Documenting and Taking Pictures Are Two Different Things .., a photo by firoze shakir photographerno1 on Flickr.
I shot the Pitru Paksh Hindu religious feast on the banks of the Banganga for 3 hours I had a leg with a suspected hairline fracture I was not sure but I could not and would not miss this shoot ...I have been shooting Pitru Paksh for 8 years now .. I dont know much about the religious aspect so I copy paste the text from other sources but I shoot pictures and I shoot it as passionately as I would shoot my own faith.
I like shooting barbers , the street variety type and I have been documenting this community also for a very long time I call this set at Flickr Barberism.. I shoot religious tonsure too .
Most of my stuff is shot in Mumbai.. lack of financial resources , and no time , keeps me away from moving out of Mumbai.
And I a not interested in landscape or tourist stuff or wild life ..I prefer shooting humanity culture and tribal people , traditions and rituals.
The only person as a photographer on the same track like me though more divinely gifted is Dr Glenn Losack MD New York .. we enjoy shooting beggars , Kumbh and other communities .
I was a passionate shooter of the Hijra community documenting their androgynous angst ..I have over 18000 images blogs of hijra life , hijra children, hijra shamans but sadly I dont think the common public understands the hijra .. for the the hijra is a sex object so I refuse to show my images barring a few to the general public....I shoot less and only close friends people I know personally can see these pictures and blogs.
My granddaughter has been shooting hijras from the age of 3 ... and she knows their angst and their pain.. photography is a inner thing shooting outer things , photography is a mystical holistic science and a spiritual fine art too..
So as a photographer I shoot my own Faith Shiasm for the Non Muslim and my foreigner friends my pictures of my faith are not for proselytizing my faith ..I will be shooting less from now on wards ...personal reasons and only the main days ..Ashura Chehlum and Athvi that too not in Mumbai but other places .
I shoot Sufism connected to do the Chishtiya Order .. and The Dam Madar Malangs the Sufi order of Imam Ali to which I belong .. and I joined this because of m frame of mind that hates theocratic terrorism, and prefers the peace aspect of my religiosity ..I live among the Malangs during the Ajmer Urus .. the other place is Haji Malang Mountains .. I climb the mountains barefeet and this is a place I call home too.
I shoot the Urus of Makhdhoom Shah Baba and Fakhruddin Shah Baba in Mahim simply because I started my journey into Sufism with the body piercing Rafaees .. I know most of them and documented the Chancawalli or Shansawalli Rafaees for a very long time.
I am very close to the Naga Sadhus I have been a student of Tantra under my Naga Teacher Shri Vijay Giri Maharaj.. of Juna Akhada , a very educated pace loving Naga with a lot of Muslim friends who visit him during the Kumbh.. I lived with the Naga Sadhus at their Ashram at Timbakeshwar.. and this is a very sensitive association .. I have not met Shri Vijay Giri Maharaj for a long time now he stays at Dindoshi Shanti Ashram close to Film City.
So shooting these communities showcasing their cause lifestyle is the genre of my photography.. it is not for fucked fame or fucked commercial gain.
My profession is not photography it is merely a hobby on a cosmic plane .
Both my grand daughters 5 year old and 14 month old are fond of the camera ...
