Travel
Saturday, November 10, 2007For these past couple of days my minds been filled with what i really love. Travel. Im headed to Himachal for ten days . Ye! and feeling a bit like a starved tramp invited to a feast. There are many things Im looking forward to - seeing the Himalays, trekking, the Buddist Gompas, Tibetan art and most importantly the experience of travelling. Travel to me stands for many things- loosing ones identity & history and roaming streets with big avid curious eyes. Senses alert, mind light. Freshning up in restrooms of airports, railway stations, bus stands (!). Waking early, seeing a different world with different people, walking, eating, shopping, and pictures, pictures loads of pictures.
And there are some people who turn this into a fine art and make a living out of it!
And there are some people who turn this into a fine art and make a living out of it!
Akshay Mahajan whom I met on flickr is a photographer and a travel writer who gets into the skin of a place with the alacrity of a person who loves to do it. Places open up to his camera so he may bring back pictures that touch a part of its soul. He has been written about in Elle & published in Tehelka, La Repubblica, The Daily Telegraph, Hindustan Times and now the BBC. All of this at the ripe old age of 21 (I had to tell this :)! You can read his blog here. It will be time well spent.
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Another person whose work I revere on flickr is Claude Renault who is a freelance photographer from Brittany. In his own words “If I do like to travel, it's not for a nice landscape or a historical monument, but for what makes a country : the people. I have travelled to many great places, but India is still the best. It just has a buzz that other places don't. have.” This Indophile has 23 ( no exaggeration- I counted) photo blogs on India. Almost one for each state. And what i totally respect about him is the scientific precision with which he gets the information & the tongue twisting Indian names right.
And only love can make pictures like this.
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All images from Akshay Mahajan's and Claude Renault's flickr photostreams
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