A few days ago, I came across a news article on the BBC's website which began with this photograph. Aside from the rather generous hues of rust that embalm the ship's side, things look fairly normal. That is until you realize that this ship is a 150-foot Japanese squid fishing vessel that was ousted from … Continue reading An Actor Named Grief and His Five Stages
Kony 2012 and The Social Seduction of Now
I couldn't help but chuckle to myself when I first saw this photograph a few days ago. It was taken by American photo-journalist Glenna Gordon who at the time was covering (on assignment with AP) the peace talks between the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) and the Ugandan government on the Sudan-Congo border. During one particular … Continue reading Kony 2012 and The Social Seduction of Now
The Artist (It Do Matter if You’re Black and White)
The Jazz Singer premiered on October 6, 1927 at the Warner Brothers flagship theater in New York City. By this time, the cultural palette of the American and European bourgeoisie had become rather accustomed to film as a form of entertainment. Though silent film with live orchestral accompaniment was the mainstay of the industry, recorded … Continue reading The Artist (It Do Matter if You’re Black and White)
India
For most of my life, the fact that I am from India was little more than an embarrassment. I grew up in settings replete with the influences of western culture (with friends who were mostly white) and as such, my associations with being Indian arose mainly from the typical stereotypes having to do with a … Continue reading India
Melancholia and the End of the World
Two years ago at Cannes, Lars Von Trier premiered his film Antichrist. Despite loving most things Von Trier, I couldn't bring myself to watch the film due to its plethora of tortuous (quite literally) and sexual depictions that made even Cannes critics cringe. I'm no philistine, but the impression I got from reading dozens of … Continue reading Melancholia and the End of the World
Best of 2011
Since any idiot can compile a traditional "Best of 2011" list (see below), I've decided to take the road less traveled and recount a few occasions over the last year that were of personal import to me. In a year that featured, amongst other things, the completion of a masters in community something or other … Continue reading Best of 2011
Silence is Golden with Buster Keaton
It was only in the 1920s that "talkies" became the popular film currency, eclipsing more than two decades of silent film. Prior to "talkies," cinema was an entirely visual experience, and a monochrome one at that. And I had no idea how pure film could be - and how cluttered the modern cinema-going experience actually … Continue reading Silence is Golden with Buster Keaton
Hong Kong I Love/Hate You OR Reasons to Live OR My Ode to the Apocalypse
I'm back (not really with a vengeance) in the city with which I have a love/hate relationship. Hong Kong, if you must know. I love that this place is a pastiche of cultures with a diversity of culinary options, that my best friends are from America, Australia, Canada, England, and Nepal, and that patriotism is … Continue reading Hong Kong I Love/Hate You OR Reasons to Live OR My Ode to the Apocalypse
The Decisive Moment
My favorite photographer is Henri Cartier-Bresson. In addition to being amongst the stealthiest of photographers (rumor has it that he could finish several rolls of film in a crowd without anyone even remembering that he was there), he had an uncanny ability to capture moments. Cartier-Bresson said the following of photography in the preface to … Continue reading The Decisive Moment
Happy Birthday Desmond Tutu, You Punk You
I once stood next to Archbishop Desmond Tutu and his presence as a towering force to be reckoned with was impossible to deny. Of course this may have been due to the fact that I was posing for a photograph at Nobel Square at the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town, where Tutu's larger-than-life bronze sculpture … Continue reading Happy Birthday Desmond Tutu, You Punk You
Writing Is Prayer 