These Past Few Months

Ah, Finally I am back to writing blogs again. It’s been a long time any way. I feel i haven’t expressed myself through words enough. I need to do this more. Hopefully i can be a bit regular with this. But I always tell myself, I won’t force myself into writing. I would only write when i have something to say. May be i have nothing to say. But let’s see if my photographs has something to tell. My last blog came on 26th September 2023. It’s been more than 4 months. There’s so much i have gone through, There are so many realizations i am having. Let’s put them into words and photographs. 

1. Do I Have To Look At The Photographs I Make?

The thing is i like to shoot. & I like to be out there a lot. It doesn’t matter if i make the photographs or not. I just need to be out there. As a result of being out, Sometimes i make photographs. And i was asking myself what do i do with them? How do i look at them? When do i look at them? Should i look at them? One question leads to another. 

It was quite enjoyable though. is photography just about making photographs? is photography just about putting your work out in public domain? Certainly not. It’s not possible to look at the every photograph i make. Well i mean Photography is not just about showing your work. It’s also about hiding (Marination). Photographs are meant to be seen right? Not always. it can be quite subjective though. 

Does every photo we make can/should be seen first on social media? Let me try to convey with one example.

Imagine i am producing a book. A Photo Book. It can be about anything. let’s say it has 100 photographs in it. All the photographs in it has already been seen on social media or through various platforms. So audience would know what would be in there. Of course there would be sequencing, Narrative. People must have seen those photographs on tiny screen for sure. 

& let’s say, when you produce a book, It has 100 photographs in it. And there would be 40 previously unseen photographs in it which are new, Not seen by anyone. They are straight out of the archives. That would create a curiosity inside me to buy that book.  

When you produce a book, You can’t show everything what’s going to be in there. There has be a element of surprise. Btw Does every work needs to be a book? That’s a whole different conversation. 

I am creating huge amount of work nowadays. Taking long hours of walks. My archives is getting bigger and bigger everyday. I think that’s a good problem to have. I would only show a very little amount of photos from it.

2. Perfection In Photographs?

In my earlier day’s photography, I was told, Your photographs needs to be perfect? What do i mean by perfect here? A photo needs to be separated nicely without overlaps. I used to follow them until quite recently. I asked myself why do i need it?  Really.  What does difference does it make? Would that make them more visually pleasing? 

Well i don’t want my photographs to be visually pleasing. The world is not perfect. Neither should my photographs be. But are photographs the accurate representation of our feelings? Photo can be both of real world and the world inside ourselves. The world inside me is not close to prefect. As a human being, I am the most imperfect i believe. There’s no need to self love one’s self on toxic level. I can never love everything about myself or keep believing that i do. If i do. That would mean i am lying to myself. It’s always about accepting. Humans are the accidental creatures. We were never supposed to be. And to the dust we shall return. The earth was there before us and it will be there after us. Like My friend Eben once said when he was drunk, Let’s just stop reproducing. And Walk in to the Human Extinction hand in hand together. The imperfection is something i embrace. So i don’t have to carry the weight of perfection. 

Are my photographs be cut from head, leg? Are my photographs tilted? Does my photograph has overlaps? Are my photographs over exposed? Are my photographs underexposed? Does my photographs has protagonist on sides?  Well who cares. I certainly don’t. May be there are representing who i am as a human being.  In the end it’s about if i connect with the photo i make or not. 

3. How Do I Document Mumbai From Now On?

Well, Mumbai What would i be without you? But You would surely be there without me. I need you, You don’t need me. 

It’s been glorious seven years documenting this tiny piece of land. There are times it makes me fall in love with it more. There are times i hate it to core. May be people of Mumbai are the reason i love it. Well that’s the best thing about this city. The People. 

This seven years of documentation was mostly focused on the city we all know, All tourist places, Suburbs, & the places near by to where i live. I can’t say if i have seen even 1% of this city. I am always going to find new places to shoot. i am only 29. I would be travelling a lot from this year. So probably i won’t be able shoot much of this city like i used to. I have already started skipping few festivals.

Recently, I am taking sunrise to sunset walks regularly. I just get off any station, and start walking randomly in any direction. It’s fun anyway. I would probably spending a lots of time in Navi Mumbai. That’s something i have always wanted to do. It takes a lot of time to travel. But i love to travel. I am just loving uncertainty these places would offer because i have never been there. There are like more than 50-60 train stations in it. It will keep me busy in this decade for sure. 

My previous documentation was based on events, festivals etc. I need to be more focused on changes happening in my city. May be I’ll put more focus on protests. there’s certainly a short project i am working on from 22 January 2024 till the assembly election in late 2024. 

Because my mind is drawn towards those things more nowadays. & It’s important to document them. 

That’s all for today. Thank you for reading.