RavMad

24/01/2025

         
          .bnw

24/01/2025

The virus has changed the DNA of the society.
It is more likely to wipe out an entire generation if not dealt with compassion.
If a recent radio recording from USA is to be taken on its face value -the experts explain why with the options that we have today, a service truck driver's chance of getting a ventilator is at least 75 percent more than a golf playing OAP. If we were to read this in a lesser fortunate nation's context, the vulnerability quotient is a wild shriek.
I met these elderly people last year at a relief medical camp in one of the most under developed areas of the country. They seem to have nothing in their mind. Not even the next meal. 
Today, they might not be even aware of the lock down. For them, the conflicts are beyond  any virus. Sometimes it  gives me the impression that the ' re-set' that is happening now is more of an introspection for the intelligentsia. The rest duly retire to their nemesis.            
          .bnw

24/01/2025

Like childhood, child like.. born into more organic ambience, this child is now in her mid forties.. What survived, overlapped. Never overlooked. Always overwhelming.. ORWO , 1982.. NIKON FM2..

20/01/2025

How much does it take for a modern film processing service to give the audacious option of “ scan and discard negatives” There are many out there who do it with a flair. They don’t even let you know where they failed. Excuse me, where you failed. photography          _

18/01/2025

This is Sivakami. She has a challenge to address. Our admins say they have the copyrights to our plastic waste. Sivakami has been collecting them for years and making a living out of it. That’s at stake. I caught up with her a few weeks back and she was glum faced prompting me to use the most obnoxious line of our times to trigger that smile. I just told her “ Our democracy is under attack” She wasn’t even smiling. She was laughing as you can see… photography          _

17/01/2025

Where do we go from our grave? That’s for us to think. Not our film processing lab. They can send you to one. You need to take your weather proofing to stay there till you DEVELOP into something better.

16/01/2025

15/01/2025

-Raising a profound point about human behavior at vulnerable service ventholes, especially in contexts where power dynamics and accountability are at play, the powers that be often label strong, direct language addressing their incompetency, as “rude” because it disrupts the veneer of politeness or the cultivated image they use to maintain control or deflect criticism. When confronted with their own contradictions or failings, it’s easier for them to shift the narrative to the tone of the critique rather than addressing the substance of it. This deflection allows them to maintain their self-image or credibility without engaging with the uncomfortable truths being presented. The very fact that they missed it is not an admission but an opportunity for them to prevail over the service seeker
photography          _

14/01/2025

* photography          _
If you are from the filmscape’ you might have come across this anticipatory bail application “ Even though we take good care of your films, if by any reason we need to trash your roll due to acts of God and force majeure’ our liability is limited… blah blah blah “ *
I suggest that you shoot film. Now. A couple of them. Same subject, with backups on different rolls. You will at least have something to fall back on in case your film manufacturer gives you dummy acetate in a cassette that looks exactly like a film or if the Gods are sore. It may not register anything but can have light leaks at certain points depending upon the gregorian chants you pronounce while you shoot. The films go into the same tank to redeem themselves yet one of them may tank as shown in my adjoining picture. You cannot blame anyone, leave alone Nosferatu. You will be rendered impotent and guilty if you try to reason with your tank or chemistry. Leave alone Frankenstein. He just shakes the entire loop to a rhapsodic folk depending on where he is from and how big a tank he is. Argue with him and you will regret. You may end up cleaning the salt and pepper that gravity brought in to your film when you were “ rudely’ chanting truth. *
Meanwhile, let me with my entire collection of gratitude, recall the folks who did everything possible to restore la pellicule. If it hadn’t been for them, I couldn’t have been enough. You see, the film is called Dracula , with fangs all around. What more can one expect beyond blood? And I am sure there will be enough for everyone. Sometime, some day..

11/01/2025

In the grain of these frames lies a story unspoken yet deeply felt—a fleeting embrace of a world now distant but achingly near. Each glance, each smile holds the weight of time, weaving a quiet symphony of love, loss, and the eternal dance of memory.

02/01/2025

Keep calm. You are living the moment, bridging the present with the future.
And a 24 exposure limit helps.