Vespertine calm.
The popular, fetching – and clichéd – view of Vesturhorn is the one from the east. Here we see a less common view of the mountain, from the southwest direction across the waters of Skarðsfjörður.
Lone whooper swan
5DS, 24-70L f/2.8 II
Final kiss of light
5DS, 100-400L IS II
An orographic study.
Two iconic mountains: Vaðalfjöll in the West and Þóristindur in the south-central Highlands of Iceland. Like so many other mountains in Iceland, these present markedly different profiles depending on the viewing direction.
In the image below, can you descry the two human figures atop Vaðalfjöll?
“The Nipple” – Vaðalfjöll
5DS, 100-400L IS II
“The Thumb” – Þóristindur
5DS, 100-400L IS II
Characters from an earlier time.
These portraits from 2007 have a common attribute: they depict a type of men and life in rural Goa that has now receded. These villagers typically lived their whole lives within the small radius of their settlements, living off the land, and for the most part oblivious to the larger world.
Filed under the Faces of Goa folder.
Kusta Gaonkar of Gaondongrim, Canacona
5D, 24-105L
Gopinath of Vagurme
5D, 24-105L
Shaba Velip of Painguinim, Canacona
5D, 24-105L
Pursho Gaonkar of Gaondongrim, Canacona
5D, 24-105L
Thank you! As a Goan born and brought up in Mumbai, all my school vacations were in Goa. Your pictures bring back fond memories. My family and I have migrated to Goa. We have our home there. It is not the same, but it gives me great pleasure to watch my daughter grow to love Goa as much as I do.ReplyCancel
Hi Rajan: I very much like the first photo, but all are wonderful to behold. On a technical note, the last photo’s black and processing is nearly perfect; in fact, I think it is perfect. You captured all the zones in that one for sure.
On the topic of photos of bygone eras: there is a certain tranquility in the faces of these men that I rarely see these days. Thank you for capturing and preserving their portraits.
Light that sings.
In northern Iceland the sun barely sets in the days leading to and after the summer solstice. The honey-dipped rays of the low sub-Arctic sun around midnight is a sublime experience.
Drangaskörð after sundown
5DS, 100-400L IS II
Light of the midnight sun
5D Mark II, 70-200L f/2.8 IS II
Remembering a distinguished son of Goa.
Today is the birth anniversary of Abbé Faria (May 31, 1756 – Sep 20, 1819), a pioneering researcher in the field of hypnotism. Pace Franz Mesmer, Faria recognized that the agency of hypnosis is the power of suggestion.
Abbé Faria was born in the coastal village of Candolim in Goa. He died in Paris and is buried in Montmartre although the exact location of his grave remains unknown. A fictionalized Abbé was featured in Alexandre Dumas‘s novel The Count of Monte Cristo, later adapted in a number of films, the last in 2002. Read the brief account of his eventful life in the Wiki entry.
In 1945, a monument honouring this great man was erected in the heart of Panjim, and the Goan sculptor Ramchandra Pandurang Kamat commissioned to create the artwork. The plaque on the northern side reads: JOSÉ CUSTODIO FARIA (ABADE FARIA) FUNDADOR DE DOUTRINA E METODO DA HIPNOSE PELA SUGESTÃO (José Custodio Faria, Abbé Faria founder of the Doctrine and Method of Hypnosis by Suggestion). [Reference: Snapshots of Indo-Portuguese History – I by Vasco Pinho]
In the first image below, the Palácio do Idalcão (Adilshah’s Palace), built c. 1500, is to the left of the frame and on the right, the heritage Mhamai Kamat House (19th C).
Largo do Palácio, Panjim
5D Mark II, TS-E 17L
The power of ‘suggestion’
5D Mark III, 70-200L f/2.8 IS II
Abbé Faria: Artwork by Ramchandra Pandurang Kamat
5D Mark III, Zeiss ZE 100 Makro Planar
Very heartening to be reminded of the life of one of Goa’s illustrious sons, where did they go, to be replaced by the scoundrels that we meet today,
What a magnificent statue sculpted by Ramchandra Kamat, worthy of one of Europe’s old city’s picturesque plazas.
Thank you Rajan-bab for remembering a great Goan on his birthday.ReplyCancel
I first read about Abbe Faria while reading ‘The Count of Monte Cristo’. It warmed the cockles of my heart when I googled him and found that Bab Faria was from Goa. One sentence from his life which has stuck with me is when his father pepped him up by saying “Hi sogli baji; cator re baji (they are all vegetables, cut the vegetables)”. Refer to the Wikipedia entry mentioned in the post above.
Last weekend we went on an island and while on the ferry I was narrating a watered-down version of ‘Count of Monte Cristo’ to my son, as it also has island prison and escape from the prison. I told him about Abbe Faria and how intelligent he was and how he helps Edmond Dantes escape. And here we are today, Parrikar Bab making a post on his blog about Abbe Faria! What should we call this, conincidence? Nah, may be ‘Animal Magnetism’! 🙂ReplyCancel
by Rajan Parrikar
That first image is stunning with the swan in the reflected light!
Thank you, Jackson. It was an unusually calm evening and I got lucky.