Archive for the ‘Favorite Moments’ Category

I spent a magnificent day with “Images of World War II: Photographs from the Daily Mail“. Anyone in love with big, black-and-white documentary photographs would enjoy this one, containing for the most part pictures made in London during those times.

It’s surreal when it registers that you could walk around the same areas in the great city – the parliament buildings, the Buckingham Palace, the tube stations, Downing Street, Trafalgar Square, St. Paul’s Cathedral among the many more – that held such drama 60 years ago. The monuments develop such character when seen through these books that freeze history, having witnessed several epochs of change in the past 60 years. I felt privileged to experience the grandeur of them all, seemingly unshakable in these times of rapid development, in the same manner as scores of our kind have done through the past decades.

To behold the steady march of mankind across time around such pivotal points is fascinating.

I love capturing love in a family – those tender, moving gestures that are shown within such a structure. I was at Blossoms Book Store, Bangalore with my wife a while back, going through a book about how lives were lived and energies spent in the last century in Britain. I delight in such documentation, and enjoy working on such projects myself. It would take quite some time to get through them though, as the captures have to happen across years and decades. Subjects could be individuals, families and kids growing up.

In that book, there’s a photograph of a solider returning home after serving in the army on some battlefield somewhere. His family is not aware of his journey. He just shows up at the gate at the edge of their front yard. Imagine the kind of emotions his sweetheart, kids and other members of the family would feel upon seeing him, just like that – out of the blue, having returned safe and sound from the ravages of war and for good? The photograph shows the solider and his wife kissing, with their 2 kids hovering around their legs. It was such a heartwarming image.

Houses of Parliament, London

Houses of Parliament, London

Houses of Parliament, London

The Albert Memorial, London

The Victoria Memorial, London

St.James’ Park, London

At the Victoria Memorial, London

The Big Ben, London

Westminster Abbey, London

Downing Street, London

Soldier close to Downing Street, London

King Charles-I and Admiral Nelson at Trafalgar_Square, London

Royal Albert Hall, London

Warwick Castle

Lord Curzon inside Warwick Castle

Edward VII inside Warwick Castle (his statue is present in Cubbon Park, near Minsk Square, Bangalore)

Inside Warwick Castle

Inside Warwick Castle

Inside Warwick Castle

Inside Warwick Castle

Inside Warwick Castle

View from Warwick Castle

View from Warwick Castle

Behind Warwick Castle

Behind Warwick Castle

Bridgewate Monument, Ashridge Estate

View from the Bridgewate Monument, Ashridge Estate

Shakespeare’s Birthplace, Stratford-upon-Avon

Inside Shakespeare’s Birthplace, Stratford-upon-Avon

Inside Shakespeare’s Birthplace, Stratford-upon-Avon

Inside Shakespeare’s Birthplace, Stratford-upon-Avon

Bust of Rabindranath Tagore at Shakespeare’s Birthplace, Stratford-upon-Avon

The Avon River, with the Holy Trinity Church in the distance where Shakespeare’s buried

Botanic Gardens opposite Magdalen Bridge, Oxford

Christchurch Meadow, Oxford

Some photographs made while tripping around England late last year.

Houses of Parliament, London

Houses of Parliament, London

Houses of Parliament, London

The Albert Memorial, London

The Victoria Memorial, London

St.James’ Park, London

At the Victoria Memorial, London

The Big Ben, London

Westminster Abbey, London

Downing Street, London

Soldier close to Downing Street, London

King Charles-I and Admiral Nelson at Trafalgar Square, London

Royal Albert Hall, London

Warwick Castle

Lord Curzon inside Warwick Castle

Edward VII inside Warwick Castle (his statue is present in Cubbon Park, near Minsk Square, Bangalore)

Inside Warwick Castle

Inside Warwick Castle

Inside Warwick Castle

Inside Warwick Castle

Inside Warwick Castle

View from Warwick Castle

View from Warwick Castle

Behind Warwick Castle

Behind Warwick Castle

Bridgewate Monument, Ashridge Estate

View from the Bridgewate Monument, Ashridge Estate

Shakespeare’s Birthplace, Stratford-upon-Avon

Inside Shakespeare’s Birthplace, Stratford-upon-Avon

Inside Shakespeare’s Birthplace, Stratford-upon-Avon

Inside Shakespeare’s Birthplace, Stratford-upon-Avon

Inside Shakespeare’s Birthplace, Stratford-upon-Avon

Bust of Rabindranath Tagore at Shakespeare’s Birthplace, Stratford-upon-Avon

The Avon River, with the Holy Trinity Church in the distance where Shakespeare’s buried

Botanic Gardens opposite Magdalen Bridge, Oxford

Christchurch Meadow, Oxford