check out the rest of the photos from our amazing day at the garden school in mumbai. they do amazing work there and we hope to have an on-going relationship with them. go to the dirt floors and stone walls blog for more pictures.
live, love and share!
dirt floors and stone walls is doing a lot of great work with the school system of india! to see more pictures from our most recent post, please visit the dirt floors and stone walls blog.
live, love, share!
our final days in jaipur were filled with the holi festivities, painting elephants, spending time with the schools and absorbing as much of the vibrant city as we could. we knew we would miss it dearly. between all of these events i did some light shooting and saw some very interesting things. india never ceases to amaze me.
something that has changed about the way i shoot is the volume of my clicks. since my last trip to india in 2010 i have become a more calculated and have become a part of what i shoot. i’m not just on the other side of the lens now as an observer. i’m actually here and able to absorb my surroundings.
taking a much-deserved break from work.
a reproduction of a shot i took on my last visit.
my old friends at rocky’s scent shop in the walled city. it is so cool to have fans in india!
making strip light bulbs for wedding season.
one of a thousand alleys selling a million different things.
and on to ahmedabad…
ahmedabad is a very different city from jaipur, delhi or any other place i’ve been in india. beyond the walls of ghandi’s ashram it’s hard to find the heart of the city’s energy. nonetheless, we have been seeking adventure at every turn. enjoy the sounds of ahmedabad!
maintaining the ghat at ghandi’s ashram.
a shiva poster in one of the schools that manav sadhna is building for a slum.
laundry day!
waiting for customers.selling helmets on the side of a highway. smart kid.
a cornucopia of fresh veggies! wish we could actually eat some.
one of the coolest mosques i’ve ever been in.
this kid was racing our rickshaw. he could really book it!
digging graves in a muslim cemetery.
the flea market under the bridge.
she was doing some picking of her own!
cleaning his goat in the river.
my first cock fight. it was intense.
tying the chickens’ feet together.
they dye them so that the kids will think they’re cute and buy them as pets. then they die.
the city tore down a massive slum to create a huge riverside park. but people have already moved back under the bridge and started a new slum.
putting on a show at a ngo school.
one of the cleanest canals i have ever seen in a slum.
we were fortunate enough to witness and partake in the sacred ritual of painting the elephants for the holi celebration. these docile creatures love the attention and cooperate gladly. what an amazing experience. most of the pictures below are of our friend “pinky”. she is a 36-year old asian elephant who loves to interact with people.
to put it simply, holi is the hindu celebration of the triumph of good over evil. named after holika (the hindu demonness who was burnt to death) it involves throwing/rubbing brightly colored powders and water on each other. there is no mercy!! everybody is a target. but it’s all in good fun.
given the nature of the celebration, i had to completely wrap my camera in plastic for protection. as a result, i had to shoot all day guessing my exposures and frames. totally blind! it was a very interesting exercise for me. kind of like shooting from the hip, i loved it!
also, if you’d like to see what we are doing with our school donation project please visit www.dirtfloorsandstonewalls.wordpress.com.
enjoy the pictures and please share!
these kids nailed me and took my whole bag of green color!
no one is safe.
and everyone has a great time.
these guys were getting super high. they thought we were hilarious-looking with our colors.
never too busy celebrating for chai.
exuberant.
they don’t beg for money on holi, it’s all about the colored powder!
on top of the world.
i asked them to pick me up, too, but they said i was too heavy!
so dusty.
even krishna plays holi!
people eventually start picking up color from the ground and rubbing it on each other’s faces.
a great team!
cleaning up again.
this guy was waiting for us at home to give him money and give him color. INDIA!
yesterday ash and i were honored with vip access to a very special ceremony at the govind jevni krishna temple in jaipur. traditionally, holi is celebrated by throwing colored powder and water at each other. it can be lethal for photographers! sometimes they even throw eggs into the mix. but at this ceremony they use flower petals. i’m not trying to sounds cheesy, but there is something very magical about flower petals showering you from above. truly magical.
we also visited a new school for our dirt floors and stone walls project yesterday. we will be delivering supplies and resources to them tomorrow. please check out the pictures at www.dirtfloorsandstonewalls.wordpress.com.
enjoy and share!
these guys totally rocked it!
there is never a shortage of dancing and singing in india!
the men and women sat on opposite sides of the temple.
the temple is GORGEOUS!
cleaning the remnants of holi color form the temple floor. what a task!
many on-lookers.
not everyone was allowed into the ceremony.
yet, this little girl was permitted to run around during the festivities.
so much dancing! the spirit of hinduism is so exuberant and full of joy!
just ONE basket of many for the festivities.
i’m telling you, there is something magical about the sensation of being showered with flowers.
the man leading the ceremony was totally covered by the end of it.
and MORE dancing!
time for the clean-up.
the scene outside of the temple was very different. calm and serene.
….until we saw the monkeys! NOM NOM NOM!
i thought he was going to jump on me.
resting after a long day of carrying rocks on her head.
i hope you all like elephants as much as we do! we were fortunate enough to befriend one of the trainers/owners/friends and he gave us a tour of the place that so many of these gentle giants call home. the village is a very unique arrangement. the structures that the elephants call home is also home to their trainers and their families. it is a 24/7 job that these people are extremely dedicated to. they are literally best friends with these elephants. we can see why. anyone who has spent even a short amount of time with these gentle animals can recognize their amazing capacity for emotion.
you will definitely be seeing more of these beautiful creatures soon. trust me. it’s gonna be rad!
enjoy some sounds too! play them as you look through the pictures below.
if you’d like to follow the charity work we are doing with the indian school system, please visit www.dirtfloorsandstonewalls.wordpress.com. thank you!
the bathing area for the elephants. it’s too cold now so they get showered in their homes. so spoiled!
they love being scrubbed and massaged.
you’d be surprised how hard they are scraped. but then again, they have very thick skin!
they have such soft skin on their trunks!
one giant callous!
they are very close with their trainers/owners.
curious about my camera.
“SALUTE!”
staying cool.
she didn’t want us to leave.
nice profile view of pinky.
curious boys!
