God First Created A Face Than Added A Body To It

“I have seen a face with a thousand countenances, and a face that was but a single countenance as if held in a mould.

I have seen a face whose sheen I could look through to the ugliness beneath, and a face whose sheen I had to lift to see how beautiful it was.

I have seen an old face much lined with nothing, and a smooth face in which all things were graven.

I know faces, because I look through the fabric my own eye weaves, and behold the reality beneath.”
― Kahlil Gibran, The Madman

Faces and faces and faces
is the eternal story of man
the story of human races
man the day he is born
his face he unwittingly
embraces .. dreams
from birth to death
he chases .his giant
leaps his tortoise like
paces ..his face holds
all the mysteries of a
world secrets hidden
in phrases ..molecular
particles spectral traces
some moments he recreates
others he erases .hardships
sorrows sufferings he faces

Shooting faces is a great pictorial pastime , some use special lens , some shoot in studios street artists shoot in ambient light and it is fascinating the number of  faces you see some you shoot some you might not be able to shoot ,, some people mostly conservative Muslims take offense ,,and here I must tell you I shot a lady living out her last days and she was informed by a relative about my photo study of her poetcizing her pain so the Great Church of Christ and its white cassock ed souls could condescend to see her and wash away her sins before her untimely death , instead the lady concerned asked me to remove her pictures I did it immediately ,,, respect for the wishes of the people you shoot is very important .. and I also removed an old mans pictures when his loudmouth American based grandson took objection his grandmother used to hawk ladies garments in the market ,,the old man died recently and both loved Marziya my granddaughter .

So shooting faces is a real tough one , for those who shoot from far and call it candid s it much too easy ..shoot and move away ,, I have shot a lot of faces in Ajmer during the Urus and among the Rafaees Malangs Mastans you find a wide array of faces .. the most intriguing faces are of the Moosa or Sada Suhagins ascetics Sufi followers who are spiritual cross dressers they are men , they maybe married too but they dress like women without being effeminate , they are robust masculine with mustache and beards .

The next faces are of beggars and here you have to be tactful, give them some money endear yourself to them and request permission to shoot them , if they agree you could get a great photo study.. I have a cosmic relationship with beggars as I have begged with a lot of them at Ajmer , I carry my beggars bowl too and sit at Dhai Djinn Ka Jhopda , I have begged with Rafaees and the Naga Sadhus too. My earnings I give to a bigger much poorer beggar than me .
I shoot a continuing story board of a few beggars some have however disappeared but I shoot in Bandra Khwajah Bhai Jaffar Bhai both senior beggars at Bandra Bazar Road .

And I am shooting two new beggars with highly dramatic faces I feed them too.. but the most tragic is the child beggar I shot in Ajmer with no arms and accusing eyes , he was never happy to be friendly with me.

Appu the beggar from Assam with no hands or legs merely a torso has disappeared too.. I search for him both at Mahim Minara Masjid and Chor Bazar .

The next lot of faces mystically supreme and forcefully spiritual are the Naga Sadhus and I shot a lot during my stay at Maha Kumbh.. once you are known to them you can shoot them smoking ganja or doing puja or yoga ,, the foreigner Naga Sadhus dont take too kindly to Indian photographers I think.

The last but not the least is Hijra portraiture I must be humble but I have shot the largest number of Hijra transgender faces , old hags , beggar hijras , beautiful hijra divas , hijra children..I was lucky and most of the Hijras knew me , including the prostitute hijras and beggar hijras in trains .

Some hijras can be spiteful abusive but it did not matter if I wanted to shoot them..and I still shoot them though my pictures are not on public domain, I shot hijras taking a bath at the Sangam and I shoot a lot ,, I shot hijras piercing a rod 18 feet long during the Marriammen feast I shot Hijras being initiated at Hijra Gully No 1 .

So shooting faces is an amazing art and all you need is a bit of kindness and humility of your camera .. and if you give some money to the beggar you shoot he will bless you , I have yet to see a photographer carrying a model release form while shooting beggars so he can have his pictures chosen by Getty Images ,,for sale LOL ..

And I did not intend too write this much text but an earthen post filled with water has to be shared with everyone ,,and faces is something that intrigue us all beautiful faces , ugly faces faces with pock marks faces burnt with acid faces with sockets for eyes , leprous faces , faces that have masks over faces , and maybe our face is actually a mask over the sum total of our being ..

Faces ..of Human Races
scratch it another thought surfaces

31 March 2015 View On Pictures 107450 at Flickr

And I know a few people might consider this screenshot as showing off , but as a point and shoot DSLR User it s an encouragement to others that Original Content whether shot on the DSLR or the mobile phone will be viewed and you dont have to be envious at not having the best of camera or lenses .
And original content is what most bloggers avoid , they love to use images from the web sometimes even stealing from Flickr members I could never post a picture from the web  if I can shoot it ,  that is why I simply shoot my surroundings , images on my mobile phone when I set out on my morning walks ,,

And there is no method no deliberate composition I have hardly had training in formal photography , my textbook of photography has been all of you I follow on Flickr ,, I may not  like airplanes , artistic nudes , nude cyclists , flowers , mountains but once you added me I followed you , I will not add you if you are not a photographer and an empty timeline at Flickr .

I will not add you if you are into porn, genitalia  I am not interested in your dirty feet your precocious pictures of semi nude kids ,, fuck I have seen it all .. keep your fetish in your closet ,,

I have one great regret and that is Flickr may have come out with some great tools but when our pictures are stolen by Flickr members the lethargic laid-back approach by Yahoo Copyright is horrendous ... too much paperwork and Flickr should have its own safeguards than the Spaceball tool even a wiz kid can  hack.

Most of my hijra pictures even today are on Flickr members timeline and I simply shut my Hijra documentary and my Crossdresser  documentary from public view completely ..
I dont and will never use ugly Water Marks on the face of my pictures NEVER ,,People know what I shoot and how I shoot If I scroll a Flickr timeline I can tell you within seconds the name of the photographer .. I know a picture of Akbar Simonese .I kow my friend Randalls pictures  .I know a Benn Bell I know a Posey even when he hides his face behind a James Joyce book.. And I know a Thomas Hawk.. I could spot  it from a mile and no man shoots his wife as beautifully as Mr Hawk.. This is one couple God chose the match in Heaven.

I can spot David Seibolds pictures and we have met recently via Ello.. and there is Alex W and he is still hunting for beggars and earcleaners in LA .

And Meld who adds comments as ornaments to my pictures and Angel and her love for angels and cemeteries ..or Tender with his William Blake symbolism his wavelengths and his surreal images .. So when you see pictures of your 2000 friends on Flickr and say you are not influenced ,I dont believe you , I have unusual creativity Ramcur Rose Rosiehardy Eric Parker ,and so many others I could go on dropping names ,, you have all influenced me to shoot Original Content .. and I thank you all.

I have not shot India I am stuck in Mumbai and I try to discover re discover Mumbai and than I realize I am stuck in Bandra and Bandra keeps re discovering me throug its beggars , earcleaners .. barbers .

My hijra documentary is the most exotic I can say it with humility nobody has shot the Hijra with as much compassion than me ,, and this documentary will go with me to my grave.

And I pimp my Flickr timeline via Twitter 1.55 lac tweets , via Tumblr , Blogspot , Ello , Indiblogger and Google+ and it is not photography but as blogs .. photoblogs .

I could never use Flickr as merely a photography showcasing site , pictures must talk and connect and they do need description sometimes ,I am also grateful to those Flickr photographers who came to savor my family's hospitality in the bargain taught my grandchildren a trick or two to shoot I dont want them to end up as point and shoot DSLR users they should learn the art and technique of reading the light from within.. and the kids love it when someone enters our home to shed Light ,, without Light there can be no photography ..

And so a big thanks to all my Flickr friends ,,I am still limping , my leg is bandaged , my walking days at MET Cricket Grounds have ended disastrously ,, and with this limp I took Nerjis to Bandra Talao to shoot pictures last evening.

And I miss my friend Boaz ..and the staff at the Lucky Hotel miss him too.. LOL .

Hunger ...

A lady was buying masala dosa and this kid was watching enviously I was in a hurry for a meeting I wish I had fed him..

The Street Barbers Of Bandra Reclamation

These guys sit on the main Bandra Reclamation junction , and surely they pay hafta to the cops and the municipality , hafta is protection money for plying their trade and they will pay money for doing business here to the local don.  so you to pay a price to survive in Mumbai even as a street barber .

And the workers slum dwellers , taxidriver , rickshadrivers mostly sit here for a shave or haircut ,,and this is the biggest hub of ricksha driver s ,, so the barbers are mostly busy ,, than there is mundan or religious tonsure or even the Muslim male childs circumcision,,which gets them extra money.

And if I pass this way to take a bus I shoot their pictures and I would rather shoot these common folks than run after celebrities ,,my granddaughter Nerjis has shot them too and as a 3 year old she is never intimidated by adults ,, and one day when I am gone  she will remember these street moments nostalgically ,

The Street Barbers Of Bandra Reclamation

This was shot yesterday while going to see my diabetes doctor at Mahim , and I shoot rapidly , my kind of photography most of the time has no time for composing and I prefer to point and shoot as these are not planned pictures these are forced on my pictorial consciousness by the Lord of Light and Shadows .

I chatted with the barbers  , and the latest topic was the new barber cutting hair in their open air salon,, he was from Jharkand . the other two from Bihar I think..

I know them for so many years but I dont know their names I have never had time to sit with them talk to them , but yes I will shoot their video and bring them out of the wilderness of their surroundings let people know about the common working man a migrant in this case in Mumbai..Mumbai has given them home and if the satraps of their state like Mr Nitish Kumar and Mr Manjhi were not fighting for a bungalow and concentrated on jobs infrastructure I can assure these guys would never come to Mumbai to work as slaves and the same with Mr Akhilesh Yadav.. they never tried hard enough the only reason they do anything is to get votes be in power and have fancy shows at Saifai as the Bhaiyya slogs his ass .

I had once gone to shoot the red light area at Kamatipura and was shocked to see a few Bhaiyyas in sarees painted lips working as eunuchs and they were new to the trade .. and when everything fails than necessity becomes the mother of Invention.

Well thats that , I am at home for the moment my morning walks are over with the hairline fracture on my leg I am limping in the house and if my dead Mother was alive she would say someone has cast an evil eye at  you at the MET Cricket grounds as I walked a lot , yesterday before I got my leg checked by the bonesetter I was in pain but I still walked 4 km using the Nike Running application ..

I went to the bone setter late in the night at 8 pm and after he had finished with my leg and I had shot his video I went into the slums I had an urgent work and from there limping went to Pali Naka to meet Mr Yusuf Lakdawala I tailor his clothes ..the  meeting was at the house of Qureishi Builders ..

And here I remember the owner of Qureishi Builders Mr Babu Qureishi  a very humble man he used to walk with us at Joggers Park , he loved to exercise in the park and was very kind to me ,, as he knew me when I stayed at Veronica Road Bandra on rent , he was constructing Qureishi Heights Bandra at Waroda Roadd  those days ,, and he died while working out at Joggers Park.. the other person who died like this was Mr Tanwani of Union Drapers Elco Market Bandra .. he too got an attack in the park,

On retrospection I doubt I will be able to walk for a few days as it would aggravate my leg .. and I am  now tied to my bed like a pet dog..but I have to work .. and most of all you guys will get a much needed break from my Garbage Art ,

Marziya has her exams she has gone to school , Nerjis and Zinnia are fast asleep..

I have taken a Brufen for the killing pain.. but I shall overcome  but my legs are unlucky the last wound on my leg because of my diabetes took almost 6 months to heal.. and I cover my legs more than my Ass.

Wife silently accuses me of overdoing whatever I do,.. what was the need to go to the Caves she says with her eyes  ,, And I Shut The Fuck Up.

The Holistic Bone Setters Of Bandra SV Road

I have been coming to Nizam the bone setter  since 15 years .. and have never gone to an orthopedist ever ..it takes about 5 days for my fracture to heal this is a hairline fracture while climbing the caves at Murud Janjira recently,, and too much pain.

A bonesetter is a practitioner of joint manipulation. Before the advent of chiropractors, osteopaths, and physical therapists, bonesetters were the main providers of this type of treatment.[1] Bonesetters would also reduce joint dislocations and "re-set" bone fractures.

video

Garbage At Night Cosmically Seen In Spectral Light

doomed shadows
lights bright ,,i was
wondering whether
to turn this into
black and white
the soul of garbage
a mortal fight for
some an awful sight
for beggar poets
street art in poetic
flight ,, garbage
where god lives
on this burial site
as man generates
garbage funereal
rites even angels
take fright ..as crows
goats rats dogs cats
nibble in delight ..
poetry and pathos
passionately in
unison re unite
every morning
as the suns rays
envision to excite
i offer my prayers
to the lord of the flies
despite the mosquito
bites ..a garbage god
humble human polite
eyeless to wastelands
of human plight