These are three stories in one ,,as a camera club photographer I was repressively pushed back into a world of regressive stupid rules , and shoved fine art in my reluctant rectum.. There was hardly any mention of street photography ,, and once I took vanvas exile from camera club culture I discovered photography on the net ,, I began posting my pictures under the various heads of religion as that was my genre or people photography , I did not know the ways of the net in 2005 and it was only in 2007 when I reached the shores of Flickr as a Buzznet refugee it was late Fred Miller who told me to tag my pictures as street photography and so I became a street photographer by default ,, I began to stalk the streets of Chor Bazar and I have crossed over 65000 street blogs at Flickr .. even more if you take my religious pictures shot on the streets .
And I had great masters at that time Tom Andrews my first inspiration at Buzznet .. Eric Parker at Flickr Akbar Simonese the Master of Street Photography stark haunting pictures that left a mark on your psyche ,, he did not manipulate situations , simple pictures with masterly thoughts ,, there are many more but they are into composite photography and 8Hai his Chinese street images of tea drinkers .. these are out of the world so honestly Flickr began educating me inspiring me , without Flickr I would have been caught in a bottle of crab shooting the same shit that you see in Camera club Newsletters and their rip off salon brochures ,, I am lucky by throttling the soul of my analogue photography and rechristening myself as a Blogger I did reach personal milestones ,,I am still unlearning what ever shit I was forced at camera club level.. and mind you I am a product of the camera club I dont want to live in a prison of another dead masters mind .
My second thought street barbers I cannot stop myself from shooting them they contributed to my street photography I shot them prolifically , these migrants from Badayun , Meerut Bareilly and other Uttar Pradesh hick towns ,, they came to Mumbai with dreams in their eyes and scissor comb in their hands and I shot them as kids working on adults ,, Barberism Religious Tonsure Akika is what I shot and Mundan and this is my set on Flickr ,, I think I have an album of almost all the street barbers of Bandra ,,and I must confess I shoot street barbers like a madman I shoot them on Pitru Paksha at Banganga Walkeshwar.
The third thought pictures heal.. my kid sister used to tell me the day I shot Lalbagh Chya Raja to give a copy to her teacher who was invalid ,, this was her Darshan on my picture and I dont know if it really healed her as much as it healed me by giving it to her I hardly give pints ,, the only time I gave 100 prints was to Heena HIjra at Pila House my muse my model and an androgynous spirit ,, now all their pictures are locked up from public view , and I have a lot of Salon prints .. one lot was of my Gurus Ling Kriya pictures that I recently gave it to him..they were with me since 2003,.. yes pictures heal and they heal from within and without ,,having a camera to shoot pictures to calibrate your ego is not photography..
And photography healed me of my chronic alcohol dependence my hot temper ,, and sobered me sanely I think..
You see a picture but you read a blog. this is a photo blog million light years from a picture you shoot at Ladakh or Himachal..
