Philosophy

It is something to be able to paint a particular picture, or to carve a statue, and so to make a few objects beautiful; but it is far more glorious to carve and paint the very atmosphere and medium through which we look, which morally we can do. To affect the quality of the day, that is the highest of arts.

Henry David Thoreau

Architecture, Nature & People are the three most prominent elements, which surround us. Every city has a pulse of its own, it either runs through the boulevards or through the alleys. Architecture is what gives a city it’s face and it’s the people, who pump blood in it. Architecture and people are counterparts, like yin and yang. Invariably, life’s at equilibrium, we shape our cities and our built environment defines us. By the virtue of what we built, we attempt to tame nature and when it goes beyond us, we run towards it to escape the unleashed. The tug of war doesn’t seem to stop. Some are running the crusade and some drift.

People are as mysterious as they are transparent, sometimes weathered by life & ever so often sailing against the current. Every face & each glance holds some familiar stories and recounts few known battles. Life itself is an attempt to find peace, more often than not. It seems gray at times.

Photography is a personal voyage, driven more by internal currents than external demands. It’s a form of visual analysis and art making. It’s driven by one pair of eye and what seems to make sense to the mind. It’s futile to seek mass approval and acceptance and it would diminish the artistic integrity of it.

Light and tones are the two most aesthetically important threads, which provide the rich texture to the visual fabric. At dusk and dawn, sky acts like a huge warm soft light from the direction of the sun and sky brilliantly fill shadows of built elements with varying dynamism. Buildings, squares, trees, meadows, hills, mountain; everything unfolds itself in the rich strokes light and lack of it. Early mornings are especially magical, when corners and sidewalks are empty and when buildings are gradually waking up with the new light before the performance of the day begins. At night & dawn, streets are owned by the environment and light, when a street bench is empty and only lit by a street lamp and trees are gracefully dancing in the dark breeze. This is the time when we relinquish the throne and let the city be alone.

Moments spent in such dark solitudes are very memorable & peaceful. Every deep breath is constant reassurance of the conscious drift … more lucid than adrift.