Book Review: The Art of Black and White Photography

Here is the link to my book review on Torsten Andress Hoffman‘s: The Art of Black and White Photography- http://desicritics.org/2008/06/26/131513.php
Book is a well-documented book covering the whole gamut of black and white photography and has useful tips on photography. I would recommend this book to any serious photographer as a must read book.




I was passing through the Horniman garden in Fort to visit the Asiatic Library and when I saw through the iron gate the imposing British built 19th century Central library, I felt it would make a good image. Taken from my nikon D 70 camera and converted to B & W in photoshop.

Vat Savatri- Indian festivel for married women

The other day I visited Kumbharwada, Dharavi, asia's largest slum area. I wanted to cover Vat Savatri festivel celebrated by the married women in India. Married women from kumbharwada who are a well known community for producing clay pots were celebrating the Vat Savatri festival. On this day the married women prays for the well being of her husband and for happiness in marital life. Visit my site to know more on this unique ceremony and view the images taken from my nikon lens - http://rajennair.com/

Images of Dabbawala and Rains in Mumbai

I have uploaded recent images on the Dabbawala which is a unique network of human chain in transporting lunch boxes to its customers in offices in Mumbai and the rains in Mumbai Also I bring you images of Asia's largest slum- Dharavi.
Link- http://rajennair.com/
Hope you enjoy my images as much as I enjoy taking it.

Dharavi - Asia's largest Slum

Last week I visited Dharavi to photograph small manufacturing units located in Asia’s largest slums. I had to negotiate a maze of narrow alley leading to the interior of Dharavi. The place reeks with filth and decaying garbage. There are clusters of double storied shanties with narrow lanes fit enough for only one person to pass through. Even in broad daylight the place is engulfed in semi-dark with hardly any sun light able to pass through the crammed houses. Water pipes run along with open sewage lines.
The area is dominated with Hindus and the Muslims. Both co-exist in peaceful condition except during 1992-93 when the riots had broken out. People from different corners of India had come to Mumbai in search of green pasture and settled in Dharavi. There are ghettos of different community holed up in Dharavi, the Muslim community, the south Indian tamilians, the kumbharwada potters of Gujarat, the labourer of Bihari and UP. Basti (colony) belonging to the South Indian Tamilians stand out. One could see many wayside Murugan temple and hotels selling south Indian delicacy wada sambhar and Dosa. A Mosque and Temple located next to each other is a common sight. One can find all kind of small industries here – the tanneries, leather, garment, furniture and clay pots.
The people of dharavi live in pitiable and deplorable condition. The Maharashtra government has earmarked funds to built new homes for them under slum redevelopment scheme. So there is a silver lining in the otherwise dark clouds for the people of Dharavi. Images of Dharavi is uploaded in the gallery section titled Dharavi of my site- http://rajennair.com/ Also read a story on a potter published in Guardian Weekly, UK.

My Photo-Website

I bring you my images, published photo-essays and articles on Indian Art & Culture, Festivals, Events, Places, Travels and History, through my website -http://rajennair.com/
Your comments and suggestions are welcome.
Thanking you in advance for visiting my site.

Naigoan, Thane,

Last Sunday on June 7th I visited Naigaon which is about 50 kilometers from Mumbai city. My sister has a house there and on that day she was shifting to her new residence in a multi-storied apartment in Mulund , Mumbai. I had to help her in shifting and transporting household items to her new house. Before the transport van could arrive I took some time off to visit the surrounding places in Naigaon. I love the environment that the village provides that is of old villa houses, narrow alleys and plenty of greenery. Naigaon is a getaway from the city’s noise and maddening crowd and I did not want to miss this opportunity.

Why to blog ?

After years of dilly dallying whether I should blog or not, finally I came around to the idea that I need to blog. Having a website prompted me to have a blog as added feature to my site. I believe my readers would have a much wider perspective of my work.
Why I didn’t feel the need to blog in the past was because most of my published articles and photo-essays I believe are sort of a semi-blog in nature. Now that I have decided to blog it would serve as an extension of what I have been writing and taking images centering on Indian art& culture, festivals, events and places and history.