bollywood matinee Photo

Photographer’s Note

This pair are father and daughter. The girl was totally absorbed in drinking milk and her father, watching the film; or sleeping, I'm not sure. Looking at the television, I almost wish the picture was clearer; though, I also like that it takes place as a light in the "black void". One could interpret that it has a symbolic presence in the scene, as well as life in India and its society. Perhaps some clarification is needed?!?

This image is a personal favourite as its one of the first times I've played with light.

1st in a series...

part ii

tdsi, BHo, ElSato, scotthosner, xuaxo, touristdidi, hlaingwinnhtun, RADEEH, lukas, aliiftikhar, MLINES, Emiel_Skyfreak, thaprem, branley has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

azerty (225) 2006-02-04 8:40

Hi Kajal,
I like this picture,colors and lights and composition are wonderfull,
each one in his word ,and a complexe light to show it,
good realisation

akustyk (1967) 2006-02-04 8:40

nice shot, with well captured reality. good lighting and the naturality of the scene make up for a remarkable shot

sheilaz413 (275) 2006-02-04 9:22

Hi Kajal,

I enjoy this shot a lot. It very nicely captures a piece of everyday life. Sometimes mundane actions turns out to be some of the most beautiful. There's a lovely tone to this whole photograph. Well done!

BHo (2177) 2006-02-04 9:32

The strongest point in the photo is the lighting, which you did well to recreate. Secondly, the shot has a great feel to it because of the atmosphere in the room and the subjects. I like this photo very much and can see why it would be your personal favourite as well. Well taken Kajal.

sohrab (7423) 2006-02-04 10:14

nice attempt at chiaroscuro here....

"I also like that it takes place as a light in the "black void". One could interpret that it has a symbolic presence in the scene, as well as life in India and its society."

hmmmmmmmm interesting thought.. although you've not really been able to insinuate it in your photographs.. while your photograph is pretty much all about visuals, what you really need here is the feel.. apart from the lighting etc, you should focus a lot on the bodylanguage of your subjects.. i think maybe then you'll be able to insinuate what you want to insinuate in a much stronger way. i should know that you're insinauting something without you mentioning your intention.. and even though i'm aware of your intention now, i don't really know what you're insinuating.

light in the black void?? what symbolic presence are you really talking about? is it something in general or something connected to this particular scene?
take care :)

[6] +

regardscroises (0) 2006-02-04 11:14

hi kajal
nice moment, nice colors, i like very much the light disposition and the mining that it give to the photo.

regards croises

Homerhomer (4005) 2006-02-04 11:54

Interesting topic ( I am talking about your reply to Sohrab), which further explains your emotions and feeling associated with this photo, for me however, just like for Sohrab, this is a visual joy, that perhaps doesn't evoke as deep emotions as in you, who had a chance to witness and feel the surrounding, which is perhaps even deepened by your and your family history, having said that IMO this is a darn good photo.
The play of colours and light is superb, the tv which stands out in the dark superbly balances the warmth of the right side of the room, I am getting a peacefull and relaxing feeling out of it.
Looking forward to more from you Kajal, welcome to TE.
Peter

RADEEH (2772) 2006-02-05 21:09

Wow you have captured an Indian living room in an breathtaking way,So simple it looks but a composition wise a superb one.Most of the living rooms in India in evening is like this,there are a huge number of channels (approx 100 & more) which gives music , films, serials, gameshows etc etc, Full family will engaged in TV for hours together .Actually its killing creativity of the society. You should have given the title IDIOT BOX

AnimeshRay (8886) 2006-02-06 22:29

Welcome to TE! The shot is fabulous. Apparently simple, it is a complex composition in many levels.

Let me jump into the conversation. As you, Sohrab and Peter speak of the void in which the tube glows, likewise, the indifferent father, the lonely child against the wall, the lonely bed half-covered in darkness (OK, I agree the other half is illuminated, but maybe I am a pessimist!), the rectangular array of doors and windows that must be opened to reach the light that becons us outside, all of these make an intricate web of coherent and consistent thoughts.

I read your response to Sohrab where you lament the rising embrace of western values as typified by the television. I would, however, point to a more insidious factor here, that of alienation of the self from the community, of the confinement of one's thought processes into a one-to-one engagement with a preprogrammed script. What we miss out, because of TV, is the opportunity for spontaneous and active communications with another thinking individual. True the little girl if born 50 years ago probably wouldn't have communicated much with her father either, because the Indian society tended to isolate their adult males into their own spheres of absorption. Nonetheless, a child 50 years ago would be less lonely than now--perhaps a direct consequence of the rise of the nuclear family.
I also worry about the lonely bed--as a symbol of indifferent marital relationship--is that as acute as ever in the Indian society? Is it just more visible today than it was in the past?

ElSato (824) 2006-02-06 23:52

Kajal,

Having read the group discussion that's arisen around this picture (you, Sohrad, Animesh, Peter, etc.) I'm going to elect to stay off the topic of India in particular, simply because I don't feel qualified to say much about it, and just say that I think this is an excellent photograph from a general, human, point of view.

The TV glowing in the darkness really does tie this location to much of the rest of the world, while other elements of it are so particularly Indian, and these things taken together very effectively place those of us who are not in India on familiar territory and in a strange place all at the same time. That's a lovely trick.

I love the use of layered depths, by the way: the room in the foreground, the room beyond, and the door beyond that leading to spaces beyond. The colours are wonderful, and personally I like the darkness in which the screen is floating... it emphasizes the distance between the world of television and the world of this living room. It also creates a negative space that implies all the things we can't see: the rest of this room, the rest of this home, the other parts of these people's lives.

The positions of the father and daughter can be read many ways. Depending on one's inclination they could seem to be relaxing together (at least they are in the same room together!), or isolated from one another by the different things to which they're paying attention (in which case being in the same room only adds pathos).

All in all a very engaging and complex image.

Lee

flydragon (0) 2006-02-09 1:36

hello Kajal
i was looking your galerie
i like this one
i like the light, the mood here
and the warm color
this is also good that you have the tv in shadow
very well seen a good picture
regards
••simon••

xuaxo (5835) 2006-02-09 18:59

Hi Kajal,
After so many (interesting) discussions, let me tell you my plain point of view. What I see here is a man and a girl watching the idiot box (thanks for the words, Radeeh). This can be in India or pretty much anywhere else. There is no clue about the place; these people (type, skin color) are not easy to find in most of Africa or China, but if you'd told me that this photo was taken in Portugal or even Cape Verde, I'd believe you.
Concerning the photo (not the scene), I like the play darkness/light.
It is interesting that, from the darkness (or "black void") the idiot box commands the scene (and these discussions). Its presence is more real than symbolic. These discussions prove it.

Of course the man is already sleeping :-)

ramesh_lalwani (3209) 2006-02-18 7:04

I like this picture of yours.You hae taken advantage of half lit room with TV in dark area.Probably it is evening sunlight.TFS
ramesh

Ravee (33) 2006-02-28 2:30

Hi Kajal,
Really it shows moode of the house..and also, less affection between father & daughter..

khoiyte (22) 2006-03-03 4:30

A nice picture !

rajhema (1867) 2006-03-03 9:43

Typical Indian shot. Many things I've noticed that are intact. worn out paint in the walls which is not really a big deal, after I started living here now I walk around my house patching small cracks with the paints that I never did when I was there. Natural light usage is remarkable. I love it. Vibrant red and designer blankets are attractive and the in-depth indian style watching unlike here I have TVs in all rooms and at any given moment all of us watch a different channels. I read your comments about "Western Influence". Yes, I agree as a parent I'm doing the same thing that my parents did to me - Feeling bad about western influence among children. But When I happened to see some old Indian b/w movies I noticed the western introduction was back then too. It is not new at all to our society. Also, we forget to notice that we have other influences as well such as Arab and chinese. For some reason, we tend to look for western influences only. Don't get me wrong, I'm one of them. But it is just a catch I made when I tried to analyse the situation. Moreover, it can't be avoided with the recent globalization!

-- Powerful picture Kajal.

BrianGraney (1734) 2006-03-04 18:23

This is the first time I've seen a photo here that has caused so many discussions - you've really touched a nerve here!
I may join in the discussion tomorrow....
Yes I love the way you have used light and composed this shot.
I'm also interested in the way it's possible to read things into images that may or may not have been in your mind when you took the picture: it's good when there are so many interpretations.
Look forward to seeing more of your work here.
Best wishes
Brian

mariusz_w (452) 2006-03-05 14:27

Hi Kajal!

You have a very interesting portfolio with daily life pictures... but that one is amazing. I like the situation, the mood, light and simplicity of colours.

Regards,
Mariusz

touristdidi (8561) 2006-03-11 4:57 [Comment]

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elBud (2211) 2006-03-11 12:04

i love the colors of this picture, really good and like old back to the 80´s
i love the girl sit drinking milk and the dark in the left.... really good!

nivas37 (662) 2006-03-12 11:18

Colors! Colors! this one is just worth the wonderful mix of colors... I like the way the light fades into darkness, and the TV illuminates thereafter... Quite a natural picture!

fiedziu (1762) 2006-03-13 15:46

really great picture :o)))
superb shadow, super composition, great colors
regards

Salil_B (737) 2006-03-15 22:57

A fine image. A conscious and aware image. You have depicted a common scene with sensitivity. Excellent mood
Salil

Polonaise (5638) 2006-03-18 14:02

Do these people know that you're there, in their house, next to them?

two thumbs up.

Sambussy (0) 2006-03-22 4:17

Hello Kajal,
Today, I looked at your gallery for the first time and this picture took my consideration.
I specially like the colors and the reflection on the ground. I've seen this little girl on other pictures, very cute!
Thanks for your encouragements.
Regards.

Charles

futureuniverse (136) 2006-03-29 11:52

Hi Dear Kajal!
very good picture with nice colors and light...
very well done kajal
thanks for posting

bulanbiru (62) 2006-04-03 10:47 [Comment]

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avachava (26) 2006-04-09 10:13 [Comment]

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twjthornton (1888) 2006-04-23 13:43

Super shot with all the right things exposed.

TRubin (0) 2006-05-02 9:27 [Comment]

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Furachan (0) 2006-05-25 5:08

Hi kaj,
It was thanks to Sohrab's featured critique that I found this marvelous shot. There is so much going on in this quiet scene, it's like one of the silences in a Harold Pinter play...
Brilliant,
Francis

s10001in (1485) 2006-05-28 0:26

Hi Kajal.
This is nice shot & also wonderful comment by Sohrab.

Well, This image says lot.
A house for name sake it is house but..dose not have anything other than 4 walls even though having a existance of few objects.
Everybody is so silent that brings bit sad , lonly touch to this shot.

TV brings some action in this shot but when I look to this small girl it totally freez the action of TV & I feel to look at a cavity from where the light is coming.

That light is very much symbolic, showing the state of heart of small girl. I feel.
Though the girl is watching TV, she is looking for some fun with her dad but some how TV is much for dad & no way but now it is every thing for that girl too.

I like this image.
very well done.
Thanks for sharing.
Regards, Shailendra

mopinia (153) 2006-05-29 9:22

HI Kajal! I had a friend with the same name. I really miss her smile. Anyway, getting back to the picture, your pic has really attracted a lot of philosophical, psychological analysts and mumbo-jumbo types. This picture could well fit in any society and country. Replace father with mother and you'll see a mother enjoying her soap opera while the kid is enjoying her refreshing milk sitting on the cool floor on a warm day. Just another typical day. Although, to be analytical, I could see the TV in its cloak of darkness as the idol-worshipped and all-powerful demigod of household appliances. "All eyes are upon me. Bwuahahaha!" All in all, it is a great composition. Thanks for sharing! - Mike O.

iGirl (1223) 2006-08-13 21:33

Hi Kajal, this is a fascinating picture! I like how you have played with light, with the dramatic contrast and especially the TV scree glowing out of the "void." A nice daily life shot.

Thanks for sharing!

Erin

zeus (1462) 2006-08-23 13:30

Very good use of light...the TV on the dark area of the picture is awesome...also the colors are great...

thaprem (2498) 2006-10-25 6:05

Kajal,
Defenitely a wonderful trial, gives me a mood of melancholy, one that you feel just when you get up from your sleep...
A very unconnected yet vey much entwined subjects by a abstract conection by the media.
Well done.
Cheers,
Prem.

branley (3681) 2006-11-06 14:10

Hi Kajal,

a simple view of everyday life played out in front of your camera. It's almost a black & colour image with the dark patch on the left only punctured by the light from the TV. On the right we have glorious colour and the image is complete with the presence of the little girl and her dad. A really super shot and, by the way, I have no idea what Sohrab is talking about.

Regards

Stephen

cepekdong (3668) 2006-12-19 10:08

fantastic shutter speed and great colours

dan

prasadpaul (291) 2007-10-17 9:15 [Comment]

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