London – December 2010
The weather in the UK is always a talking point – us Brits never seem to tire of the topic, especially when it causes havoc and brings the country to a standstill. Yes, a few inches of snow really does bring the entire UK to a stop.
On the plus side, it makes my part of South London the prettiest it will ever look. This is my journey to the train station in an attempt to get to work.
Nikon F3 – Kodak 400 – 50mm f1.8
There’s always random rubbish dumped at the end of this road. The usual includes old TVs, bathtubs, sofas, and the most recent – beds and matresses:
As per usual, the main issue when it snows here is the lack of grit that is supplied, which results in roads that become literally like ice rinks. This time, grit was dumped on the high street in piles:
I guess the council decided that distributing it was too much trouble. I really do wonder how other countries manage to function when it snows.
Of course, again, as per usual public transport was inevitably and completely screwed up.
This train was the only one that arrived for about an hour, and it was too packed to get on (similar to the Northern Line on a normal day).
In total, my journey into work that day took over 2 hours. I was so cold by this point I only just managed to click the above.
Some digital images I took over the next couple of days:
I do love the snow – I just wish getting around wasn’t such a hassle because of it.
A few months ago, walking through St James’ Park in central London, I became obsessed with the idea of getting a good shot of a squirrel. It was the last warm-ish day of the year.
These creatures are seriously fast little things. These were about the only decent snaps I got over the course of around an hour and a hundred pics later.
I took these with an 18-55mm, so you can imagine just how close I was for this:
Shooting animals is a completely different type of photography to street – it reqiures a LOT of patience and perseverance. It’s definitely not something I’d be able to do on a regular basis, but it was worth it for this.
Navratri/Garba – October 2010
Croydon High School – South London
The other day I Googled ‘Best garba London’ and my site came up on the first page, but it was this post – http://www.tanya-n.com/?p=19 – which is from India in 2006 (one of my first posts!). That was the first time I photographed the Navratri Festival and it was absolutely brilliant. The scale of this festival is far grander in India than it is in the UK, but it is still widely celebrated and many local town halls and schools host the festival throughout the country, which lasts for 9 days.
I photographed the 8th day at a Hindu Lohana community-led event at Croydon High School in South London.
Navratri is a large Hindu festival celebrating the Goddess Durga, and the tradition is to dance in circles around an idol of the goddess. The actual dancing itself is called Garba, a Gujarati form of dancing.
It’s a very colourful event and a great opportunity for girls to wear their brightest and best Garba outfits.
These plates were designed by members of the community as part of a competition to see who can create the best ones. They are used in a Hindu ritual called an Aarti where wicks soaked in ghee are lit on the plate which is then offered to the deities, while clapping and singing.
Some of them were really quite beautiful and intricately designed.
The beauty of a wide-angle lens! I used a 10-22mm for these ground shots.
A judge inspects the Aarti plates.
Some of the winners and runner-ups:
Preparations are made for the Aarti itself:
The overall winner of the competition:
During the Aarti, some women (generally of older generations) get what’s called ‘Mataji’. I’m not quite sure how to describe it but it’s almost as though they become possessed (by the goddess supposedly) and they start clapping and moving to the music. Surprisingly I couldn’t find much information about it online..
Garba dancing is great fun. Sticks are also used as part of the dancing, and there are various styles and moves – depending on how adventurous you want to be.
Prasad (usally Indian sweets, fruit, nuts etc.) is offered to worshippers upon leaving.
Navratri is just one many of the annual colourful festivals in the Hindu calendar but probably the most vibrant in terms of the ceremonies and dancing involved.
Thanks for looking, as always : )
