Faces half done!

They are all budding artists in the art form - Yakshagana.

Some are very new and some are well versed.

I went to their green room couple of times in order to document the process of them getting ready. It is a fascinating place to be in. Both from observation point of view and from image making point of view.

Often the green rooms does not consist of large area. One has to work in small space under loads of constraints to capture the process of an artist undergoing the transformation from his earthly identity to the on stage avatar. 

The make up forms a huge part in this form of art and it takes quite a huge time to make one person ready to go on stage. All looks like a movie in the fast forward many a times inside the green room, yet everything has to be accurate and elegant. One thing I noticed was that they all look composed and calm during the complete duration of their make up. They try to take the character inside them which they are going to play on stage. Unlike any other play you almost never have a prescribed set of dialogues in Yakshagana. All the dialogues of all the characters have to be spontaneous and that is a challenge in itself. They have to have their presence of mind all the time along the course of the performance....and I need not mention that there is no room for any errors!

All the faces you see in this blog post were in the process of one such transformation. They were all on their way to completion. Of course for their performance that day and may be in their journey of mastering this wonderful form of art as well.

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And how did they look when they went on stage? You may have to wait for my next blog! :)



Cheers,
Ash 

As the winter passes by...

Looks like the cool weather is gone for this season and is making way to the hotter summer this time. Temperature during the day is soaring and the misty mornings are gone. Now onwards the Sun rules the sky and he will start towards his peak.

This winter I didn't shoot much. My trip to Kodachadri in October last year was the only trip which stands out for me in this winter. No visits to my backyard T.G.Halli as well.

Trip to Kodachadri was in fact a LW workshop which I co-lead with my friend Sri Harsha Ganjam. Sahana had also accompanied me on the trip and we all had a wonderful time at my friend Adithya Biloor's place - Simha Farms. It was fruitful for me personally in terms of some of the images I got during the trip.

We had some nice time making images at Hidlumane falls and a nice evening at Baindoor beach. The evening hue was fantastic and everyone enjoyed making images.

We went to the top of Kodachadri to witness the sunrise and we were surprised by looking at the amount of tiny flowers on top of the peak. They were huge in number and were of many varieties as well. It was the first time I had seen so many flowers at that place! The sunrise was also a pleasure to sight.

All in all a very nice time spent and that's all I have this winter.

Need to see how this summer will be.

Cheers,
Ash