The Cock Fight

The Cock Fight, originally uploaded by firoze shakir photographerno1.

123,090 items / 847,794 views

two one eyed
squinted cocks
got into a
street fight
one was
a photographer
the other a poet
some fist fight
were screwing
the same hen
black and white
who they
fucked
every
alternate
night
now
the hen
was pregnant
her parents
were uptight
the wanted to
know
who was the father
of the illegitimate child
but it turned out
it was not
either of them
to their delight
it was a
the neighbors
young handsome
kid who she had helped
with the homework
with a flash light
pre marital sex is legal
sometimes alright
when you get what
you want on the quiet

Salon Photography and Camera Clubs Make Me Puke

Salon Photography and Camera Clubs Make Me Puke, originally uploaded by firoze shakir photographerno1.

123,090 items / 847,771 views

I would not be what I am without my camera club that I joined in good faith , I went through the path most of you might have gone, I joined my camera club because I loved photography and was bought here by Shreekanth Malushte my photo guru , I met both my other gurus here Prof BW Jatkar and Mr KG Maheshwari, it was the golden age of enlightenment for me , I participated in competitive photography..with some success too so its not the case of a pot calling the kettle black.

Than came the digital camera , it changed my perspective it changed my life my thought process , I became a blogger , a poet a chronicler of pain through street photography.

I saw a newsletter from my club and the images showed me I was lucky that I had become a blogger , I am not a crab in a suffocating bottle , I am free , I am not a talented photographer like some of you , but I shoot pain evocatively , I shoot pain I feel it to I make you share it with me.

I spoke to my dear friend Atul Choubay , he has contributed to my digital beginnings and digital avatar, I asked him when he judges pictures what does he see..?

But than he stumped me by saying he could only see what was shown to him , like me he agreed there was no newness in competetive photography,

Everybody followed the old forefathers squirming in their graves. because even if they copied them it was in real bad poor taste.

I am a blogger but I believe a picture must touch..it must heal it must make the person relive an emotion..shooting a picture to show your importance as a photographer is pure conceit arrogance pompousness pedantic attitude nothing else.

The photographer is person like you and me, his surname or his importance as a cult figure is meaningless..see any newsletter or a salon catalog and you will not be ashamed to think like me that yes salon photography and camera clubs suck..they are regressive and take you a billion light years from reality.

A blog is not just photography it is heart and soul of life it adds fuel to fire so your minds engine does not rust or stagnate.

Yes I am a photo blogger and I am teaching a two year child to shoot pictures with a Nikon D 80 ..I call it Unlearning Photography.

Fuck F Stops .
.
I would have told Mr Phanibanda that but I am not Girish Mistry.

Who Is He?

Who Is He?, originally uploaded by firoze shakir photographerno1.

123,090 items / 847,771 views

I found him sitting in the slums at Iqbal Bhai caterers joint, I thought he might take objection to my shooting his pictures , but he did not.

Iqbal Bhai told me me he was seeking donations for a new Masjid..I did not say anything further ..I have no fight with him , he is just a spoke in a cog..a cog in a wheel of misfortune.

But it disheartens me that they build madarsas and new mosques , but the poor languish without hope, if things were not as depressing I portray I would not be shooting beggar Muslims who cross my camera path.


And begging in the name of Allah is nothing new , but now they bring tempos , using a loudspeaker to wake the conscience of the kids studying for their exams too...yes we are a community of rich men at one end of the spectrum and a large community of beggars too.

I dont stalk beggars at all, but yes they find their way online , I shot a beggar woman a few days back she was from Mira Road with two children , I gave her some money and told her to contact the mosques for help..I could not see her face she was veiled, but pain has no face all, and as a Muslim this and the sectarian strife among Muslims kills me.

Imagine brainwashing little kids to die for Islam , by killing innocent people.

And what fucks me completely , is educated people who tell me terrorists have no religion , if terrorists had no religion , they would not need to kill at all..it is Religion that makes terrorists out of people , misguided religion with rogue mullahs, Yazid was a Muslim the father of all Terrorism.. so dont tell me he was a Jew Christian or a Pharisee.. Hindu he was not I am sure of that.. Hinduism has benevolence humanity too..

So reading the newspapers and seeing the mayhem in the name of religion hits me too..as much as it hits you ...whatever be your religiosity.


Weapons have to sell, arm factories have to go on manufacturing death, and politicians keep the world divided ..in one form or another.

Well if you see the picture I originally shot of this man , he has flesh I added a dimension to his pictorial soul..I could have added poetry too.. but I let it pass.

But it becomes a poem if you read it like one...

Even My Dreams I Have Taken On Rent

Even My Dreams I Have Taken On Rent, originally uploaded by firoze shakir photographerno1.

i am sick and tired
i want my life to end
hopes hurtful
gurgling gasps
frothing foaming
into a gutter extend
into an abyss descend
choked on a river bend
a poetic pain befriends
a beginning with no end
what i am not
is what i pretend
a dichotomy of real
unreal a specter
i blend
broken wings
the maker
cannot mend
even my dreams
i have taken
on rent
thankfully
that god
has lent
at 18% p a
a loan
i regretfully
lament
every month
i pay
the premium amount
without argument
the fragrance
of her bodily scent
her falling
in love with
another man
i could not prevent
although
i have finally
deleted her
from my
fucked
consciousness
i am not content
her absence
i relent
ready to take
her back
in my open arms
without
malicious intent

A Rebel Without A Cause

A Rebel Without A Cause, originally uploaded by firoze shakir photographerno1.

life is a game
of snakes and ladders
a dice and a toss
sometimes
you have to start
all over again
life without a pause
not only your own
but you also carry
your wife's your childrens
complexity as a cross
on your frail shoulders
their profit made out
of your congenital loss
fucking absurd and gross
a barefeet blogger
a bleeding head
shooting another mans
religious ethos
street cacophony and chaos
what i shot what you see
is what comes across
poetic passion and pathos
as tears on the soul
of humanity outlined
outsourced embossed

The Tap of Life Has Gone Dry

The Tap of Life Has Gone Dry, originally uploaded by firoze shakir photographerno1.

123,087 items / 846,882 views

living
in the slums
rationed water
in short supply
you rob steal
you take
on the sly
or fight
for who
is first
dont shy
fisticuffs
abuses
rend
the sky
water
the source
of wealth
health
water to bathe
cook drink
or you die
this morning
bad news
another
water cut
the tap of life
has gone dry
a day in the life
of a slum dweller
of mumbai
aaaaaaaah
this is the city
the politicians
want to dress
up like shanghai
please dont call it
bombay
or your ass
they will fry
whether you
are karan johar
ram gopal varma
or subhash ghai
or you can bid
your hard made
film good bye
the government
you voted to
power
of the people
by the people
for the people
turns a nelsons eye
5 years till
the next election
as time goes by

Marziya Shakir Her Name

Marziya Shakir Her Name, originally uploaded by firoze shakir photographerno1.

123,085 items / 846,808 views

born into the soul of humility
marziya shakir her name
floating between one
layer and another
a frame within a frame
internets chosen child
computer mouse
monitor to blame
2 years old
on a memory
card of life
flickred
her way
to fame
9000 images
her lifes story
proclaim
an old man
barefeet
blogger
she did tame
one day
long after
i am gone
my inheritance
my heritage
she will claim
photographer no1
marziya asif shakir
her nickname
her first lesson
of unlearning
photography
from a tale
in mahabharta
see the bird
focus on the eye
depth of field
angle of focus
close your eyes
shoot and aim
pedantic
pompous
salon
photographers
hackneyed
media photographers
she will shame
oh she is
the furious physician
dr glenn losack md's
god daughter
they will exclaim


dedicated to glenn losack