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Editorial
Julia Coddington Priyashi Negi Chief Visualiser
Sheetal Mann
Editorial
Design
Harjeet Singh Abhishek Gangwar Research & Operations
Prateek Kashyap Sarthak Jain Melissa Sherpa Writers
Saman Waheed Urvi Bareja Vidit Mehta Sana Singh Anurita De Shivantee Bhattacharya Technology
Sachin Arora Rishabh Jain Aditya Baghel Abhishek Tyagi Business Development
Rajesh Basu Mandeep Kaur Amit Ghosh Sales
Krishna Srinivas Amit Gupta Marketing
Vasundhra Sethi Public Relations
Raghavi Rangarajan Shreya Battacharya Staff Photographers
Abdul Momin Saransh Pithauria Susana Gomez Tarundeep Singh Urshita Saini Cinematographers
Dinesh Prasad Sah Nikhil Ruhela Kuldeep
While photography is a craft that lives on in the framing of moments, documenting the present so that it can be cherished in the future, Pushkar Fair is a once-in-a-lifetime photography experience that every photographer should have. This issue of Chiiz celebrates the coming together of culture and traditions in the most vibrant of ways as it presents the ‘Last of the Traditional Fairs- Pushkar Fair’. Photographers from all over the world participate in this annual livestock fair, making it a battlefield for photographers; each photographer vying for the best way to frame the fair. We also have some wonderful shots from a workshop that took place in ‘The Forgotten Land of Budha Pushkar’ under the guidance of skilled mentors. A photo feature on Shaitan Singh - an artist who takes the guise of Lord Shiva - has been done remarkably, making us wonder if he is a ‘Devil, God or...an Artist?’ Speaking of artists, Lois Greenfield’s work, ‘Still Motion’ is nothing short of magical. While all photographers freeze moments, Lois Greenfield sets the bar a notch higher when she manages to capture stills that will take you to the period of renaissance. While some photographers stick to their genre of photography, others like to venture in uncharted territory and explore the beauty of other genres. Mark Edward Harris, albeit a travel photographer, shows us that he dons another feather in his cap. ‘Documenting the Wild’, Mark proves his mettle as an amazing wildlife photographer as well. Last but not the least is the Chiiz Gallery which is replete with marvelous work of photographers from all over the world. Here’s displaying the best of chiiz.com and hope that you celebrate with us the essence of culture, of coming together to witness epicness and to capture it all. Here’s to Pushkar and the photographers that got to capture it! Veni, Vedi, Cepi!
Finance
Neelu Singh Consultant
Apratim Saha Mansa Inc. CEO
Mukesh Kumar Cover Photo
Pranav Kukreti
Regards, Julia Coddington
Contents Triggers Ben Hicks Dhiren Gandhi Nishant Shrimal Harmeet Singh Tom Amrita Dutta Warren Price Maqsood MK Arjun Haarith Sonali Devnani Prasun Mitra Rania Guellil
10 22 24 30 32 50 52 66 68 72 82 88
Hall of Fame Model of the Month Shruti Yogi
86
Makeup Artist of the Month Fiza Khan
90
Features The Forgotten Land Budha Pushkar Documenting the Wild Mark Edward Harris The Last of the Traditional Fairs Pushkar Fair Devil, God or...an Artist? Anurita De Moving Still Lois Greenfield
14 26 40 56 94
Chiiz Gallery Best of chiiz.com
74
Classics Old is Gold 38 Migrant Mother - Dorothea Lange Movie Review 1,000 Times Good Night
48
Tools App of the Month Enlight
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South Florida based photographer, Ben Hicks has journeyed across America and ventured to exotic locales, spanning the globe to compose a profoundly diverse collection of fine-art photography that truly captures the majestic beauty of the natural world. Through his photography, Ben aspires to advance the appreciation for nature and raise environmental awareness by depicting the natural world in an endearing and relevant manner that all individuals can understand and connect with. Ben is particularly focused on using his photography as a medium to communicate the importance of sea turtle conservation as these magnificent creatures are one of the most important indicators of the health of the world’s marine and coastal ecosystems. For more on his commercial work, visit: BocaRatonPhoto.com
Green Sea Turtle Canon 1D X 14mm F/7.1 1/250 ISO100 Bahama Starfish Canon 1D Mark III 12mm F/6.3 1/500 ISO400
Leatherback Sea Turtle Canon 1D X 15mm F/4 1/160 ISO640
Loggerhead Sea Turtle Canon 1D Mark III 12mm F/5 1/1250 ISO400
10 TRIGGERS
Derawan Borneo Hasselblad L1D 20c 28mm F/5 1/320 ISO100
New World Canon 1D X 15mm F/5 1/3200 ISO500
Baby Blue Crab Canon 1D Mark III 12mm F/11 1/640 ISO500
Nest of Clown Fish Canon 1D X Mark III 15mm F/10 1/400 ISO1600
Man O War Jellyfish Canon 1D Mark III 13mm F/6.3 1/640 ISO250
Moon Jelly Jupiter Canon 1D Mark III 12mm F/9 1/400 ISO500
Sampa Guha Majumdar Jamnagar, India
First Light NIKON D810 17mm F/11 1/125 ISO400
The Forgotten Land
Budha Pushkar
While most of the tourists and visitors flock to the mainland of Pushkar, the deserted ghats of Budha Pushkar, that is situated in the Pushkar gap of the Aravallis, remain in want of visitors and pilgrims. Although recently renovated, the ghats of Budha Pushkar and the dried up lake hardly attract any visitors. The red marble archways and the steps that lead to the lake might not hold any appeal for the travelers, but for us, we found the metaphorical gold here. The forgotten ghats of the Budha Pushkar came alive as Chiiz, in collaboration with Zeiss, held a photography workshop right there. The reds and yellows of the stairway that leads to the lake, the blues of the sky that reflected perfectly in the water and the gorgeous arches that lined the ghats, together made for a perfect location. Under the guidance of skilled mentors and with such a beautiful backdrop, the shutters wouldn’t stop until the sun had set, leaving the photographers with some mesmerizing shots. This photography workshop was not only a success but also attempted to revive the glory of a forgotten land.
14 FEATURES
Samiksha Singh Indore, India
Indian Beauty Canon 80D 85mm F/1.8 1/320 ISO200
Shlok Somani Mumbai, India
Vipul Trivedi Indore, India
Sarthak Jain Kota, India
Walking Towards Dusk Canon 700D 55mm F/8 1/400 ISO100
Turn Around Canon 6D Mark II 200mm F/3.5 1/400 ISO400
The Eye Canon EOS 1500D 33mm F/5.6 1/50 ISO 250
David Voraganti Hyderabad, India
Rupa Banerjee Kolkata, India
Traditional Girl Nikon D7200 300mm F/5.6 1/250 ISO250
Wonder Nikon D5200 85mm F/14 1/200 ISO 100
Vipul Trivedi Indore, India
Jishan Parmar Indore, India
Kaushal Sakaria Delhi, India
Lowered Lids Canon 6D Mark II 200mm F/3.5 1/500 ISO320
Decked Up Canon 6D Mark II 105mm F/4 1/100 ISO200
Vriti Bhatia Mumbai, India
Pratik Chandiramani Mumbai, India
I Will be There Soon Nikon D850 85mm F/13 1/100 ISO100
Beauty of Pushkar Canon R 105mm F/10 1/320 ISO400
Reaching Out Canon 80D 10mm F/4.5 1/250 ISO100
Raj Mehta Mumbai, India
Prashant Gadgil Indore, India
Neeraj Vishwakarma Indore, India
The Wait Canon 5D Mark IV 40mm F/8 1/125 ISO100
Gaze Canon 80D 55mm F/6.3 1/500 ISO400
Kaustubh Kale Mumbai, India
Mohit Parmar Indore, India
Woman in the Wild Canon 5D Mark III 70mm F/5 1/200 ISO250
The Lost Eyes Canon 6D Mark II 97mm F/4 1/50 ISO500
Accessorize with Happiness Canon 5Ds 100mm F/2.8 1/250 ISO500
Vriti Bhatia Mumbai, India
Kaushal Sakaria Delhi, India
Ready to Take Over the World Nikon D850 85mm F/9 1/5000 ISO250
Fretful Eyes Canon 80D 69mm F/5 1/160 ISO100
Vipul Trivedi Indore, India
Desert Charm Canon 6D Mark II 110mm F/6.3 1/500 ISO250
Vipul Trivedi Indore, India
Dichotomy Canon 6D Mark II 102mm F/9 1/250 ISO200
Pratik Chandiramani Mumbai, India
Left Behind Canon R 35mm F/1.8 1/2500 ISO100
Neeraj Vishwakarma Indore, India
Pratik Chandiramani Mumbai, India
Adorned Canon 5Ds 200mm F/2.8 1/2500 ISO320
Two-Face Canon R 35mm F/1.8 1/200 ISO320
Aditi Kothari Indore, India
Attire Nikon DX 3300 135mm F/4.8 1/125 ISO100
Vipul Trivedi Indore, India
Monochrome Beauty Canon 6D Mark II 200mm F/11 1/1600 ISO500
Dhiren Gandhi is a Bangalore-based professional, heading sales and operations of a German brand. An avid traveler and photographer, Dhiren is always ready to shoot pictures, whatever the time and situation may be. Dhiren truly believes that beyond the chaos of Bangalore, Himalayas are his true calling. 22 TRIGGERS
Ice Stupa Oneplus 5T 4.10mm F/1.7 1/1000 ISO100
Inside the Ice Stupa Oneplus 5T 4.10mm F/1.7 1/30 ISO1250
Rock, Ice & Water Oneplus 5T 4.10mm F/1.7 1/1000 ISO125
The Frozen Zanskar Riverline Oneplus 5T 4.10mm F/1.7 1/1250 ISO125
Zanskar Valley Oneplus 5T 4.10mm F/1.7 1/1000 ISO320
-35 Degrees Celsius Oneplus 5T 4.10mm F/1.7 1/160 ISO100
Zanskari Superhumans Oneplus 5T 4.10mm F/1.7 1/640 ISO125
Nishant Shrimal, a 22-year-old from Jaipur is a travel photographer - a craft that he learned himself. His favorite photography genre is street and that is why you can always find him photographing on the streets whenever he is traveling. Before clicking the shutter, he likes to observe his surroundings carefully and only when he is sure of his composition, does he capture it on film. 24 TRIGGERS
Snake Charmer Nikon D5300 160mm F/5 1/1250 ISO100
Documenting the Wild Mark Edward Harris
Mark Edward Harris’ assignments have taken him to 98 countries on six continents. His editorial work has appeared in publications such as Vanity Fair, LIFE, The New York Times, Time Magazine, Newsweek, GEO, Conde Nast Traveler, AFAR, Wallpaper, Casa Vogue, GQ Thailand, Money Magazine, Architectural Digest, Hong Kong Tatler, The Los Angeles Times Magazine, and The London Sunday Times Travel Magazine as well as all the major photography and inflight magazines. He is the recipient of numerous awards including a CLIO, ACE, Aurora Gold, and Photographer of the Year at the Black & White Spider Awards. His books include Faces of the Twentieth Century: Master Photographers and Their Work, The Way of the Japanese Bath, Wanderlust, North Korea, South Korea, Inside Iran, and The Travel Photo Essay: Describing A Journey Through Images. North Korea was named Photography Book of the Year at the International Photography Awards. He is currently working on an orangutan portrait series “Eyes are the Window to the Soul” to help bring awareness of the issues between orangutans in the wild and the clear-cutting of forests for the production of palm oil. Follow his adventures on www.MarkEdwardHarris.com and on Instagram @MarkEdwardHarrisPhoto 26 FEATURES
“Azy”, Simon Skjodt International Orangutan Center Nikon D850 F/11 1/250 ISO100
What sparked your interest in photography? My father, who worked in the radio and television field, was always documenting our family road trips around the United States with a 35mm film still camera and an 8mm movie camera. I was his unofficial assistant. I would keep a written diary of our trips as well. So even back then I was unknowingly doing documentary work and was fascinated with the concept of freezing moments in time. But it was a darkroom class at California State University, Northridge where I was a History major that put me on the road to being a professional photographer. The minute I saw an image start to appear on a piece of sensitized paper in a tray full of developer, I was hooked by the magic of the photographic medium. That feeling has never left me. You are essentially a travel and documentary photographer. What made you explore the genre of wildlife, especially with your series “Eyes Are The Window To The Soul”? In my latest book “The Travel Photo Essay: Describing a Journey
Through Images” I explain that photographers working in the travel field have to wear many “hats” – we just can’t be food photographers, music photographers, portrait photographers, wildlife photographers and all the other genres of photography. Travel encompasses all types of experiences. In any given story, let’s say a bicycle trip around the Noto Peninsula I just did in Japan for the tour operator Backroads, I had to shoot dramatic landscape shots with bikes in the scene, architectural shots of some of the locations visited, food shots to show off the local cuisine and so on to tell the whole story. On my recent trip to Bhopal to do a presentation on travel photography for the Adventure Travel Trade Association (ATTA), I first did an amazing excursion across Madhya Pradesh with Purequest Adventures to visit the Kanha, Bandhavgarh and Satpura tiger reserves, so I had to put my wildlife photographer “hat” on. I brought my new Nikon 500mm f/5.6 lens with me specifically for the incredible photo ops I hoped to encounter. The trip ended up far exceeding my expectations. It’s hard to beat the experience of looking into the eyes of a magnificent Bengal tiger in the jungle from the relative safety of an open-air jeep.
Swamp Deer, Kanha National Park Nikon D850 F/5.6 1/1000 ISO200
The orangutan series which I’ve named “Eyes Are The Window To The Soul” started with a visit to Indianapolis, timed to the opening of The International Orangutan Center there at the Indianapolis Zoo. I was in the city to do a more general travel story but became fascinated by the orangutans and the cognitive research studies
being conducted there by Dr. Rob Shumaker and his colleagues. I became fascinated by the awareness and intelligence of the orangutans and that fact that we share 96.4 percent of the same DNA. I also became concerned that because of habitat loss in their native Borneo and Sumatra, they could soon become extinct in the wild. This has led me to photograph the orangutans in other controlled environments where I could do portraits. I will be traveling to Borneo this year for the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation (BOSF) to photograph orangutans in rehabilitation centers there as well as in the wild. Hopefully my images can help bring attention to the very serious issues the orangutans face as well as the solutions that are possible to protect their habitats while offering their human neighbors viable alternatives to deforestation in order to also survive and prosper. A holistic approach is needed. What is your approach regarding visual communication and how do you inculcate that in your photography? It’s only in the last two centuries that through the camera, we have the ability to freeze a moment in time. Before then, we had to rely on other art forms – painting, drawing, sculpting, writing in a more abstract sense – to see human history before then. We can of course use the camera for fine art pursuits and change reality but for me I prefer to document the world around me. I have many photographic heroes but if I had to pick one, it would be W. Gene Smith. He was truly the master of the photo essay. How much of an impact did your Master of Arts in Pictorial/ Documentary History have on your photography and how you shoot pictures? I think the research techniques I learned and put into practice for that major which I created from several disciplines at California, State University, Los Angeles gave me the tools to find and then develop photo essays with a certain amount
Bengal tiger, Kanha National Park Nikon D850 50mm F/5.6 1/500 ISO800
of depth rather than just scratching the surface. For my work in North Korea, which I recently showed at the Indian Photography Festival in Hyderabad and then my work in North Korea, Iran and Iraq at the Pause International Photo Exhibition during the Watertown Fest in Kochi are good examples. I’m attempting to go beyond the headlines and explore why these countries are at odds with so many of the other countries that share the planet. I focus on daily live and hopefully am doing so without passing judgment. I’m researching the question, “How did we get into this situation?” The answers are seldom as simple as good and evil; simplistic labels often result in human conflict. What advice would you give to the aspiring photographers who want to follow in your footsteps? Never think that you can just put together a great portfolio and wait for the phone to ring with an assignment. Go out and find interesting stories and pursue them to as deep a level as you can and them pitch them around to publications and galleries as well as entering contests. Also, know your photography tools as well as you would expect a surgeon to know his or hers. If you want to be a professional, then be professional.
Prateek Kashyap Polar Bear, Kaktovik Nikon D810 300mm F/4.5 1/1000 ISO100
prateek@chiiz.com An adventure seeker by heart, his passion for photography was ignited in the Great Himalayas. Clicking clear frames and solving the mysteriesof life, he just wants to spend his time as a confused photographer.
Snow monkey, Jigokudani Nikon 810 300mm F/4 1/1600 ISO200
Leopard, MalaMala Game Reserve Nikon D800E 300mm F/4 1/500 ISO200
Japanese crane, Hokkaido’s Kushiro Shitsugen National Park Nikon D800E 300mm F/4.5 1/3200 ISO100
Harmeet Singh is a 20-year-old student pursuing Bachelors in Commerce from Delhi University. Apart from this, his main focus in life has been photography for two and a half years now. His passion for the same fragmented when he joined a photography club in his college and today street and travel photography are one of the few things that he lives for. Till date, he has covered 100+ events across India, including local festivals of places, like Rajasthan, Punjab, Kheerganga, etc and some brand campaigns like Gatorade and Starbucks. Mostly all of his work has been featured on a lot of popular pages like SoDelhi and CN tTaveller among others.
30 TRIGGERS
Camels in Pushkar GoPro Hero6 3mm F/2.8 1/240 ISO127
Boats Inside Harbour DJI FC220 26mm F/2.2 1/100 ISO126
River Crossing DJI FC220 26mm F/2.2 1/320 ISO100
32 TRIGGERS
Golf Had Dong DJI FC220 26mm F/2.2 1/120 ISO100
Aerial Farm Hua Hin DJI FC220 26mm F/2.2 1/540 ISO100
Rice Farm Above DJI FC220 26mm F/2.2 1/800 ISO100
Lilly Pads DJI FC220 26mm F/2.2 1/1000 ISO100
Park It Up DJI FC220 26mm F/2.2 1/1300 ISO100
Originally from South Devon in the UK, Tom loves to travel and explore. He is someone that who loves to get creative. When he travels, he takes a drone and enjoys capturing visuals of different textures from landscapes. He mainly enjoys being in the countryside of the tourist traps, gaining new experiences and staying curious. When he is not taking photos, he is working on different projects online and offline, which are mainly focused on people, hospitality and music.
Field Crop Experiments DJI FC220 26mm F/2.2 1/500 ISO100
App of the Month ENLIGHT Category: Photo and Video Rating: 4.7/5 Platform: iOS Cost: $3.99 per month
In this month’s issue of Chiiz magazine, we look at Enlight, a premium photo editing app for making complex editing easy. It is a paid app by Lightricks Ltd. which can be downloaded and installed on all iOS devices. This app is not just for pros but also for beginners. With an unprecedented variety of tools, this app is the recipient of the Apple Design Award 2017. It was also awarded the ‘App of the year’ Award 2015 by the App Store of several countries.
Classic Cameras and Vintage Films · Two-toned Gradients · Light Leaks · Custom Vignetting · Black and White Photography It helps you to attain image perfection by precise and selective control over tone, color and other details. It enables you to create and save your own unique presets. A unique feature of the Enlight app is its built-in masking feature within every tool to allow you to seamlessly blend effects.
Features of Enlight Enlight is an iPhone photographer’s dream app as it manages to strike the right balance between traditional Photoshop-like controls and artistic filters and controls. The app is the most comprehensive, highest quality photo editing app which is considered to be one of the most powerful and user-friendly photo and video apps today. It comes with a wide variety of filters and frames. The analog and duo filters also help in saving time. Some of the filters available are: ·
The app is available in over 10 international languages to ensure the ease of using the app. It has power tools which enable you to bloat, shrink or reshape objects. Flip, rotate, straightening and changing perspective options are also available in Enlight. The app allows you to add your own decorative touches to your photograph by the following features: · Personalize, draw, write or doodle directly over your image. · Decals and special effects addons make your photo unique · Add and customize text, borders, frames, and more. What makes it different from other applications? Photo Mixer feature: It allows you to overlay, merge or blend images. You can also use it to create photo montages. Intelligent photo correction: The app instantly repairs under or overexposed photos. It can be used to bring out lost details and seamlessly remove defects. It has a noise reduction tool which is the best of its kind. Social-media heaven: The app enables you to not only share
36 TOOLS
multiple photos at once but also share your amazing results on social media. It gives you a variety of templates to design collages. You can also use the Enlight app to create funny memes to share with your friends. Innovative workflow: The app has auto-save photo sessions to continue editing later whenever you want. You can animate your editing sessions to show your workflow. The app also gives you a choice of the export quality of the image (JPEG, PNG, or TIFF) Chiiz Opinion Enlight is undoubtedly one of the best photo-editing apps as it is very smooth, user-friendly and glitchfree. This app is a benchmark for all the photo-editing apps. It is precise and you can use it to edit only that part of the photograph which needs correction. The app’s only drawback is probably that it uses a lot of memory as compared to other apps with similar features.
Vidit Mehta vidit@chiiz.com
The word that describes Vidit best is a wanderlust personality. He likes exploring new places, tasting different dishes which is why if you don’t find him exploring, you will find him cooking and trying new recipes.
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Old is Gold Migrant Mother Dorothea Lange
“Photography takes an instant out of time, altering life by holding it still.” A very convincing and realistic statement indeed. Looking at a photograph, one often feels as if time has just momentarily stopped; stopped for just that person and one is transported into a whole new land of memories where everything was different and time itself was gazing at them, capturing those moments and etching it on their hearts. Photographs always have that kind of effect. Even after depicting the most real scenes, they make us think in wonder of all those beautiful and unexplored realms that are out there ready to be unmasked by whoever has the patience to do so. “One should really use the camera as though tomorrow you’d be struck blind.” This was the whole life philosophy of the famous photographer Dorothea Lange and it was through this thought process that all her photographs appealed to the audience and conveyed a message that was much larger than what was just apparent. Lange (18951965) was an American documentary photographer and photojournalist. She is most notably remembered for her shots during the Great Depression which she did for the Farm Security Administration (FSA). It was through her photographs that we
could actually see and feel the harsh and brutal aftermath of the Great Depression. The Great Depression was a tough time for the whole world. It was the longest and the most severe economic depression of the 20th century. It started in the U.S. with a steep fall in stock prices and became a worldwide phenomenon when the stock market officially crashed on October 29, 1929, a dark day in the history of humankind more popularly known as ‘Black Tuesday’. The Depression had catastrophic effects on both the rich and the poor. While the rich could at least try to rise from the ashes, the poor did not even have those ashes left to rise from. For them, it was all gloomy. Unemployment rates were immensely high and nobody had any idea what to do next. Lange along with her husband worked for the Resettlement Administration and FSA. They wanted to bring forth the problems and difficulties of the poor people whom the others had comfortably erased from their memory. Her husband interviewed these people which mainly comprised of migrant workers, sharecroppers and displaced families and she captured their troubles. One of the most iconic photos she took was ‘The Migrant Mother’ in 1936. The Migrant Mother is a photograph of a middle-aged woman who is probably destitute. Her clothes are unkempt. She is not alone. Two of her children are leaning on to her from both sides and is holding a baby in her lap. Worry has aged her face. She has a sad and distant look in her eyes. The woman has been identified as Florence Owens Thompson. This photo was taken when Lange was driving past the Pea Pickers Camp. She had already passed this pace but some unknown force pulled her back. She was almost as if “drawn by a magnet”. As soon as she saw
38 CLASSICS
this woman, she went to her with her camera. Thompson was so indifferent to this that she did not even ask any questions. She was too preoccupied with her own plight. She told Lange her age and the pathetic conditions they had been living in. The crops had frozen that year and she was out of employment. They were surviving on frozen vegetables and the birds killed by the children. But now they had nothing left. So, she had sold the tires from her car in order to procure food and feed her hungry children. Thompson thought that Lange clicking her pictures might assist her in the sense that her conditions could improve, so she had no qualms about getting her picture clicked. It was anyway not as if she was busy. She was worried sick about her family instead. Lange showed the photos to her editor and told her about the dire circumstances those people were living in. The editor, in turn, told the federal authorities and also published an article regarding it in the newspaper. The government’s attention turned to this place and help was promptly provided. The government sent 20,000 pounds of food in order to prevent starvation. No doubt Lange’s photos had a positive impact on the lives of such underprivileged people but who knows how bad the entire condition was. There must have been millions of people all over the world who were going through similar circumstances but maybe nobody paid them any attention and they lived life miserably for as long as they were alive and died in an even miserable scenario. Who knows? The truth is ghastly and not all of us have the courage to know it and then live with it.
Saman Waheed saman@chiiz.com
Saman Waheed, like all writers, loves writing about each and everything under the sun. An indoor person , she loves to sit back and just travel to another world, lost in her thoughts. She loves the company of books as they take her to places she has never been.
Shlok Somani Mumbai, India
40 FEATURES
Life Goes On Canon 700D 50mm F/22 1 ISO100
The Last of the Traditional Fairs : Pushkar Fair Pushkar, a spectacular amalgamation of spirituality, vibrant culture and enthusiastic shutterbugs who want to capture it all, is a historical place with both religious and cultural importance. Pushkar is the only place in the world that houses a temple dedicated to Lord Brahma, who is the Creator and a part of the Holy Trinity, according to the Hindu mythology. It also hosts a livestock fair and culture fete annually which attracts thousands of photographers from all over the world. Pushkar Fair, held in the small desert town of Pushkar every November, is one of the last great traditional fairs of India and one of the most high-rated travel experiences.
Andrew Adonaiori Delhi, India
The Mela Ground, where the fair is set up, is a sight to behold. Pilgrims can be seen flitting around, either hurrying from their baths or to perform their rituals in the Brahma Temple. On one side, you will witness a sea of cattle, decorated with colorful accessories, waiting to be traded off. On the other, the amusement rides, food stalls serving local delicacies and people disguised as Gods, parading with their vibrant paraphernalia, can be seen on the mela ground. As the day morphs into night, the Pushkar Fair transforms into a magical place with the entire fair festooned with the colorful lights and hot air balloons floating in the sky. The loud music and the collective
noise of the fair seem to fade away as you go deeper into the fair. And that’s how Pushkar Fair leaves you completely mesmerized by the vibrant culture of Rajasthan that reflects in the big moustaches of the men in kesariya turbans and dhoti-kurtas, in the long colorful veils of the women, who are adorned from head to toe in their silver ornaments, in the taste of dal bati churma and the delicious ghevar and of course, in the warm welcoming hearts of people there. Pushkar Fair is truly an experience that cannot be justified by mere words. You have to experience it to know it.
Ready to Take Over the World Nikon D850 85mm F/9 1/5000 ISO250
Amit Chomal Mumbai, India
Smiling Away to Glory Canon 550D 50mm F/1.8 1/2000 ISO400
David Voraganti Hyderabad, India
Snake Charmer in Pushkar NikonD5100 35mm F/1.8 1/320 ISO100
Shlok Somani Mumbai, India
Anil Bhati Bhopal, India
Amit Chomal Mumbai, India
Pensive Canon 550D 50 mm F/3.5 1/640 ISO400
Anil Bhati Bhopal, India
Bubbling Happiness Canon 700D 50mm F/1.8 1/100 ISO100
OMG Nikon D610 200mm F/2.8 1/3200 ISO160
Lighting Eyes Nikon D610 200mm F/2.8 1/250 ISO180
Anil Bhati Bhopal, India
Balloons in a Blue Hour Nikon D610 28mm F/7.1 1/25 ISO800
Mohit Parmar Indore, India
Little Happiness Canon EOS 6D Mark II 105mm F/22 1/250 ISO250
Anil Bhati Bhopal, India
Snake-Charmer’s Show Nikon D610 31mm F/10 1/500 ISO720
Kaustubh Kale Mumbai, India
Anil Bhati Bhopal, India
Control for Milking Nikon D610 86mm F/10 1/800 ISO360
Tanvi Sethi Delhi, India
Pranav Kukreti Uttrakhand, India
Pratik Chandiramani Mumbai, India
Camel with a Nose Pin Canon 5D Mark III 60mm F/4 1/160 ISO320
Camel Love Nikon D5500 75mm F/6.3 1/100 ISO100
Change Canon 7D Mark II 55 mm F/4 1/180 ISO400
A Galloping Horse Canon R 77mm F/20 1/30 ISO400
Pratik Chandiramani Mumbai, India
Popeye Canon R 91mm F/4 1/1000 ISO125
Pranav Kukreti Uttrakhand, India
Little Lord Shiva Canon 7D Mark II 90 mm F/2.8 1/200 ISO100
Vriti Bhatia Mumbai, India
A Mother Will Always be There for You Nikon D850 145mm F/2.8 1/320 ISO80
Kaushal Sakaria Delhi, India
Fair Canon EOS 80D 10mm F/22 4.8 ISO100
Sampa Guha Majumdar Jamnagar, India
Fire Game Nikon D810 17mm F/4 1/320 ISO500
Shlok Somani Mumbai, India
Fearless Canon 700D 18mm F/3.5 1/800 ISO6400
Vriti Bhatia Mumbai, India
Let’s be Together Forever Nikon D850 170mm F/2.8 1/400 ISO64
Pranav Kukreti Uttrakhand, India
The Beautiful People of Rajasthan Canon 7D Mark II 90 mm F/2.8 1/160 ISO100
Sampa Guha Majumdar Jamnagar, India Pratik Chandiramani Mumbai, India
Spinning to the Rhythm Canon R 24mm F/20 1/5 ISO400
Rupali Nikhil Churi Mumbai, India
Rupali Nikhil Churi Mumbai, India
Sampa Guha Majumdar Jamnagar, India
Dance Performance Nikon D810 26mm F/4 1/320 ISO500
Security Briefing at Pushkar Vivo 1804 30mm F/1.8 1/546 ISO51
Rupali Nikhil Churi Mumbai, India
She Learned the Art of Balance Early in Life Vivo 1804 30mm F/1 1/1969 ISO50
God Resides in my Home Vivo 1804 30mm F/1.8 1/50 ISO301
Camel Cart Nikon D810 17mm F/11 1/160 ISO640
Movie Review 1000 Times Good Night Duration: 1hr 57mins. IMDB Rating: 7.1/10 Released: 24 October 2014 (USA) Genre: Drama, War
Opening with a scene where a woman is preparing for her own death, 1,000 Times Good Night, starts off with a scene that would shock the onlookers and make them run for the hills. Enter, Rebecca (Juliette Binoche), one of the renowned war photojournalists in the world, capturing dangerous and chilling images in the most dire situations, all in an effort to shed light on the real face of the modern war. She is a photojournalist who wanted to change something and normally specialized in war photography, even if it meant risking her life in the process. She documents a group of female suicide bombers in Afghanistan and accompanies one of the suicide bombers to Kabul, where she gets severely injured by the premature detonation of the bomb. After this incident in Afghanistan - the neardeath experience chronicling the ritual of a female suicide bomber, her husband Marcus (Nikolaj CosterWaldau) levels an ultimatum and
demands her to either give up her dangerous profession or lose her family that she counts on for being there when she returns from each assignment. He wanted Rebecca to manage and take care of her parental responsibilities in their perfect house in Ireland and ditch her life as a “jihad paparazzo”. However, the conviction that her photographs can have any kind of effect on the world, continues pulling at Rebecca’s purpose, making it hard for her to leave completely. With an offer to photograph a refugee camp in Kenya, a place supposedly so sheltered that her daughter, Steph (Lauryn Canny), is permitted to join her. Rebecca had already disclosed to her little girl that she is grasped by an unassuageable resentment. She is not foreign to the knowledge of just how much she risks every time she throws herself into the fray. Binoche is one of the most talented and is one of the actors who can pass on different clashing feelings of on-screen characters with just a solitary look. With a bewildering straightforwardness, she vanishes into the reality of her character. As Rebecca takes the sensational pictures, showing the reality of Jihad, the opening sequence in Kabul takes a tense overtone and it indeed is a promising start for a drama. But Binoche’s performance – tiresomely radiating martyred integrity – is mannered and self-conscious, and her character’s professional work is naively imagined. These glossily photographed domestic interludes resemble a high-end magazine spread in which
48 CLASSICS
the camera slavers over images of virtuous, beautiful people savoring the good life. You have the impression that, to a degree, Rebecca’s hazardous work is a form of atonement for the good fortune that she feels she doesn’t deserve. In “1,000 Times Good Night,” Rebecca, a celebrated, morally self-righteous war photographer, hooked on risktaking, leads two lives that are in continual conflict. What makes “1,000 Times Good Night” more than a dramatic essay on wartime journalism is Binoche’s wrenchingly honest portrayal of a conscience-driven woman, with a mixture of guilt, nobility and selfimportance, reckoning belatedly with her destructive impulses. Her final challenge is a trip with Steph to the Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya to help her daughter gather material for a school project on Africa. On a journey that she is assured involves no risk, a surprise attack on the camp puts them in harm’s way, and Rebecca disobeys orders and compulsively rushes into the melee. The movie brings in, then wisely drops, a half-baked subplot about possible government censorship of photojournalists. Shot with a gorgeous eye, the filmmakers aren’t afraid of lens flare or overexposure to add an ethereal beauty to horrific circumstances of which we are bracing for impact.
Urvi Bareja urvi@chiiz.com
Urvi grew up in New Delhi, India. She is always fascinated by literature and photography. In her spare time, she enjoys eating good food and watching web series.
Amrita Dutta is currently living and working as a photographer in Kolkata, West Bengal. As a kid, painting was her primary hobby which, with time reflected upon her photography. She loves photography and has now taken it up as a profession. As a Bengali, food has always been as important as anything in her life and that is how she decided her genre of photography. She captures photos of food as she considers it as an art and bridges it with different aspects of her daily life. Still, photography, food and commercials are her specialization. Her career as a food photographer started early last year in 2018 and now and she is a freelancer and has also started projects in Kolkata.
50 TRIGGERS
Noodles’ story Nikon D500 35mm F/6.3 1/100 ISO160
Veggie Brain Nikon D500 105mm F/9 1/100 ISO100
Care Nikon D500 105mm F/6.3 1/160 ISO320
Lemon Tea Nikon D500 35mm F/6.3 1/100 ISO200
Picture byPaneer Sunil Sawant Seekh Duet Nikon D500 35mm F/5.6 1/160 ISO320
Warren Price is a British wildlife photographer based just outside of London, England. He has been involved in wildlife photography for 15 years with his images appearing in publications that include National Geographic Traveller (UK), BBC Wildlife Magazine, The Times, The Telegraph, The Guardian, amongst others. He originally became interested in wildlife photography as a very young boy, fascinated by the wildlife that lived near his area of London. Soon, he became engrossed with the work of Jacques Cousteau and learned to dive and became a dive master. Underwater photography remains a huge passion for him along with all environmental issues that involve the preservation of our oceans and marine life. When not diving, he is in pursuit of capturing those rare and beautiful moments that wildlife can offer. Bird photography has been something that is challenging and rewarding and has taken him all over the world. You can follow him on Instagram @wossa_Price European Shag 52 TRIGGERS
Canon 7D 400 mm F/5.6 1/80 ISO125
Uprising Canon 5D Mark IV 500 mm F/4 1/1600 ISO250
Gannet Canon 7D 98 mm F/4.5 1/800 ISO250
Peregrine Falcon Fly Canon 5D Mark III D5300 195 mm F/2.8F/2.8 1/1250 ISO400 NIKON 35mm 1/320 ISO400
Eurasian Robbin Lines Canon 5DNIKON Mark III 500mm F/4 F/4.2 1/5001/400 ISO1000 D5300 62mm ISO100
Atlantic Puffin Canon 5D Mark IV 500 mm F/4 1/6400 ISO400
Feel Table for Two NIKON D5300 35mm 1/1000 ISO200 ISO100 Canon 5D Mark III 500 mmF/2.8 F/4 1/1600
Harjeet Singh Ghaziabad, India
56 FEATURES
The Third Eye NIKON D7200 116mm F/14 1/250 ISO320
Devil, God or...an Artist? In a world where everyone is looking for a purpose in their lives, those who know what they are meant for from the beginning are blessed. They are the children of God. One such man, who calls himself God’s child is Shaitan Singh Rawat. Shaitan is a Hindi word meaning the devil. It is derived from the Arabic word šaytān, which comes from Hebrew śātān. It’s very difficult to . think of anything positive about this . man, Shaitan Singh is word. Yet this God’s own child. Why the name Shaitan then? As a child, he was obedient, always a dogooder and almost angelic, they say. His parents named him the opposite of his character so he wouldn’t get proud and lose those admirable qualities. Shaitan Singh grew up to believe that his purpose in life was to serve God. He was from a farmer’s family and therefore the natural career choice for him would have been to become a farmer himself. But he knew he was different. He was meant for something else. Growing up in the holy city of Pushkar, he was used to the huge gatherings around temples, the religious fairs, the singing, the chanting, the display of art in various forms as an ode to God. Even as a toddler, Shaitan knew that it was art that brought us closer to God. He knew that it was through art that he could serve God. By the time Shaitan was eight, he was already painting himself blue head to toe and dressing up as Shiva. According to Hindu mythology, three Supreme Beings or three forms of one God command the universe. ‘Brahma’ the Creator, ‘Vishnu’ the Preserver and ‘Shiva’ the Destroyer. Shiva transforms the universe by first destroying it, so it
can be created anew. He is supposed to be a kind, gentle Supreme Being, whose abode is the Kailash mountain. He doesn’t mind a bit of alcohol here or a spot of marijuana there. He is a yogi who lives an ascetic life, sitting in meditation all day unless he is called upon to sort out the problems of the Universe. However, once his wrath is awakened, he becomes fearsome and formidable. The earth quakes when he dances in fury. Shaitan always felt this deep love for Shiva. Of all Supreme Beings, Shaitan found him to be the most dynamic, the most enchanting, the most un-Godlike God. He spent hours picking out pieces of rags, beads, shells, wood to make his Shiva outfit. He wanted to look like the Shiva in pictures, only better. He wanted people to feel the surreal joy of having seen Shiva when they saw him. When at the age of eight, Shaitan dressed up as Shiva for the first time and went to a fair in Pushkar, he knew this was it. This is who he was. This is who he was going to be. The love, adulation, awe and reverence with which people approached him was intoxicating. In fact, even more than that, it was fulfilling.
Since then, there has been no looking back. Every year, Shaitan has been dressing up as Shiva during religious and other fairs. When he is not playing Shiva, Shaitan is a painter. He paints portraits of Gods and Goddesses. He has also kept his family occupation of farming alive. He works on his farm when he is not painting or playing God. Shaitan’s wife is also an artist and so are his eight children. They all act in local mythological plays, paint, make costumes and sing. Shaitan believes that they all are serving God through art. And we believe him. As an ode to this artist, and to celebrate the ancient art of dressing up as God, Chiiz magazine features Shaitan Singh as Shiva, the destroyer, the transformer. Shiva is usually blue in color in paintings. The story goes that the Gods and Demons churned the ocean, to get the nectar of immortality and divide it among themselves. However, poison Halahala came out of churning as a byproduct. Shiva was called upon by the other Gods to save them from this poison and he valiantly drank it all, thus saving the universe. But the poison started to have an impact on his body and turned it blue. We, at Chiiz, are thinking about the other poison, that’s destroying our world - global warming, cutting down of trees, increasing carbon footprint. Bringing together the myth and the truth; the old and the new; the art and the artist, Chiiz presents - Shaitan Singh as The Green Shiva.
Anurita De anurita@chiiz.com Anurita is a writer, storyteller, a compulsive traveler and an avid photographer based in London. She has a chartered accountant’s degree and a masters in business from Oxford University. After spending 15 years in the banking industry, she has now turned to her passions - writing, content creation and photography. She is also a keen student of psychology, Italian and french.
Priyashi Negi Nanital, India
Samiksha Singh Indore, India
Priyashi Negi Nanital, India
God’s Own Palette Canon EOS 200D 50mm F/2.8 1/2500 ISO100
Holy Spirit Canon 80D 85mm F/2 1/400 ISO640
Priyashi Negi Nanital, India
Paraphernalia Canon 80D 50mm F/2 1/800 ISO100
Reflections Canon EOS 200D 50mm F/2 1/800 ISO100
Harjeet Singh Ghaziabad, India
Drawing the Eye NIKON D7200 140mm F/5.6 1/160 ISO200
Harjeet Singh Ghaziabad, India
Prepping NIKON D7200 90mm F/5.3 1/80 ISO100
Harjeet Singh Ghaziabad, India
Samiksha Singh Indore, India
Shiva’s Wrath NIKON D7200 140mm F/5.6 1/80 ISO400
Tanvi Sethi Delhi, India
Taking Eyes NIKON D5500 52mm F/5.6 1/80 ISO250
Shiva’s Glare Canon 80D 85mm F/1.8 1/400 ISO640
David Voraganti Hyderabad, India
Pratik Chandiramani Mumbai, India
Man as God Nikon D7200 116mm F/6.3 1/2500 ISO400
Vipul Trivedi Indore, India
Trident Canon 6D Mark II 110mm F/2.8 1/640 ISO100
The Power of Shiva Canon R 50mm F/1.4 1/8000 ISO200
Tanvi Sethi Delhi, India
Call of the Conch Shell Nikon D5500 28mm F/5.6 1/800 ISO100
Priyashi Negi Nanital, India
Neeraj Vishwakarma Indore, India
Holy Gaze Canon EOS 200D 50mm F/4.5 1/320 ISO100
Angry Shiva Canon 5Ds 35mm F/4 1/50 ISO400
Priyashi Negi Nanital, India
Of Beads and the Beats Canon EOS 200D 50mm F/4.5 1/320 ISO100
Maqsood MK, a Pakistan-based photographer, eats solitude, drinks serenity and sleeps in heavenly places. For him, trekking is a passion and the north of Pakistan is his playground.
Chogolisa Nikon D750 105mm F/13 1/100 ISO100
66 TRIGGERS
Pakistani Truck Art Nikon D750 30mm F/11 1/800 ISO100
Laila Peak Nikon D750 70mm F/16 1/250 ISO100
Uli Biaho Nikon D750 200mm F/10 1/500 ISO100
Baltoro Glacier and G4 Nikon D750 16mm F/11 6 ISO200
68 TRIGGERS
Lynx Spider Nikon D7100 90mm F/16 1/250 ISO400
Arjun Haarith, born and brought up in the beautiful city of Bangalore, is currently working as a software engineer at Adobe. He started photography during 2006-07 under the guidance of his uncle, Mr. H Satish, who is a very well-known wildlife photographer and he has been doing it for more than 10 years now. He loves to travel and has traveled extensively with his father, who is also a very ardent traveler. With the traveler bug in him, he has traveled to Nepal, the USA and many other places in India to pilgrimage, wildlife, trekking and others. He has won awards like the Askary award, YPS All India Salon 2017 (FIP Gold and Best entrant), Government of Karnataka recognized tourism awards hosted by YPS and many certificates of merits across various national salons.
Green Vine Snake Nikon D90 105mm F/8 1/100 ISO400
Praying Mantis Mating Nikon D7100 90mm F/13 1/200 ISO250
Praying Mantis Nikon D7100 90mm F/4.5 1/2000 ISO250
Beautiful Prey Nikon D200 105mm F/8 1/40 ISO200
Wandering Spider Nikon D7100 90mm F/11 1/250 ISO500
Brought up in Mumbai, Sonali Devnani was never inclined towards photography initially but had a love for travel and a curiosity about places and people. Moving to Hong Kong 15 years ago actually pulled her closer to India and now her wanderlust is fairly insatiable. She says, “What I see through my lens is captured forever, it remembers little things long after you have forgotten everything.� Doing a documentary on drug addiction made her realize that working on social issues was her passion. Having visited most of the South East Asian countries - Cambodia, Thailand and the Philippines to name a few, India still remains her favorite. Travel photography is what inspires her the most. 72 TRIGGERS
Beyond the Veil Canon 5D Mark III 50mm F/4.5 1/3200 ISO320
Winter Warmth Canon 5D Mark IV 47mm F/4 1/320 ISO4400
The Dark Beauty Canon 5D Mark IV 70mm F/3.5 1/160 ISO200
CHIIZ GALLERY
To get published, upload your photos on chiiz.com
Javed Khan Chhattisgarh, India
74 CHIIZ GALLERY
Rampant Nikon D750 62mm F/4 1/1600 IS0100
Saurabh Sirohiyala Kolkata, India
Motherly Love Nikon D7200 50mm F/2.8 1/500 ISO160
Ankita Dahake Mumbai, India
That’s how they roll in Pushkar Canon 60D 100mm F/5 1/500 ISO100
Irfanali Borgav Ichalkaranji, India
Amod Kumar Thane, India
Sunset Rhymes Sony 7R Mark II 16mm F/22 1/4 ISO200
Music Nikon D7200 22mm F/8 1/250 ISO320
Atharva Sudhanshu Deo Kolhapur, India
Kumar Mangwani Pune, India
Nikhil Mace Ghaziabad, India
Paused Nikon D5300 23mm F/3.8 1/1000 ISO100
Pushkar Morning Canon 60D 155mm F/5 1/1600 ISO200
Camel Family Canon 5D Mark III 80mm F/4 1/125 ISO1000
Rajesh Dhar Kolkata, India
Pankaj Narshana Mumbai, India
Pushpendra Mahesh Ratlam, India
Killer Circle Nikon D5200 11mm F/4 1/160 ISO2000
Vineet Sharma Jaipur, India
Albert Hall Nikon Coolpix P520 4.3mm F/3 1/160 ISO800
Salt Harvesting Nikon D90 34mm F/14 1/200 ISO100 Niraj Gera New Delhi, India
Natesh Rao Vallury Pune, India
Rajput Pride Canon 7D 18mm F/8 1/250 ISO100
Waiting Canon Kiss X2 18mm F/8 1/15 ISO100
Mangalika Ghosh Hooghly, India
The Veil of Tradition Nikon D750 50mm F/4.5 1/60 ISO125
A morning scene at Gadisar lake Canon 500D 10mm F/11 1/160 ISO100
Watching the dreams fly Fujifilm XT20 18mm F/2.8 1/125 ISO2500
Arindam Chowdhury Kolkata, India
Pushkar Art Nikon D7000 45mm F/8 1/800 ISO200
Dr. Dipabrata Sur Kolkata, India
Manish Jaisi New Delhi, India
Pushkar Journey Canon 600D 10mm F/4.5 1/800 ISO200
Indra Jeet Mumbai, India
Pushkar Adventures Canon 70D 18mm F/9 1/250 ISO100
Smoke-Puff Canon 5D Mark IV 200mm F/2.8 1/640 ISO100
Abhishek Bissa Jodhpur, India
As the Thunder lands Nikon D3400 18mm F/8 1/25 ISO100
Anil Saraswat Delhi, India
Vivek Kalyan New Delhi, India
Love of God Canon 80D 35mm F/5 1/60 ISO100
Deba Prasad Roy Kolkata, India
Pushkar Camel Fair Nikon D90 86mm F/14 1/400 ISO1000
Slow motion of Celebration Nikon D7000 18mm F/22 3 ISO100
Sumit Goel Gujarat, India
Emrah Uygun Istanbul, Turkey
A night at Pushkar Nikon D810 50mm F/1.6 1/20 ISO1250
Chinmoy Biswas Kolkata, India
Yogesh Rana New Delhi, India
Smiles from Pushkar Canon 70D 11mm F/7.1 1/640 ISO100
Sajid Shaikh Vadodra, India
Shubham Sharma Jaipur, India
Pushkar Mela Canon 1200D 18mm F/4.5 1/125 ISO800
Saurabh Gangil Agra, India
Master’s Love Nikon D3100 140mm F/5.6 1/80 ISO200
Soulmate Canon 700D 24mm F/14 1/400 ISO400
Sunrise view of Pushkar Mela Canon 700 55mm F/8 1/200 ISO400
Sagar J. Gondaliya Gujarat, India
Anurag Badoliya Banaras, India
Pinaki R Mitra New Delhi, India
Nishant Upadhyay Chandauli, India
Susilendu Bhattacharya Kolkata, India
Leisure Time Nikon D3300 55mm F/9 1/640 ISO400
Sanket Khuntale Mumbai, India
A Puff to Trance Nikon D90 200mm F/.8 1/350 ISO200
Chetan Pardeshi Bhandup, India
A Daily Chore & Hearty Conversation Nikon D500 35mm F/1.4 1/60 ISO1000
Abi M. Pulizeekh Karnataka, India
Golden Sunset Canon 80D 24mm F/8 1/1600 ISO200
Sampan Pathak Hooghly, India
Time is Changing Canon 7D 31mm F/2.8 1/3200 ISO200
Pushkar Evening Sony 7R Mark II 11mm F/4.5 1/90 ISO640
Silhouettes at Pushkar Nikon D5100 32mm F/7.1 1/200 ISO400
Beauties of Desert Canon1300D 55mm F/5 1/40 ISO400
Veiled Beauty Nikon D750 116mm F/2.8 1/1600 ISO200
Pinkesh Bhati Jodhpur, India
Kuldeep Singh Patiala, India
Abhishek Purohit Jodhpur, India
Crossing Lines Canon 1200D 55mm F/11 1/200 ISO100
Haresh Dhirajlal Patel Vasai Road, India
The Herd Nikon D750 35mm F/4.5 1/3200 ISO250
Colors of Life Nikon D3300 46mm F/5 1/20 ISO400
Vagabond Nikon D750 102mm F/3.5 1/1000 ISO100
Prasun Mitra is driven by the passion of traveling in the Himalayas, exploring indigenous tribes, endangered cultures, human stories and a secret interest in capturing the nomadic life. His interest in photography initially started with documenting his travels and later, he fell in love with the form of art as he started looking more seriously at the works of some of the amazing photographers he knows. Photography is an immersive experience and a wonderful opportunity for him to see the world from a different perspective through the lens which he would have otherwise missed. It also allows him to be closer to the nuanced stories which he wants to tell to the world by freezing those moments. A corporate professional living in Gurgaon, spending time on the desk between 9-5, he describes himself as photographing between work and sleep.
Open Air Barber Shop Canon 550D 11mm F/8 1/60 ISO100
Kangri, Portable Heater Canon 550D 11mm F/3.5 1/40 ISO200
Winter Commuting Canon 550D 11mm F/8 1/250 ISO100
82 TRIGGERS
Window of Hope! Canon 550D 11mm F/8 1/60 ISO100
Winter Evening from Srinagar Nikon D750 24mm F/2.8 1/50 ISO3200
Kashmiri man Nikon D750 65mm F/2.8 1/400 ISO400
Model of the Month
Shruti Yogi
Shruti Yogi is basically from Jaipur and has been staying in Mumbai since the past six years. She has been part of a few TV shows - ‘Chan Chan’, ‘Kumkum Bhagya’ for Balaji Telefilms, ‘Ishq Me Mar Jawan’ for Beyond Dreams, ad films for brands like Rentmojo, Yardley London, Nescafé ad with Shakti Mohan, worked in a film called ‘Chinar: Dastaan-e-Ishq’ and a short film named ‘Live-in’ among other creative pursuits. She is currently working with a lot of brands as an influencer and blogger. You can follow her on Instagram @yogishruti
Height - 5’5ft Length -167cm Waist - 26in Chest - 34in Hip - 33in 86
HALL OF FAME
Imposture Canon 1200D 18mm F/4 1/400 ISO800
Rania Guellil is a selftaught photographer based in Algeria. She became passionate about photography when she got her first camera in 2011 and since then, she understood that photography allows her to express and show more of herself. She sees the streets as the raw material through which she expresses her art. It really is her number one source of inspiration. She loves architecture, fashion and street art. Her goal is to include them all in one picture.
The Cosmic and the Dandy Canon 1200D 18mm F/4 1/1000 ISO160
88 TRIGGERS
Back to 80’s Canon 1200D 29mm F/7.1 1/80 ISO100
Cuba vibes Canon 1200D 18mm F/4 1/3200 ISO640
Ange et Demon Canon 1200D 18mm F/4 1/100 ISO250
No limit Canon 1200D 23mm F/4 1/6000 ISO4000
Fiza Khan Makeup Artist of the Month
Fiza Khan is one of the most popular makeup artists and teachers in Jaipur. She has been in this profession for more than 25 years. Her journey first started through a genuine personal interest in this field. Her service is profession, dedicated and premium. She takes pride in being creative and detail oriented. She provides for professional makeup courses at her Makeup Academy in Jaipur. This star artist has won a gold medal in makeup at all India level. She didn’t stop there and stood among top 10 positions in Makeup Asia cup. She has also worked with leading photographers, stylists, designers and modeling agencies. She also believes in spreading her art by taking seminars all over India. Till now, she has conducted more than 50 seminars and even more are scheduled in the upcoming summer season.
90 HALL OF FAME
Students’ Work
Sean Carmon Hasselblad 500 CM 100mm F/8 1/250 ISO50
World-renowned photographer Lois Greenfield has been photographing dance for over 40 years. Starting her career as a photojournalist, she became drawn to the graphics potential of dance. On assignment for newspapers and magazines, she developed a unique photographic style that was not based on capturing choreographed moments. Instead, Lois inspired the dancers to improvise expressly for the camera. With her split-second timing, Lois revealed moments beneath the threshold of perception. Radically redefining the dance photography genre, her award-winning work has influenced a generation. Based in NYC, she gives workshops in her NYC studio. 94 FEATURES
You have developed a signature style of photographing and freezing moments in dance. How did you come about such a unique concept? My style of photographing dance began in the 1980’s. Working in my studio instead of in the theater, I asked the dancers to avoid choreographed movements and just improvise for the camera. These unpremeditated moments happened so fast, allowing me to capture moments beneath the threshold of perception – moments that could only be seen as a photograph. The results were considered radical at the time as people weren’t used to see dancers literally floating in mid- air, in seemingly impossible positions, or cropped by film’s black border. While some photographers are meticulous about making a previsualized photograph, controlling every detail to realize their vision, others are more spontaneous and like to go with the flow. What is the method to your madness? My method is rather old-fashioned: I pre-focus the camera on where I ask the dancer to be, then I shoot one frame at a time on my manual Hasselblad 500CM camera that I have had since the 1980’s. My Broncolor strobes allow me to capture the very thin slices of time I require. I don’t previsualize the picture. If I knew what the finished photo would look like, I wouldn’t bother to make the picture, as my interest in this process is to get beyond my imagination, not to document an already-formulated idea. All my pictures are taken as single image, in-camera photographs. I never recombine or rearrange the figures within my images. Their veracity as documents gives the photographs their mystery, and the surrealism of the imagery comes from the
fact that our brains can’t register split seconds of movement. I am interested in the poetics of a visual language rather than in its literalness. I want my images to defy rational explanation. There is no “solution” to the questions posed by my photographs- they are meant to frame contradictions, present the impossible, and find coherence within chaos. The point is not to have the viewer figure out what is going on in the photo, but just to be present at the mystery of that instant. What has kept my interest in this obsessive inquiry for over 40 years is that each time I invite dancer into the studio, I have no idea what
the resulting images will look like. Working without forethought, and often with dancers I have never met, nor seen perform, allows me to create images that are beyond what I could have imagined. Your artist statement says, “The ostensible subject of my photographs may be motion, but the subtext is time.” Can you please elaborate for our readers? The continuum of a dancer’s movements illustrates the passage of time, giving it a substance, materiality, and space. I don’t ever “see” the moment that I capture on film, because I have to click the shutter on the instinct that the
Tatiana Martinez Hasselblad 500 CM 100mm F/8 1/250 ISO50
subsequent moment will resolve itself into a miraculous moment. I shoot only one photo at a time, often asking the dancer to repeat the same movement many times. That way the dancer can also experiment with variations, as well as allowing me to capture different split seconds each time. The camera’s ability to “stop” the flow allows the viewer to extract otherwise imperceptible moments created by the dancer. The laws of logic are replaced by the paradox of inversion - the moving elements solidify, and what appears immobile is in flux. A split second becomes an eternity, and an ephemeral moment is solid as sculpture. We see glimpses of Michelangelo, Bernini and Renaissance-like artistic expression in your work. How does the work of contemporary artists inspire you, if at all? The two photographers that influenced me the most are Duane Michals and Max Waldman. Duane was an iconoclast, always wanting to push the envelope. I was inspired by his determination not just to take photographs, but to create images that would not have existed had he not set them up. I followed his lead. And yes there is definitely the influence of the Michelangelo and the Bernini, among others. I hadn’t realized it at the time, but the semester I spent in Florence my junior year of college unconsciously influenced my photography, either by alluding to biblical scenes or Greek mythology. All these themes can be found in my two early monographs, “Breaking Bounds” and “Airborne”, as well as in my latest collection “Lois Greenfield: Moving Still” published by Thames & Hudson LTD, UK. You are known for pioneering the use of live photography. Please share your experience with this concept. From 2003 to 2007, I collaborated on the creation and performances of the Australian Dance Theatre’s “HELD”, a dance based on my photographs. I created photographic moments for the dancers to perform on the stage as part of the choreography. The premise was the live capture and instantaneous transmission of the images I shot on the stage. As the dancers performed, I shot hundreds of images, and each photo went up, unedited, instantly on two large screens on the stage. The audience could see the live event and my photos simultaneously. The dance debuted at the Sydney Opera House, and toured in Europe, the USA, and Japan. I was intrigued by the fact that I would pluck these photos out of a continuum, they would appear on the screen for 5 seconds, and disappear. It was quite an experience - I
Jordan Isadore Hasselblad 500 CM 100mm F/8 1/250 ISO50
PeiJuChien-Pott Hasselblad 500 CM 100mm F/8 1/250 ISO50
felt like I was catching a fish, and then throwing it back in the water! What advice would you give to the aspiring photographers regarding the nuances of ‘MOVING STILL’? I never go into a photo shoot with a pre -conceived idea. But if photographers feel more secure with a game plan they should follow it. I would still suggest that the photographers try different lighting, lenses, and camera angles, and not just rely on what they are used to. If the photographer is too controlling, the result might look stiff, as opposed to spontaneous. It’s good to allow plenty of time for the shoot, so that the dancer can get used to being photographed. Invite them over to the computer so they can see the photos and make the corrections they need to make. If you treat them as a collaborator instead of just a model, you will get the benefit of their creativity, rather than stifling it.
Priyashi Negi Natalie Deryn Johnson Hasselblad 500 CM 100mm F/8 1/250 ISO50
priyashi@chiiz.com Trekking in the top of the hills through tiny little paths and between pines is nothing short of paradise for Priyashi. Books and poetry are her refuge. She is a foodie at heart and seems to be blessed with a sweet tooth (sweet-teeth rather) and a love for all things cheese (pun-intended).
Tatiana Martinez Hasselblad 500 CM 100mm F/8 1/250 ISO50
Ha-Chi Yu Hasselblad 500 CM 100mm F/8 1/250 ISO50
Paul Zivkovich Hasselblad 500 CM 100mm F/8 1/250 ISO50