Revision and clarification of thought

Hey A.J.

There is alot more to me than meets the eye. I realise that every time I get around to holding the camera infront of me, I consciously attempt to reveal just a few facets to my personality, however, I hold back on the rest ,as I don't like to give it all out.I like being unpredictable. At the same time, "hajjaaar"complexities don't make it any easier for me, because I can never do justice to who I really am, with any photograph! Every photograph is a compromise, wherein I settle for something that is more relevant to my traits, inherent strengths and weaknesses and charateristics that fit into the vast jigsaw of my personality! Most importantly, I really enjoy depicting my state of mind and inner psyche through the medium of photographs. It's a tremendously satifying experience, as I discover alot about how the body has its way of revealing everything, by means of body language, expressions and reactions to a strange object or situation.

The camera really helps to define or heighten thought and emotions, through photographs.I included this photograph to draw people into another dimension of what really makes me and who I am!

Yakuta

(Sorry Ajay I was in Pune for a few days.No more excuses from now on. Promise.)

I just wanted the picture to be beautiful. I'm not really happy with this one and I would like to take a few more.

I've always dreamed of flying. When I climb or when I'm in the mountains and reach the top I always tell myself, "I wish I could fly. I'd be so happy. I'd feel free." I would photograph a bird flying high.

Also, the joy and happiness that I saw on my sisters' face when she had her first baby girl - just a few minutes after she came out from the labor room and she held her baby for the first time. That's happiness.

KIRTI HATISKAR:self potrait

Hey Ajay sorry for the delay.My rifle was not with me thats why i am late to post.
I selected this picture because it represents me.I think my pic is incomplete without my gun.I love playing all kinds of sports,but shooting is my passion, and i think that its only because of shooting that i have become more focussed towards life.Hope u will like the pick...

The new Me!

I belong to the group 'Smiling Happy people of the world!'
So I'm back from Pune after a long, fun and relaxed weekend. And while everyone was celebrating 61 years of Independence, I was celebrating my independence - from the braces! (that's why the delay)

I selected this picture because it's fresh, it's new. It best describes my present state of mind which is calm, happy and enthusiastic about life. The nose ring, the jacket and short hair don't make me look elegant but sporty. That's me.

I'm definitely on a high.

Of course I took a million shots before I could get that perfect one. It's funny how when someone says, "Ok I'm going to take a picture of you." You immediately become conscious and start making your hair or cleaning your face or something like that. I guess it happens with everyone. It happened to me. Even though, this time it was me taking a picture of myself.

Attempt 3!!!ANEESHA HENRY

Ajay...Finally I am looking into the camera...as you wanted!
Hope, this picture will be all for this assignment!
:D
waiting for comments!
Aneesha

nita

It was quite difficult to choose one particular photograph which would describe me ,as a person I am. But after giving it a though I selected this pic of mine as I can relate to this the most. In this picture I am deeply submerged in my thoughts but at the same time there is certain calmness that reflects on the face which is part of my thought process. Whenever my thought process is on I sense certain kind of calmness within myself. It is this calmness and peace that I relate to the most. This picture reflects random emotions that are outcome of the thoughts that are going on at that instant. There is this state of mystification but at the same time there is certain tranquility. If I had to define myself in the brief possible way that I can then I would say mystification and tranquility are the adjectives to be used. If I had to describe myself through one particular element or object then I would opt for water!!!

self potrait:prachi mujumdar

Arriving at a self potrait was a little difficult as coming to just one particular photo that explians me the best is really really rare.However here's the photo which I think best describes me as a person.

The window with the steel wire mesh are a symbol of difficulties in my life and jjust like in this photo I try to look beyond them.I try to think over a solutions to the problems.Also the light coming from the window is the most important aspect that I can relate to.My face is lit from the right side and remains dark on the left; it signifies that though there may be difficult times in my life ,there is always the light of hope that I look up to....

Aziza

Well its sooo very difficult to choose one particular photo. I still can't figure out why exactly hv I picked out this one.
This photo is over-exposed as something is wrong with my digicam but the reason I like it is because it kind of exemplifies my mental state and confusion at a certain point in life over coming from a conservative muslim background but still being an atheist. Its an on-going debate with myself over identity and prioritizing family values over or my own beliefs. The colour 'pink' that I'm wearing has always been a major part of my identity, it has always been a very integral part of my life since the time i learnt the names of colors. A 'sleeveless dress' and 'a dupatta covering the head' are two very contradictory things, for me they signify the islamic heritage and at the very broadminded liberal upbringing of the environment that i come from.
Its very strange when most people meeting me for the first time are surprised to know that I'm a muslim..just because i dress a certain way..
Im a very rebellious and experimental person. The rebellious streak is visible by the impish look on my face and the experimentation comes in the form of wearing an earring as a 'bindiya'.
And lastly i love taking photos of myself so i thoroughly enjoyed this excercise. It was 2.30am when i clicked it after a family function but I fresh to the core at the thought of taking photos
I narrowed down to this photo as it has the elements of culture, emotion, fashion, fun and the love for visuals that are very like me.
- Aziza Syed

Sruti - Self-Portrait

Well, a different facet is what we were told to try to put up in this post through a self-portrait.

After much thought and many failed attempts, this was the picture I finally decided on. There were a few pictures in which I was without spectacles and others, like this one, in which I was wearing spectacles. "Now which picture would not make me look ugly, and also convey the 'other' side to myself?". Then I decided on this picture as it shows me in a calmer, non-hyper state where I'm not doing crazy things such as carrying jute stools on my head. For once I don't look like something mindless is around the corner! I chose this picture because it captures me in a very natural moment where I just like to 'chill' and not have any antics to do to entertain myself!

It is strange how this picture happened. I was just watching the 'Golden Moments' section of the Olympics on television when I decided to click this. While clicking, I just switched off and was so absorbed in Phelps' record-breaking 8th gold medal. I guess that was one of the reasons I could avoid being conscious about what the picture would look like. This picture, although was an honest attempt at trying to produce something resulting out of me being consciously aware of the camera's presence, involved an elaborate study of a series of pictures to decide which one looks best. Even the pictures that I took after this one included an uneasy awareness of the camera.

One thing that struck me in the course of this exercise was one's need to always project an image of oneself in a manner that would seem suitable in the eyes of others. Even though many of us often say, "I don't really give a damn about what people have to say, and I just go on as I am", there's always a sense of consciousness about that statement. I think that's one thing I've found out about myself. I'm always making statements such as, "I really don't give a damn, man... It hardly bothers me what other people have to say...". What I really wonder, then, is why did it take me so long to decided on that one picture that I had to put up on the blog that can be viewed by all my classmates? This was one of the primary reasons why all the pictures had me looking away from the camera.

In every class, we are told about perceptions - those of others and those of ours - and the role they play in any profession that we take up. Maybe that was the focus of this assignment... Maybe we're just hell bent on the way we want others to see us... Maybe...


- Sruti Visweswaran

Shuddha

I am not at all photogenic, thus i am extremely conscious when i am being photograhed. The only time i am not conscious is probably when i am sleeping. So i decided to click this photograph while i pretended to sleep. Another reason for clicking this photograph is beacuse whenever i have some free time, that's what i really like doing - sleeping.

Attempt #2: Susan Sanchis

A.J. I hope this does justice to your request, that I portray another side to myself, one that conceals more than it reveals.

ANEESHA HENRY: 2nd attempt...to make up!

....shy,dreamy,lost....
throat itchy,fever on,nothing looks pleseant to me....
I look outside the window,all is gloomy,clouds are waiting to drench me.....
I wish to stay back where i am, but the assignments are not allowing me.....
missing home badly, but can't see the face that'll relieve me.....
Questioning my lonliness.....
Reviving all the pain i have.......
Taking my position...
Becoming numb once again.....
Wondering....
Where the life's taking me???
Trying hard to smile....to get it rightly captured....
Nothing really works....
All that comes out is......
The real lost, sad and a gloomy person in me!
And finally thats the "recent" and partially a real part of me!
All lost in my own world...

Struggled looking into the camera for a good capture.....
and it didn't happen!
Wat say?

Koel Sen

Oh well, Ajay said self-portrait. Something that shows the real me...?? I couldnt get a better picture than this. This is how I am. I know its bad. I totally admit it. But what the heck, I'll try and quit sometime! I took this picture wondering last night, what is that one thing, that one space I always long for. My PC, my cigerette and some music. Thats sad. But I also read. I do read lots of stuff online. And I also want to admit to a decent fact that I study well and think better when I am like this. I've passed most of my exams like this. So why hide the fact that I like smoking. I like being in solitude. I dont always want to "hang out" with friends. I like to think. Think about the world, think about where our country is headed. Think about where I am headed.Why do people fight. What is it that Bush ultimately wants. Why cant terror attacks stop? WHY, why and why?? One very well known fact about me is that I am a very rebellious person. I never agree to something until 'I' feel its true. I always question. Also, I am very straight forward and frank. Whatever comes to my mind goes out of my mouth, whether bad or good, it helps the person on the other end ultimately. People cant take criticism, I cant either. But I hate being pretentious and cant stand hypocrites. So, its better to say it off, even if I hurt someone, I am being true. I know its not good, and girls are meant to be polite...and all that crap. We live in this world where we are so conformist, and just follow a particular path already paved for us by society. We must not follow it blindly. We must learn to make our own roads and dig them out if need be. And be what we really want to be.

ANEESHA HENRY- Ooops, I did that again!!!!

That’s me!
Comfortably numb!
What really makes this picture a unique one is that, it shows the real “Me in Me”
Me, Dressed up in a formal outfit, hair uncombed and wet. Definitely, the picture is over exposed, but the light gives an amusing effect to it. The diagonal pattern cutting in and merging in my face, gives a sense of contrast of me with the world around. This is a snap taken by one of my close friends, when we were stuffed in our car. It was the 3rd of February 08, my 20th birthday, when I was all set to appear for my Air Force Ground duty Officers’ examination. I was not talking, though I had four more people in the car. The loud and chirpy four were trying to break my silence, as it was my day. I was not nervous, but very calm and composed, all lost in my thought process. Well, I have a bad problem of thinking too much, and that makes me a hyper-sensitive human. Just a few minutes before this snap shot, I bowed my head, closed my eyes gently and visualised Him. They were still trying hard to break my hush. I sat comfortably undisturbed. I was lost; looking into my palm lines’, trying to read them, and guess what life wants of me now? The journey was long, the music was loud and irritable, but I decided to keep mum, as they all wanted that noise. I still sat silently looking into my hands, when one of them shouted out with glee, “Look at it! Thats a deer!” I forcefully made an effort to look towards the window, but it didn’t really disturb me. In seconds, I came back to my real self. After a couple of minutes, all of them got so engrossed in their conversation about something (didn’t bother to know what!) that they forgot my presence.
Finally, I reached my destination. The moment came when I looked up (note: that was the second time!), there stood a man dressed in his uniform, a young Air Force officer. I immediately closed my eyes, made a prayer, “Let thy will be done” and pushed off towards my examination hall in silence.
“Look at you! That’s you”, she smiled while showing me what she captured a few hours ago. I wasn’t really amused that I never noticed the capture.
“That’s what I like about this snap. That’s the real girl, I know. A kid who is mature. So complex and captured in herself. Hates to pose. One can see the sensitivity and emotion on her face clearly”

I apologize in prior, if I fail to do justice to the assignment…

:)

Cheers!

talreja priyanka

is this one fine?

Fatema Rajkotwala

Hi Sir,
This is my first assignment as I have not been able to contribute to college work the past week.

For a self portrait, I had other options I could have chosen and yet, they did not completely qualify. Some were not recent enough, while in others I was simply caught in an activity, which did not necessarily define me. I chose this picture because this is perhaps one of the first in which I am successfully holding a pose for the camera. After years of coaxing me to look into the camera, to smile for it, my closest friend Mitchelle, managed this almost perfect about two months ago on our last vacation to Goa. It was a beautiful restaurant called Kalimari, a calm sleepy beach side and the bunch of us, out to brunch after a long night of dancing. I had my sunglasses in place, sunblock cream plastered all over me, a sweet lime soda in hand and my bikini peeking out from my dress, something I wouldn't be comfortable walking around in at Juhu beach. Besides my blissful mood which obviously reflects in the picture, it reflects my personality. Comfortable dressing, my chappals, a briad in my hair, relaxed breezy cane chairs and the sand under my feet. Definitely me.

Radhika Iyengar

I decided to give a different element to this self-portrait...

In the foreground, the picture depicts a high-class society woman, who drinks wine, spends a lot of money on make-up, goes to parties, and is completely indifferent to the adversities that exist in society. She is oblivious to poverty, to the food crisis, and to the status of women and children--all this depicted through the newspaper clippings in the background.

I wished to take this picture, since this image represents many people who are ignorant and oblivious to the predicament of the weak. It is a self-portrait of me (and maybe many others like me), who were (or maybe still are), at one point of time, like this woman in the picture.

*

Trupti

This self potrait exercise was a real tough cookie simply because it was so difficult to come with that one picture that shows the world who i am. Are we the same person all the time??

in all my pictures, atleast most of them, i sport this wide smile but is that what i really am??

It's difficult to capture it all in one frame.

Coming to this picture, this is close to the person i am. i always spend most of my time pondering, sometimes it can be the most mundane thing but i keep thinking over and over it. I am always thinking even when i am talking to a person.

At the back of my mind i am indefinately processing thought. almost all times.

The blur of my hand reflects my restlessness and the need to be in constant state of motion. my outsides resonant with my insides, or atleast thats how i would connect this one moment to how as a person i am.

(P.S. uploading took a lilttle too long )

Mugdha Singh

ok, this is my take on a self portrait. i remember this phase, when i was obsessed with taking self photoraphs, but didnt like clicking from just an arm's distance. That, somehow made something look wrong with the face, something or the other got distorted. Also the fact that, from that distance you could only capture your face, made it a little disturbing for me. I am a tad uncomfortable (maybe conscious is the word) with only my face being in focus. So choosing this photograph was natural in that sense. Does the presense of the camera take something away from the photograph, or does it add to it, i can't figure.

A little blurry, but that i something that i wanted to ask Ajay, why is it that when the Flash is turned off, the camera becomes more senstitive to movements? maybe i'll get the answer tomorrow in class. And yes, bad framing, i know!

Deepa Nair

I'm generally told I look different in every photograph and thats just a little bewildering.This picture was one of those after plenty of clicks which somehow managed to turn out fairly decent. I've sort of realised that I look a lot more pleasant with the camera above me otherwise my face somehow seems to suffer a really odd distortion.

I would like to call myself perpetually camera perplexed.I think this was one of those pictures that really sort of illustrates my personality or rather the sort of person I am. It captures the fact that I am rather camera shy, very seldom do I really like to be photographed, probably even slightly introverted. Futhermore, it also manages to capture how i truly manage to zone out and stay totally dreamy and lost in my virtual world ;)