Here is another article that is worth a read.
Extract from the article:
‘ By selectively and deliberately choosing only particular elements from the surrounding environment to include in the picture, such as rural landscapes, traditional clothing, and props that suggest pre-modern occupations, they strove to meet their, and other Europeans’, expectations and interests. ‘
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When it comes to landscapes, however, the photographic aesthetic was often one of order, not chaos. Rather than depicting far-off lands as untamed or untouched, India’s dramatic mountains and tropical flora were frequently made to resemble bucolic scenes from the English countryside.
This, too, reflected Britain’s goal of spreading outwards, said Gaskell, who described the practice as “a kind of taming of the landscape.”
“I see this as a further extension of ownership and legitimizing (colonial) presence, because it’s showing (India) as this great garden of England,” he continued. “It’s mad to think that they were photographing the Himalayas as if they were Gloucestershire.”
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The curfews have given me time to relook at my photography from a more critical viewpoint. I have been doing a bit of reading and relearning.
Search for this article “When the camera was a weapon of imperialism. (and when it still is..)” by Teju Cole. A must read imo. The image above is from the article by The New York Times Magazine (From the Rev. R.H. Stone’s memoir ‘‘In Africa’s Forest and Jungle: Or Six Years Among the Yorubans,’’ 1899).
We do not have a lot of sea stacks in Goa. These are on the coast of a popular tourist belt. The presence of the shack constructions on the edge of the hill really blemishes the natural beauty of this scene. Beyond this hill, is a small beach and a sweet water lake; so these constructions have only come up as a result of the few travellers that hiked to the lake over the years. In my younger days, it was very different to what it has become of late. The cemented path resembles an ugly maze through what feels like a construction site with the occasional views of the ocean through the gaps in the concrete walls. Clear indications of poor planning, lack of vision and greed. The ideal way would have been to preserve the natural path to the lake devoid of all these constructions. And why make it so accessible to tourists who don’t really understand hiking culture? The shacks and rooms on the hill and along the path have only been increasing over the years and are now moving up the hill. On the top, the paragliding companies have already started making their roads. It won’t be long before the whole hill is covered with constructions. Not to mention the garbage collected here and the stench of sewage water that greets you as one approaches the hill.
These sea stacks and rocks are beautiful, they are the only reason I choose to photograph in this area. But the beach has now become more crowded and less comfortable to work on making imagery. The rocky area has selfie-seeking dare-devils climbing to the top oblivious to the dangers.
Back to the photography, I always shoot closer to these formations trying to get more intimate frames. On the rare occasions when the beach is not too crowded, I walk down to get a wider view of the scene. The sun sets behind these stacks almost all the time, but the ugly shacks always force my composition to avoid the hill completely. Last September, the cloud formations in this scene and it’s reflection on the wet sand are what attracted me to capture this shot and try to achieve a kind of symmetry. I avoided a long exposure for this or else the waves would cover the reflections. I would have loved for smoother and less murkier waves though. This is a raw downsized file of the scene during golden hours without any edits shot on my Fuji X-t3.
Here is one during blue hours.
Not too satisfied by the results but unsatisfying results are one of good reasons to revisit a place. With the current changes in the scenery though, I’m not sure when.
Music has always been a big inspiration for my creative work, it is also a part of my process while working on my images in post. Since the world changed and we were locked inside, discovering new music has helped keep my mind sane. I wonder if what I listen to has an overall effect on how I treat my images. I may have to conduct an experiment to find out. I love watching all my photos of a trip on a slideshow with music playing in the background. It can be very inspiring as the stories reveal themselves. Sometimes my I-tunes playlist on shuffle mode just seems to go with most my work. While editing, if it gets too monotonously dreamy or zoned out, I like to switch the mood a bit. Sometimes maybe going nostalgia mode to some old favourites. Anything from Tiny Desk is always fresh and great for discoveries. Lately, these are my go to albums – peaceful, thoughtful or inspirational. I also let the youtube algorithm open the doors to more quality music.
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