Caption: Fruit seller, Russell Market, Bangalore, © Tahir Amin
Please leave your feedback for Tahir Amin in the [comments] section of this post for this image.
Show & Tell: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.
Tahir Amin is a lawyer from the UK currently working with the Alternative Law Forum in Bangalore, India on intellectual property issues and its affect on the public domain. Following his departure from the corporate legal world he has been an activist in the U.K Stop the War Coalition, the International Solidarity Movement as an international peace activist/observer in the West Bank, Palestine and currently working on legal issues for the Affordable Medicine Treatment campaign in India.
Activism/protest or simply disseminating information for a cause can be done in many ways, though usually in the form of writing or actual physical protest. However, Tahir believes the power of visuals through photography are equally relevant forms of activism and protest, as images rarely fail to have at least some impact on the neutral observer. From images of the millions of people protesting in London, to the destruction and conflict in Palestine, to protests against patents and the right to medicine, the camera is not only able to tell a story, but it also acts as an instrument of awareness, protest and activism.
He is currently preparing to carry out photography projects around India, in particular, raising awareness about rural India's intersection of art and activism to empower local artists, a project for an NGO in Bombay working on placing homeless children in schools in order to raise funds, a look into the lives of refugees from Tibet living in one of the largest Tibetan settlements in India, as well as the Tsunami relief effort in the eyes of the dalits in Tamil Nadu. He is also planning to return to Palestine in the future.
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This is my favorite so far of your photographs, Tahir. The framing’s interesting and the scale in the foreground gives some nice context. Nice work.
This is my favorite so far of your photographs, Tahir. The framing’s interesting and the scale in the foreground gives some nice context. Nice work.
yeah…i really like this piece. I love the weighing scale bowl in the foreground. Maybe if you had pulled out just a little it would have been clear that the object in the forground is a weiging scale. I am glad that flash wasnt used…the lighting reminds me of my own visits to Russel Market as a child with my Mom during the brief period of time we spent in Bangalore. All in all its a good portrait.
Well done Tahir.
yeah…i really like this piece. I love the weighing scale bowl in the foreground. Maybe if you had pulled out just a little it would have been clear that the object in the forground is a weiging scale. I am glad that flash wasnt used…the lighting reminds me of my own visits to Russel Market as a child with my Mom during the brief period of time we spent in Bangalore. All in all its a good portrait.
Well done Tahir.
Looks like this one is a hit. Here is why I think it is such a success. First off, the quality of the light. The ambient – incadescent light source – is a much better choice than bathing the scene in a grotesque white light (aka. a strobe or a flash). I like the fact that this gentleman is oblivious to the photographer. It’s an unguarded moment (even if it is only for a fraction of a second). I love the way your use of selective depth of field plays out; sharp okras, fuzzy onions. While it may seem ambiguous to some, the foreground of the weighing scale contributes to the background as it tells us that this guy isn’t just hanging out at a vegetable stall, he is actually in the business of selling his wares.
I am not particularly thrilled by the placement of the subject – dead in the center. This is a common and repeating practice among beginning photographers and seasoned pros that can easily be rectified. Look up the following link to learn about the rule of thirds, also known as the Golden Mean. It’s powerful stuff that will change the way you approach your photography. If you had only moved a teeny bit to the left or right, this would be a rockin’ image. In fact, right now do this – cover up the left third of the image with your hand, to visually recompose [crop] the image. The vegetable seller’s dreamy gaze is almost immediately the point of focus now. We loose the spuds in the background, but we know that he is a vegetable seller by the content on the right side of the frame. Allowing this man’s gaze to meander from left to right in essence chides us to do the same and take in the entire image.
If I were to rank this image, I would give it a 8 out of 10.
Looks like this one is a hit. Here is why I think it is such a success. First off, the quality of the light. The ambient – incadescent light source – is a much better choice than bathing the scene in a grotesque white light (aka. a strobe or a flash). I like the fact that this gentleman is oblivious to the photographer. It’s an unguarded moment (even if it is only for a fraction of a second). I love the way your use of selective depth of field plays out; sharp okras, fuzzy onions. While it may seem ambiguous to some, the foreground of the weighing scale contributes to the background as it tells us that this guy isn’t just hanging out at a vegetable stall, he is actually in the business of selling his wares.
I am not particularly thrilled by the placement of the subject – dead in the center. This is a common and repeating practice among beginning photographers and seasoned pros that can easily be rectified. Look up the following link to learn about the rule of thirds, also known as the Golden Mean. It’s powerful stuff that will change the way you approach your photography. If you had only moved a teeny bit to the left or right, this would be a rockin’ image. In fact, right now do this – cover up the left third of the image with your hand, to visually recompose [crop] the image. The vegetable seller’s dreamy gaze is almost immediately the point of focus now. We loose the spuds in the background, but we know that he is a vegetable seller by the content on the right side of the frame. Allowing this man’s gaze to meander from left to right in essence chides us to do the same and take in the entire image.
If I were to rank this image, I would give it a 8 out of 10.