https://maptia.com/rahulnath/stories/blurry-faces
We pass by thousands of people everyday, from the person idling by the roadside trying to kill time to the person trying to break bread, trying to churn out his/her best possible from each day, people of several years, tales and experiences, each fighting their own demons, each having their own stories. Do we know all of them? No. Do we care to know? Maybe a little. These series of images below depict my humble attempts at getting to know these blurry faces amidst the fleeting moments in our everyday lives.
OF ALIEN INSTRUMENTS.
The little girl trying out the dials on the camera and the photograph I took of her immediately afterwards. Besant Nagar, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, 600001, India
Chasing colourful frames and tangerine skies on a Sunday morning, this image isn’t quite what I had expected to capture. A group of us from college were busy setting up tripods, chasing timelapses and long exposures of the early morning calm, when I suddenly felt someone tugging at my sleeve, it was this child in the image, one who usually spends her mornings roaming around the beach asking for alms, but with our group she had a different agenda in mind. She was curious to know what these contraptions with long sticks for legs were, what the chatter sound it made when a button was pressed meant. She wanted to know what these instruments were for they were alien to her, and boy was she elated when she got to know what it does.
The little one was overjoyed on realising that this instrument can be used to replicate one’s face onto a screen.
PRIVILEGE.
The little boy gazing at one of the shop windows in Khan Market, behind him several passers-by also look to see what is on display. Khan Market, New Delhi, Delhi, 110003, India
A good friend of mine told me a thing or two about the idea of privilege, and showed me a very insightful cartoon strip to illustrate the idea of the same. And it isn’t very difficult to spot this concept play out in our everyday lives. A casual stroll down any random street in a city will help us identify the stark contrasts that exist between the several people who pass by us. This image only portrays one such frame of the millions that exist across our country. The attire of the boy and his compatriot is in contrast to the several passers-by in the picture, his presence in the area which is supposedly one of the biggest commercial locations in the capital city is in itself a contrast.
Maybe the statement “India is a country of contrasts” works both ways.
STRIVING.
Two street musicians going about their day in Brussels. Brussels, Ville de Bruxelles – Stad Brussel, Brussels-Capital, 1000;1040, Belgium
Street music is always something that is revered and romanticised by passers-by and tourists. It always feels good to walk down a street on a nice summer day listening to someone talented humming your favourite song, and maybe just to stand there and listen to it and maybe, just maybe tip them for the generous but short-lived good vibes they gave you. But street musicians live a tough life and a lot of factors come into play while deciding how much they earn through the course of a day. Everything from their age, to the kind of music they play to the weather all play a crucial role as to how receptive the public will be to their performances. Some may attract one or two enthusiasts like the gentleman on the left while others may attract people by the swarms, like the gentleman on the right. Here’s to the life and beat of the street.
EARLY BIRDS.
A man sweeping the underpass, A group of construction workers, A man arranging the bundle of morning newspapers. Chennai, Tamil Nadu, 600001, India
Mornings always help me open my eyes to a different set of people who are hard at work, apart from the everyday commuters. These are the kind of people whose work goes unnoticed most of the time, and even though many a time most people are glad someone does it, no one knows who does it, how they do it or the toil that goes behind it. From the person who sweeps our streets clean in the early hours of morning, the people who help build the structures we reside and study in ,all crammed into the backside of a pickup truck, from their homes far away, toiling for those daily wages ,to the person who arranges the newspaper before it reaches any household and sells tea for those joggers by, these early birds are the life and blood of a city.
CHILDHOODS.
Few of the kids at the Amir Khusrao Park settlement. Delhi, India
LIVELIHOODS.
The art of not falling over. Hamburg, Germany
I mistook him for a statue right from the start, I am sure everyone who threw a first glance at him did, until a couple of people started dropping change into the small tin can kept in front of him, that’s when he suddenly loosened his posture, and waved genially to the donors, and then went back to being a statue again. His costume and the contraption — which runs behind his legs helping him to create the illusion of sitting on thin air are his own design. Smeared in golden paint from head to toe, he sits here the whole day, through the warm sun and icy cold harbour winds, attracting tourists and prodding the curiosity of the little ones passing by, all in a day’s earning. Makes you wonder about the things people do for a livelihood.
GETTING CLICKED.
For the fun of it, they say. Parrys Corner, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, 600001, India
Not every picture must have a heart clenching story behind it, some people like being clicked for the fun of it. These gentlemen saw me loitering around with a camera one fine morning and the man on the left wanted to see how his new cap suited him, and his friend decided to join in. Their faces literally scream “We are posing for the fun of it”. Some stories are like that, simple and straightforward.
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