• About – Tim Bird

Six Images

~ Selections from Tim Bird's travel photography archives

Six Images

Tag Archives: Delhi

Yearning for Creative Stress© in Incredbial India

29 Sunday Oct 2017

Posted by Tim Bird in culture, culture shock, India, photography, Travel

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

creative stress, culture, Delhi, guru, incredible india, India, misunderstandings, photography, travel

I’m going to India again. Why India? I go there several times a year and my friends and other people often ask me why. I pay my own way, so this isn’t some all-expenses-paid press junket. It’s usually not for a holiday, either. I love going to India, but it’s not a place in which I can honestly say I normally go to relax (although I hasten to add that there are places where this is more than perfectly possible).

So why the hell do I love going there? First of all, there is the incredible (did I spell that right?) visual variety, a feast for any obsessive photographer and writer such as myself, and the surprises that seem to wait around every corner. And it keeps you on your toes to discover, again and again, that a taxi driver might actually mean “No” when he says “Yes”, as in: “So you know this address, right?” “Yes, sir.” So why is he driving the wrong way (and sometimes against oncoming traffic) for half an hour, then calling his mate for directions? To describe just one example, familiar to many people almost as soon as they get off the plane at Delhi, bleary-eyed and gullible.

I am of the old fashioned, slightly perverse school of travel that says it’s fun and life-enhancing to be removed from your comfort zone. India does comfort zone-removal better than anywhere, unless you happen to be Indian, in which case it’s just normal. Arriving from Europe, you have to take a mental shift sideways or fight against the cultural flow. Either way, you are enriching your soul. In any case, that’s what I keep telling myself. In fact, I’ve just invented a name for it: Creative Stress©. Watch out for the self-help manual.

In India there seems to be a guru for everyone for every day of the week. I’ve been consulting my blog guru lately and I’ve been advised to inject some humour into these blogs. I have a lot of very good friends in India and I think – I hope – they won’t be offended if I tease them a bit with this selection of photos that illustrate some of the more amusing visual culture shocks I have encountered during my visits. If they want to get their revenge they only have to remember that I’m British, and these days that’s about as ridiculous as you can be.

And just to cover my tracks, I have to mention that Indian hospitality is of the first order. Indian friends are for life, not just for Diwali. So I keep returning happily to see them as well.

indosigns_2629

Spotted in The Times of India, Mumbai edition, I’m not sure this needs any comment. I think all of us condemn bum blasts in public places.

indosigns-2

No, I don’t know what a Dliabetologist is either. Probably someone who treats ‘dliabetes’. Meanwhile, form a queue to put your mind at rest with Assistant Professor B. Shit.

indosigns-0961

Those well-fermented drinks are collector’s items that date back to the days of the 16th century Mughal Empire.

indosigns-1132

The slogan of the Indian Tourism Board is widely promoted by auto-rickshaw drivers. I think this sums it up. All my memories of Idnia are of incredbial experiences..

indosigns-1369

On the border with Pakistan at Wagah, near Amritsar, I witnessed the surreal evening border-closing ceremony, at which the Indian army demonstrates its considerable sonic warfare capabilities. I kid you not.

indosigns-1510

This guy’s tee-shirt is all the more alarming for the fact that he was wearing it at the site of the shrine of the Sufi Muslim saint, Nizamuddin, in Delhi. Sufis are known for the gentle, music-loving, celebratory nature of their brand of Islam. Either this fellow didn’t know the meaning of the slogan or he actually really did know I was going to be there. Probably the latter.

Lots more photos from all over India here, although not all as irreverent as those above:

https://timbirdphotography.photoshelter.com/gallery/India/G0000irlXmGr5Dyg/

Come and see me on Instagram too at @tim_bird_photo

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • Tumblr
  • Email
  • LinkedIn
  • WhatsApp

Like this:

Like Loading...

Six Picks: highlights from India

21 Saturday Jan 2017

Posted by Tim Bird in Golden Triangle, India, photography, travel photography

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

agra, Amritsar, Assam, darjeeling, Delhi, Golden Temple, himalayas, India, islamd, jama masjid, Kanchenjunga, mamallapuram, mountains, photography, religion, Sikh, Taj Mahal, travel, travel photography

I travel a lot but I find myself returning to India more and more. For a photographer there is nowhere more rewarding. There are surprises, some small and quirky, some funny or tragic, some vast and majestic, around every corner.

Recently I have been organizing some of my best material, compiling a single gallery of highlights from the many visits I have made over the last decade or so. It made me appreciate the distances I have covered and the variety contained in this extraordinary continent, in which the mountainous regions of the north, for example, are as different from the tropical jungles of the south as Norway is from Spain. There are common threads running through India, of history and culture, but the landscapes and traditions vary immensely from one area to another.

So far I have added well over 1,000 images to my India gallery, which is on my website at this link:

http://timbirdphotography.photoshelter.com/gallery/India/G0000irlXmGr5Dyg/

I still have to add several hundred more images, from places like Varanasi, Srinagar in Kashmir, Haridwar and Mumbai, and complete the inclusion of key words and other info, so it’s a work in progress. I’m well on my way to making it one of the most comprehensive single galleries of photographs from India available anywhere.

Meanwhile, here are a few samples:

kanchenjunga

The peak of Kanchenjunga, the third highest mountain in the world, illuminated at sunrise as seen from Darjeeling in Assam. The peak itself is across the border in Nepal but the mountain is a precious cultural icon to Indians, too. 

mamallapuram2

Fishermen on the beach at Mamallapuram. This small town, on the coast of the Bay of Bengal between Chennai and Pondicherry, is famous for its ancient temple carvings, but I spent more time photographing the fishermen early in the morning and in the evening than looking at the carvings.

jama-masjid-mosque

The Jama Masjid mosque in Old Delhi is reckoned to be the biggest place of Muslim worship in South Asia and was built under the rule of the 17th century Mughul emperor, Shah Jahan.

subrata

At its most colourful, there is no more dazzling country on the planet than India. This is my friend Subrata at her wedding in the state of Assam in the northeast. I wanted to photograph her all day, she looked so stunning. Sorry, Subrata!

amritsar-punjab-golden-temple

A Sikh pilgrim at the Golden Temple in Amritsar. 

india-agra-taj-mahal

Like the Golden Temple, the Taj Mahal at Agra lives up to the hype. The cool marble changes shade and mood during the day and is especially mysterious in early morning mist and dazzling in the late afternoon.

I hope you enjoyed this quick tour of India and introduction to my photos. If you are interested in taking advantage of my considerable photo resources from India, please get in touch through my website at www.timbirdphotography.com  And of course, I would be delighted if you follow this occasional blog. Thanks for dropping in!

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • Tumblr
  • Email
  • LinkedIn
  • WhatsApp

Like this:

Like Loading...

Six Picks: Monochrome portraits from India

17 Tuesday Mar 2015

Posted by Tim Bird in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Bihar, Delhi, India, monochrome, opium, Rajasthan, skin, Topaz, travel photography, tribe

A reasonably regular photo blog of six images either taken from or about to add to my considerable travel photography archives at www.timbirdphotography.com

I’ve just downloaded a fun plug-in for Lightroom called Topaz BW Effects and I’ve been playing around with it. It seems especially interesting when processing portraits, and I seem to have developed a special interest in the photographic possibilities of skin and facial features. I’ve tried it out with some pictures from Indian travels.  See what you think, and let me know! Feedback and photographic discussions always welcome.

skin_tb-1-33

My driver in Rajasthan. He took me to the house of an opium seller. Really. The opium seller was purportedly licensed. Yes, I did try it and no, it wasn’t very strong. In any case, I thought the driver’s face was remarkable, even before I went anywhere near the opium.

skin_tb-1-31

In Rajasthan I was taken for a brief visit to a tribal visit where this lady posed for me. In India they thought of every fashion centuries before they devised it in Europe. Check out the bangles and the nose decoration.

skin_tb-1-28

Two Rajasthani gentleman enjoying not doing much in particular, a popular pursuit in rural India and one that’s underrated in the West..

skin_tb-1-19

I met this incredibly photogenic lady in a backstreet in Jaipur. Nice big ankle bangles, in addition to a face that tells a few stories.

skin_tb-1-2

Books, most of them of the religious Muslim variety, are the theme in this one, not skin. Shot at the Nizamuddin Sufi shrine in Delhi.

skin_tb-1-6

King of his village: this fellow winds down in the evening in the northern state of Bihar.

As I said, feedback and comments always welcome. If you have enjoyed your visit, Tweet, Share and sing it to the rooftops. And do come back again.

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • Tumblr
  • Email
  • LinkedIn
  • WhatsApp

Like this:

Like Loading...

Recent Posts

  • International Women’s Day: Women of India
  • Happy birthday Tikau
  • Around the world in six World Cup nations
  • The archery lottery in Meghalaya, India
  • Six images: On target for a lucky break

Recent Comments

Rudolf Shaw on When Santa’s presence ma…
Tim Bird on International Women’s Da…
Eeva-Helena Laurinsa… on International Women’s Da…
Tim Bird on My name is Tim, I’m a…
Geoff Harris on My name is Tim, I’m a…

Archives

  • March 2019
  • September 2018
  • June 2018
  • March 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • June 2017
  • April 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • January 2016
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014

Categories

  • addiction
  • Amritsar
  • architecture
  • Arctic travel
  • art
  • Assam
  • aurora borealis
  • books
  • bookshops
  • bucket-list
  • celebration
  • Central America
  • China
  • Christmas
  • Costa Rica
  • culture
  • culture shock
  • Estonia
  • festival
  • FIFA World Cup
  • Finland
  • football
  • France
  • geology
  • Golden Triangle
  • Guilin
  • helsinki
  • hotels
  • Independence
  • India
  • Juhannus
  • lapland
  • Mexico
  • Midsummer
  • mountains
  • music
  • namibia
  • nature
  • northern lights
  • Odisha
  • Paris
  • photo tours
  • photography
  • Punjab
  • religion
  • rural India
  • social media
  • Solstice
  • spirituality
  • summer
  • sustainable development
  • Switzerland
  • tourism
  • Travel
  • travel photography
  • Uncategorized
  • wildlife
  • wildlife
  • winter
  • Yangshuo

Meta

  • Register
  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.com

Recent Posts

  • International Women’s Day: Women of India
  • Happy birthday Tikau
  • Around the world in six World Cup nations
  • The archery lottery in Meghalaya, India
  • Six images: On target for a lucky break

Recent Comments

Rudolf Shaw on When Santa’s presence ma…
Tim Bird on International Women’s Da…
Eeva-Helena Laurinsa… on International Women’s Da…
Tim Bird on My name is Tim, I’m a…
Geoff Harris on My name is Tim, I’m a…

Archives

  • March 2019
  • September 2018
  • June 2018
  • March 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • June 2017
  • April 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • January 2016
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014

Categories

  • addiction
  • Amritsar
  • architecture
  • Arctic travel
  • art
  • Assam
  • aurora borealis
  • books
  • bookshops
  • bucket-list
  • celebration
  • Central America
  • China
  • Christmas
  • Costa Rica
  • culture
  • culture shock
  • Estonia
  • festival
  • FIFA World Cup
  • Finland
  • football
  • France
  • geology
  • Golden Triangle
  • Guilin
  • helsinki
  • hotels
  • Independence
  • India
  • Juhannus
  • lapland
  • Mexico
  • Midsummer
  • mountains
  • music
  • namibia
  • nature
  • northern lights
  • Odisha
  • Paris
  • photo tours
  • photography
  • Punjab
  • religion
  • rural India
  • social media
  • Solstice
  • spirituality
  • summer
  • sustainable development
  • Switzerland
  • tourism
  • Travel
  • travel photography
  • Uncategorized
  • wildlife
  • wildlife
  • winter
  • Yangshuo

Meta

  • Register
  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.com

Blog at WordPress.com.

Cancel
loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.
%d bloggers like this: