Flying above the clouds was a wonderful experience for me, as I love watching them from below and always wanted to get closer. I was so amazed by seeing them so close that I felt like jumping off and floating among them, and I hardly held my tears of excitement and awe. Then I decided that if I ever gonna marry someone, that would be clouds.
I took these shots on 4th April 2013, during a flight from Islamabad, Pakistan to Doha, Qatar.
Almost caught cold that morning, but it was a unique experience strolling in the chilling fog.
Because of you, in gardens of blossoming
Flowers, I ache from the perfumes of spring.
I have forgotten your face, I no longer
Remember your hands; how did your lips
Feel on mine?
Because of you, I love the white statues
Drowsing in the parks, the white statues that
Have neither voice nor sight.
I have forgotten your voice, your happy voice;
I have forgotten your eyes.
Like a flower to its perfume, I am bound to
My vague memory of you. I live with pain
That is like a wound; if you touch me, you will
Make to me an irreperable harm.
Your caresses enfold me, like climbing
Vines on melancholy walls.
I have forgotten your love, yet I seem to
Glimpse you in every window.
Because of you, the heady perfumes of
Summer pain me; because of you, I again
Seek out the signs that precipitate desires:
Shooting stars, falling objects.
— Pablo Neruda.
From the book “Passions and Impressions”
© 1978 by the Estate of Pablo Neruda. Translation by Margaret Sayers Peden. © Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, Inc.
This is the first time I tried taking photos of dew. It’s really good to see these tiny crystal spheres shining on the grass blades. I have tried to capture the freshness of morning and dew drops on the grass.
(Click for larger version)
Dew drops on Grass.
Photo ©Knonie
Dew drops on Grass.
Photo ©Knonie
Dew drops on Grass.
Photo ©Knonie.
Dew drops on Grass.
Photo ©Knonie.
[Click images to view larger version]
Last night, I attended a musical event of brass band The Stooges from New Orleans, and that event also featured Saeen Tanveer, a dhol playing artist from Pakistan. Dressed in fancy clothes, Saeen and his 2 partners appeared on stage and started their beats. As they kept on playing their large dhols, the crowd become wild and everyone got involved in the music they were making. Saeen is an expert in playing, as well as in displaying some other acts during playing. First he twisted his body and made the dhol swing around his neck for some time. Then, there comes a helper to put another dhol around his neck, and then, Saeen is paying with two dhols hanging around his neck. To much of the surprise of the audience, Saeen performed with 4 dhols around his neck, continuously playing and revolving. He also surprised the audience by performing and revolving around by holding 2 dhols by their straps using his teeth. The beautifully arranged stage and lighting created a wonderful ambience that made that performance even more energetic.
I’m sharing some of the pictures I took during the performance. (Click for larger versions)
Saeen Tanveer and Party
performing at The Rock Musicarium, Islamabad, Pakistan.
Saeen Tanveer and Party
performing at The Rock Musicarium, Islamabad, Pakistan.
Saeen Tanveer and Party
performing at The Rock Musicarium, Islamabad, Pakistan.
Saeen Tanveer and Party
performing at The Rock Musicarium, Islamabad, Pakistan.
Saeen Tanveer and Party
performing at The Rock Musicarium, Islamabad, Pakistan.
Saeen Tanveer and Party
performing at The Rock Musicarium, Islamabad, Pakistan.
Saeen Tanveer and Party
performing at The Rock Musicarium, Islamabad, Pakistan.
Saeen Tanveer and Party
performing at The Rock Musicarium, Islamabad, Pakistan.
Saeen Tanveer and Party
performing at The Rock Musicarium, Islamabad, Pakistan.
Saeen Tanveer and Party
performing at The Rock Musicarium, Islamabad, Pakistan.
The performance of Saeen Tanvir was followed by The Stooges, and finally a local brass band Punjab Band, which I’ll cover in separate blogs later.
This event was organized by The American Embassy, and was held in The Rock Musicarium, Islamabad.
I found this very cute cat playing in the grass in the neighbourhood this evening. Here are few of the shots I took.
“A friend is someone who gives you total freedom to be yourself- and especially to feel, or not feel. Whatever you happen to be feeling at any moment is fine with them. That’s what real love amounts to – letting a person be what he really is.
Most people love you for who you pretend to be. To keep their love, you keep pretending – performing. You get to love your pretence. It’s true, we’re locked in an image, an act – and the sad thing is, people get so used to their image, they grow attached to their masks. They love their chains. They forget all about who they really are. And if you try to remind them, they hate you for it, they feel like you’re trying to steal their most precious possession.”
- Jim Morrison
In the area I live, wild cannabis [Urdu: Bhang] is found in almost all of the abandoned land. Starting from spring, these plants last till entire summers, and usually reach up to 3-4 feet. This plant bears that iconic leaf, symbolized in hippie and pop culture related to weed/hash/dope, and often a sign of mental liberation, which is obtained from a similar species of this plant.
Here are few photos I took on a recent outdoor trip. Click photos to view larger and detailed versions.
Location: Rawalpindi, Pakistan.
My newest work, inspired by the smell of dirty politics…
I saw some fresh peas in the kitchen this evening and picked up a few to my room. I thought about making some 3D model using these peas and toothpicks. It reminds me of the same activity I used to do during childhood but that was restricted to making cube and simple shapes only. After much effort, I finally came to something that I was looking for. Then took and processed some photos and here they are, shared below. This polyhedron uses pentagonal-base and square-base pyramids.
Please note that all photos feature the same structure from different perspectives.
A stray kitten came to our home and that time my elder brother’s kids started playing with it. Although I assume it has never seen a camera but the shots I took are worth sharing.
Click images to open large version
On a cold evening of 23 December, I went to see an art exhibition by a renowned Pakistani artist Hasnat Mehmood held at Rohtas Gallery, Islamabad.
Apparently, the displayed art pieces were looking a bit simple, and the familiar subjects were directly inspired by the famous and iconic works from art history that includes Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci, The Starry Night by Van Gogh, Marilyn Monroe by Andy Warhol, Royal portraits of Mughal Emperor Shah Jehan and his Queen Mumtaz Mahal, and some works from older seals and reliefs of old civilisations. On closer viewing, that simplicity turns into complexity, and you find out that these works are created using graphite on paper in quick continuous circular strokes, taking care as to maintain the various tones. That lack of hard straight lines produced a very soft feel to the overall art pieces. Most of these works carry some label on them, that includes the actual title and name of the actual artist, along with text like “Made in China” or the mention of some other countries that provide cheap labour like Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan. This idea is quite strong in the modern sense of Capitalism, but apart from that, these works are visually very pleasing and they give different flavours depending on the distance of the viewer.
I tried to explore the beauty of those works using my camera, and here are few of the shots I’d like to share.
You can subscribe to Hasnat’s Facebook Page to stay updated.
Portrait of a Stray Cat. Photo © Knonie
“In India, I was living in a little hut, about six feet by seven feet. It had a canvas flap instead of a door. I was sitting on my bed meditating, and a cat wandered in and plopped down on my lap. I took the cat and tossed it out the door. Ten seconds later it was back on my lap. We got into a sort of dance, this cat and I. I tossed it out because I was trying to meditate, to get enlightened. But the cat kept returning. I was getting more and more irritated, more and more annoyed with the persistence of the cat. Finally, after about a half-hour of this coming in and tossing out, I had to surrender. There was nothing else to do. There was no way to block off the door. I sat there, the cat came back in and it got on my lap. But I did not do anything. I just let go. Thirty seconds later the cat got up and walked out.”
- Joseph Goldstein
