1:43 AM

#ReservoirCows, anyone? #india #cows #pondy

5:01 PM

That sign says, “BRAIN IS YOUR SUPER COMPUTER. PROTECT IT” which is a plea to get people wearing helmets, on motorbikes, not bicycles. I used to ride around on a motorbike here when I was younger. Not anymore, it’s mental. #india #motorbike #helmet

4:53 PM

Somebody please explain how you use colour in design to these people. I mean, #srsly #india

2:43 PM

Not going to plan so far - arrived in the middle of a tropical cyclone and 150km drive to go. #madras #india #cyclone

5:47 PM

Awesome! New #stevemccurry book is here! While I see problems with his representations of the other, and the exotic style, he is still a massive influence on me. #India #phaidon

1:53 PM

Atop The Promenade with a view of the old lighthouse, and soundtracked by the wild Indian Ocean. So lucky. Wish you all a marvellous Christmas. #Pondy #lighthouse #india

11:41 AM

#hair #india

The Damn Things

I thought I wouldn’t need them, and would much prefer to not be wearing them. Several reasons. One, the viewfinder on these Canons is pretty crappy, and I need to be right be close to see the full frame. Glasses get in the way, which is in fact why I started wearing contacts 16 years ago. Which leads to the next issue. I have some spectacles with me so I can wear them instead of contacts if need be. The climate is drying my eyes out quite quickly, and unless that stops, I might have to wear glasses for some of the time. The other reason is of course other people can’t really see my eyes. If you’re trying to communicate with someone, it’s generally a good idea to show your eyes. Glasses are pretty distorting devices: I feel like a drunken sailor on a listing galleon after wearing glasses for the first time in weeks or months. But they are crystal clear in comparison. Plenty of chromatic aberration though. Anyway, I walked out into the afternoon sun and even after my eyes adjusted, I was pretty blinded by the intensity. Our senses do a remarkable job of compressing the huge ranges of volume and brightness into a linear response, but they have their limits. So: sunglasses. I know I’m going to lose them. I’ve lost every pair I’ve ever owned, and that would be at least six, decent pairs that is. And I’m sure to lose these too. Still, I have three requirements for sunglasses:

1. Glass. I hate plastic. Glass doesn’t scuff up, it’s less distorting and lasts longer.
2. Polarizing. I hate glare and haze. If you’re going to dim everything by wearing these stupid things, at least they should make things a bit clearer somehow.
3. Neutral colour. Ray-Bans have either a green cast or a very warm orange shade. Many others have some form of tint. Tints and can really make a dreary day look much better, but they ain’t no good when you’re photographing in colour. Don’t do it.

A small point to note. The screen on the Canon has poor viewing with polarized specs when held vertically, in case you’re using live view or are otherwise trying to read it that way.

Rather than lugging tons of gear and equipment around with me, I decided to go in the other direction this time, and started thinking about footwear yesterday. I’m wearing these incredibly thin-soled shoes from Terra Firma, effectively plimsoles, which are very light, water-un-resistant and unsupportive in the extreme, unlike my big walking boots which I’d normally bring. But, they are like the footwear the tribals wear, slightly more expensive of course, but nothing particularly comfortable in the western sense. But it does mean I experience the same sensations they do as they walk. And it might inspire me to look at things differently to how I normally would, as I’m not detaching myself from their world as much as I did last time. So what else is there that I could shed or minimalize. There’s a limit to how much empathy I can offer, but I can at least observe their world better.

I’ve had a pile of books saved up for months for this trip and been dying to start on them. I just finished reading William Dalrymple’s excellent but miserable series of essays on South Asia - The Age of Kali - and among the final essays were pieces on the remote regions where India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and China all meet, and the mystery of these places which have seen Alexander the Great and Genghis Khan. Finishing that, I picked up Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin’s Three Cups of Tea, and despite its sentimentality, am enjoying - more so, as I began to read, and found myself back in the same region where Dalrymple just left me, Taxila, on the Grand Trunk Road. My books are not arranged in any particular running order but they’re flowing beautifully together…