar film Love Story 2050 (I haven’t seen the film, the trailer was sufficient)? Or a true-to-life depiction of bleak futures painted by many a sci-fi storyteller (such as Asimov in his ‘The Caves of Steel’, or even Bladerunner), a marked (walled) division is seen between ever growing ’slum communities’ and China-like SEZs (Special Economic Zones – such as Schenzen) with access-denied written everywhere?

A year ago, I saw a remarkable exhibition in Tate Modern (London) called Global Cities:

Global Cities looks at the changing faces of ten dynamic international cities: Cairo, Istanbul, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Mexico City, Mumbai, São Paulo, Shanghai and Tokyo.

Exploring each city through five thematic lenses – speed, size, density, diversity and form – the exhibition draws on data originally assembled for the 10th International Architecture Exhibition at the 2006 Venice Biennale. This unique show presents existing films, videos and photographs by more than 20 artists and architects to offer subjective and intimate interpretations of urban conditions in all ten cities.

One of the art installations was 3D stalagmite-like sculptures that mapped the wealth distribution in each of the above cities. Of all, Mumbai had a few spikes that towered above and beyond any of the others, making the vast difference in wealth distribution even more apparent.

But is the ‘flatness’ desirable? I wonder. In his rapidly growing photo portfolio, my photographer friend Matti tries to capture what a friend called, the ‘post-apocalyptic Mumbai series’. Through a combination of retouched HDR photography done through in duotones, he captures the essence of its madness, the chaos that is impossible in economically ‘flat’ zones.

More on his flickr page here. Ok, time for a stroll.

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Bruce Lee in Hong Kong

soum — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 11:20:12 +0000

A little bit of self-publicity never hurts. Just another photograph from my photo.net photography portfolio.

Watched Inside Man by Spike Lee last night. Great twist to the… Watched Inside Man by Spike Lee last night. Great twist...

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Theft in Shanghai!

soum — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 13:33:05 +0000

My fears came true in Shanghai. After visiting Island6 and having a great discussion with their artists and volunteers, we went to the awesome JZ Club, one of the best jazz clubs I have ever been to.

From China

We were talking to the drummer Gilbert, when minutes later, one of our bags was gone. The surveillance camera footage showed one of two chinese guys pulling the bag from under the table.

I lost my entire DSLR cam setup, two mobile phones, wallet. We did file a report with the police (which was another experience and a half), but knew that the situation was hopeless.

Apart from the gadgets, I was miserable about losing hours of work — just the previous day, I had spent half of an evening covering Shanghai’s speed juxtaposed with the old. All gone.

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