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Recent Posts
- Another Year, Another Itdyadi
- Our Truly Amazing TV Debut: Behind the Scenes
- Holi in Bangladesh Part 2: the Ruined Roll
- Holi in Bangladesh
- Hashing Out Old Dhaka
- The Blog is Back: First Impressions of Dhaka, Bangladesh
- A Few Words About My Father
- The Sky is NOT Always Blue in California
- “Artisans” documentary series – final (?) episode
- Every Day is a Surprise. Also, People are A$$h0Le5. (part 2)
Category Archives: Life in India
Introducing Analog / Film Cameras to a New Generation
You don’t have to be as old as me to remember using analog/film cameras. But there’s an entire generation entering university (depending on where you grew up) that has grown up with photography as a purely digital phenomenon – often … Continue reading
Posted in Life in India, Photography, general, Vintage cameras
Tagged analog, film, Photography, teaching, village, youth
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Testing the Minolta SR-T-101
Awhile back, I posted about the Petri 7S, one of two cameras my mother-in-law had passed along to me. This post is on the other camera, a Minolta SR-T-101. This Minolta is an SLR that first appeared on the market … Continue reading
Posted in Life in India, Vintage cameras
Tagged black and white, Chennai, India, Minolta, SLR, SR-T 101, SRT-101, vintage
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Final Chennai Photowalk
I’ve been out of India for over three weeks now, but wanted to finish sharing our experiences of our last few weeks in India before closing out that wonderful chapter in our lives, as documented in the TAZM Pictures blog. We … Continue reading
Posted in Life in India, Photowalks
Tagged Chennai, cow, India, instant, Lomo'Instant, photowalk, street
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The Chennai Photowalk
One of the best things about Chennai, for us, was the “photowalks.” A photowalk is basically just walking around with a camera and seeing what you can photograph. Often these walks are in groups. I discovered photowalks in Chennai, though … Continue reading
Posted in Life in India, Photography, Photowalks
Tagged activities, Chennai, Photography, photowalk, reasons, street, Tirusulam
3 Comments
Birdwatching from the Hotel Pool
One of the highlights from our recent trip to Jaipur was the beautiful hotel pool. On our last day there, fed up with the heat, waiting for an evening flight, we arranged for a late checkout and decided to spend … Continue reading
Posted in Life in India, Photography, general, Wildlife and Nature
Tagged bee-eater, birds, bulbul, diving, high-speed photography, passerine, Photography, red-vented
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Jaipur, India: Street Photography Goldmine
I have done a few posts already about our trip to Jaipur, India. It was only a 4-day trip, but as I have been looking through our photos, it’s surprising the number and quality of interesting shots we were able … Continue reading
Posted in Life in India
Tagged Hawa Mahal, India, Jaipur, Jal Mahal, Rajasthan, rickshaw, street photography
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MORE Monkeying Around in Jaipur
Our recent trip to Jaipur, in Rajasthan, India’s largest state, was short but we brought back a lot of photos. I posted awhile back about our encounter with monkeys our first day there; it turns out this would not be … Continue reading
Monkeying Around in Jaipur
With only a month or so before we leave India, we finally made it to Rajasthan, the country’s largest state, located on the northwestern border with Pakistan, and home to the inhospitable Thar Desert. Literally translated as the “land of … Continue reading
Posted in Life in India, Wildlife and Nature
Tagged Gaitor, high-speed, Jaipur, langurs, monkeys, Photography
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The Ashram: Following in the Beatles’ Footsteps
One of the places we were eager to see on our recent trip to Rishikesh, in northern India, was the so-called “Beatles Ashram.” The former ashram of the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, on the left bank of the Ganges overlooking Rishikesh, … Continue reading
Posted in Life in India, Photography, general
Tagged 1960s, abandoned, ashram, Beatles, black and white, domes, Maharishi, Mahesh, meditation, Retina 1a, Rishikesh, Yogi
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Strolling (and Rafting) through Rishikesh
Not too long ago, we had a chance to visit Rishikesh, in northern India and the Himalayan foothills, known as a top yoga and adventure travel destination. You may have also heard about Rishikesh as the site of the ashram … Continue reading
Posted in Life in India
Tagged Aarti, Ganga, Ganges, grey langur, India, Ram Bridge, Rishikesh, whitewater rafting
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Petri 7S Test
Half a year ago, my mother-in-law asked me if I could use an old Petri 7S and a Minolta SRT101 they had laying around and after some quick research online I responded “most definitely!” The Minolta will be the subject … Continue reading
Posted in Life in India, Vintage cameras
Tagged Kolam contest, Mahabalipuram, mylapore, Petri 7s, Tirukalukundram, vintage camera
2 Comments
When 2000 Giant Ganesha Idols are Immersed in the Sea
My Indian friends who grew up nearby tell me it wasn’t always like this. They say when they were growing up, during the festival Ganesh Chaturthi, they would have a small clay statue of Lord Ganesha, one of Hinduism’s most … Continue reading
Posted in Life in India, Video Effects
Tagged Chaturthi, Chennai, deity, festival, Ganesh, Ganesha, idols, immersion, India, potato stamp, Vinayaka
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Hiking in a Himalayan Hailstorm
We went on a trek this morning – quite short and easy by trekkers’ standards, but pretty long for old(er) folks staying at a resort in the Himalayas where there’s a golf cart and driver if you don’t feel up … Continue reading
Posted in Life in India
Tagged hail, hiking, Himalayas, Kunjapuri, Rishikesh, trekking
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Tirukalukundram
Eighteen kilometers west of the Tamil Nadu tourist town of Mahabalipuram is a town of about 24,000 called Tirukaludundram which is known for its hilltop temple, the Vedagiriswarar temple. The temple consists of an upper part up on a hill, which can … Continue reading
Posted in Life in India, Photowalks
Tagged film, India, monkeys, Photography, Tirukalukundram, Vedagiriswarar temple
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Pongal in Chennai / Camera Test
Often I blog about old cameras I’m testing out, often I blog about things we see and experience in India. This post has a little of both! The Ansco Agfa Karomat 36 (known by variants of that name) is an … Continue reading
Posted in Life in India, Vintage cameras
Tagged 36, Agfa, ansco, Chennai, Elliot Beach, festival, India, Karat, Karomat, pongal, Tamil
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Chennai’s Republic Day Parade
Today was a pretty special day in India – even President Obama agreed, as he spent the better part of the day with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, having been invited as Chief Guest for the annual Republic Day Parade. President … Continue reading
Posted in Life in India, Uncategorized
Tagged Chennai, India, pageantry, parade, Republic Day
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Chennai by Night: Bhogi
I have some interesting photos and videos to share since I last posted in mid-December – but first, some information on the current happenings in Chennai! It’s Thai Pongal, the four-day harvest festival and one of the most important holidays … Continue reading
Varanasi: The View from Mother Ganga
Varanasi, India is, one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. Also known as Benares, Banaras or Kashi, the city’s identity is inseparable from the River Ganges, along whose left bank the city of just over 1 million residents … Continue reading
Posted in Life in India
Tagged boat ride, Ganga, Ganges, ghats, Hindu, Hinduism, India, Photography, sadhu, sunrise, Varanasi
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Varanasi: Walking the Ghats
In previous posts I’ve talked about the “ghats” of Varanasi. People keep asking me, “What exactly IS a ghat, anyway?” Basically it’s a series of steps leading down to the river. We spent hours walking along the ghats. And not … Continue reading
Varanasi: In and Around Town
There is an endless number of interesting faces, places and scenes to photograph in Varanasi. Last week I shared some photos of the ghats along the river – where most of the tourists hang out; but in this city of … Continue reading
Posted in Life in India
Tagged bat, Benares, Buddhism, Chaukhandi Stupa, Durga Puja, Ramnagar Fort, Sarnath, street scenes, Varanasi
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Death along the Ganges
As Americans – like most “Westerners” – we are for the most part, relatively isolated from death. Not that we don’t have people close to us dying – we just don’t deal with the specifics. I reflected on this just a … Continue reading
Posted in Life in India
Tagged cremation, death, Ganges, ghat, Manikarnika, Varanasi
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Varanasi by Night
We finally had the opportunity to visit Varanasi, India – also known as Benares or Kashi – one of the seven holy cities of Hinduism and Jainism, and also important in the development of Buddhism. Varanasi, a city of 3 … Continue reading
Posted in Life in India
Tagged Aarti Ganga; puja; festival, Ganges, Heritage Hotel, India, river, Varanasi
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Return to the Dhobi Khana
Don’t like doing laundry? These people earn a living doing laundry the old-fashioned way. At various “dhobi khanas” in India, washing clothes – but more often things like sheets, towels, and occasionally uniforms – is still done by hand at … Continue reading
Posted in Life in India
Tagged aerial video, Chennai, chetpet, dhobi, dhobi ghat, dhobi khana, Quadcopter
4 Comments
Gypsies in India
We regularly join “photowalks” here in Chennai, and were surprised to hear we were going to visit a “gypsy colony.” A bit of googling informed me that the “Roma” people speak a language closely related to Hindi, and are thought … Continue reading
Posted in film processing, Life in India, Photowalks
Tagged Cross-processing, Gypsy, Narikurava, Narikuravar, Thiruvanmiyur
2 Comments
It’s Jackfruit Season in India!
-Wait, what’s a jackfruit??? You may know, but we didn’t, before we moved to India. And if I had ever encountered one on a tree, I certainly wouldn’t know what to do with it! Take a look at these pictures. … Continue reading