At the Opening

Here is a very short (1 minute) video from the opening.  Arguably too short and I keep being reminded of how poorly I use video cameras, to my great dismay.

Luckily, the quality of this video is unrelated to how terrific the show itself was.

What was the show like? Some “panos”…

I was lucky to actually attend the show “live” and wanted to insert a few images and videos for those who could not join similarly.  So here is the first of a couple of panoramic, stitched images of the space itself.

Getting Ready
Abe Pachikara, Copyright 2011 (click for much larger image)

Getting Ready, 2
Abe Pachikara, Copyright 2011 (click for much larger image)

Getting Ready, 3
Abe Pachikara, Copyright 2011 (click for much larger image)

The View From the Entrance
Abe Pachikara, Copyright 2011 (click for much larger image)

All Cleaned Up and Ready To Go
Abe Pachikara, Copyright 2011 (click for much larger image)

Interview with Abe Pachikara

Here’s a 2 min chit chat with Abe regarding taking photos and why he’s so interested in stitched images.

Abraham Pachikara - Artist's Statement

In the 4th grade, my father brought home a used Mamiya Sekor range-finder camera when he returned from a medical conference.  Better yet, he took time on the very day of his arrival to share his thoughts on how photos come to be.  And by chance, the elementary school of our small Mennonite prairie town had a camera club.  Since then, photography has been a persistent part of my journeys, like a slow burning ember that at times will burst into a flame before returning back to a quiet glow.

Young Laborers

If you get away from the sheltered confines of your hotel, or the family with whom you are staying, and meander to a worksite, you may notice some of the workers are very young. These boys were at a local farm. The scars and markings on their hands and body indicate they are veterans of hard labor, albeit at an early age.

(Below is a photo of the original, shot in Tri-X Pan, printed in a good old fashioned dark room – this does not capture many nuances in the print image unfortunately.)

Abe Pachikara, Copyright 1996 (click for larger image)

Image size: 11”x14”. Includes: ~3” acid free matt and backing; steel black 16” x 20” frame; and ready to hang wire. Here is purchase info.

Morning Commute

Children are delivered to school in so many different ways: bus; bicycle; feet; scooter; car; and here, the auto-ricksha. Up close, you see this one carries a priceless payload: school mates, bright and shiny, ready to pounce on another big day and “run their race” in life.

(Below is a photo of the original, shot in Tri-X Pan, printed in a good old fashioned dark room – this does not capture many nuances in the print image unfortunately.)

Abe Pachikara, Copyright 1996 (click for larger image)

Image size: 11”x14”. Includes: ~3” acid free matt and backing; steel black 16” x 20” frame; and ready to hang wire.  Here is purchase info.

Steamy Morning

Another day arrives, and early morning routines take a local resident through the morning mist, along the edge of a paddy field guarded by palms.

(Below is a photo of the original, shot in Tri-X Pan, printed in a good old fashioned dark room – this does not capture many nuances in the print image unfortunately.)

Abe Pachikara, Copyright 1996 (click for larger image)

Image size: 11”x14”. Includes: ~3” acid free matt and backing; steel black 16” x 20” frame; and ready to hang wire.  Here is purchase info.

The Local Water Taxi

You can spend several hundred rupees to hire a speed boat with driver and ply the dreamy backwaters of Kerala for a day.  Or you can take the capacious water taxis from Kottayam to Alleppey for a few pennies.  On the way, the rumbling, trembling craft will pick up locals heading to market with their goods, and the local life will be experienced all around you.

(Below is a photo of the original, shot in Tri-X Pan, printed in a good old fashioned dark room – this does not capture many nuances in the print image unfortunately.)

Abe Pachikara, Copyright 1996 (click for larger image)

Image size: 11”x14”. Includes: ~3” acid free matt and backing; steel black 16” x 20” frame; and ready to hang wire.  Here is purchase info.

3 Generations

Manny, short for Immanuel, looks at me with a trademark mischievous smile, while his father looks on, and his grandmother sits by, confident that his next escapade will start within minutes.

(Below is a photo of the original, shot in Tri-X Pan, printed in a good old fashioned dark room – this does not capture many nuances in the print image unfortunately.)

Abe Pachikara, Copyright 1996 (click for larger image)

Image size: 8”x10”. Includes: ~3” acid free matt and backing; steel black 16” x 20” frame; and ready to hang wire.   Here is purchase info.

Reflecting

On the train from Trivandrum to Kottayam, a man sat by the window, almost motionless, staring outward for the entire 3 hour excursion.  What could sideline someone like this? Perhaps a recent calamity had transfixed him, and this was the journey to o from a funeral.

(Below is a photo of the original, shot in Tri-X Pan, printed in an old fashioned dark room – this does not capture many nuances in the print image unfortunately.)

Abe Pachikara, Copyright 1996 (click for larger image)

Image size: 11x14. Includes: ~3” acid free matt and backing; steel black 16” x 20” frame; and ready to hang wire.  Here is purchase info.

The Express Bus

Public bus systems weave together the cities and backhills of India.  Pictured here is a consummate open-air experience now being replaced by “all window” vehicles; the canvas sides seen here can be released to blunt the rain. Your choices include Ordinary, Fast Passenger, Super Fast and Super Express bus.  The latter ones have drivers on unreasonable schedules, with a zest for speed, manhandling vast vehicles in tangled traffic the way a Formula One car zips thru a chicane

(Below is a photo of the original, shot in Tri-X Pan, printed in a good old fashioned dark room – this does not capture many nuances in the print image unfortunately.)

Abe Pachikara, Copyright 1996 (click for larger image)

Image size: 11x14. Includes: ~3” acid free matt and backing; steel black 16” x 20” frame; and ready to hang wire.  Here is purchase info.

Denouement

Jenardin, the manager of George Uncle’s farm outside of Bangalore, invited me to his son’s school function.  Remarkable to me was the intense focus of the children; it was no different from any commercial dance ensemble. 

(Below is a photo of the original, shot in Tri-X Pan, printed in an old fashioned dark room  – this does not capture many nuances in the print image unfortunately.)

Abe Pachikara, Copyright 1996 (click for larger image)

Image size: 11x14. Includes: ~3” acid free matt and backing; steel black 16” x 20” frame; and ready to hang wire.   Here is purchase info.

Movement!

Photography is art that freezes time. Dance is the converse, running across time. I love the challenge and the possibilities. An electronic flash can be the perfectly incorrect answer, while slow shots can be a terrific solution – if you look close you’ll see the left foot of eight different girls circling 2 boys at this school event outside of Bangalore. 

(Below is a photo of the original, shot in Tri-X Pan, printed in an old fashioned dark room – this does not capture many nuances in the print image unfortunately.)

Abe Pachikara, Copyright 1996 (click for larger image)

Image size: 11x14. Includes: ~3” acid free matt and backing; steel black 16” x 20” frame; and ready to hang wire.  Here is purchase info.

School Bound

Another glorious tradition that spills across borders: children going to school: oblivious of the mode of transport; chattering, day dreaming, sleeping, what not; crammed into school buses, local transit buses, minivans, auto rickshaws, straddling scooters, or on bicycle. It is a fresh new day, no?

Abe Pachikara, Copyright 2010 (click for larger image)

Image size: 11x14. Includes: ~3” acid free matt and backing; steel black 16” x 20” frame; and ready to hang wire.  Here is purchase info.

Celebrating With Your Closest Colleagues

My wife’s cousin George, (known by family members as George-kutty Chettan,) completed 25 years as a priest in 2010. A remarkable milestone. As part of the celebration, and symbolic of the journey taken together – 25 colleagues join in the procession led by the Bishop, as family proudly watch on

Abe Pachikara, Copyright 2010 (click for larger image)

Image size: 11x14. Includes: ~3” acid free matt and backing; steel black 16” x 20” frame; and ready to hang wire.   Here is purchase info.

A Celebration of the Almighty

In a world where too often the emphasis is “my faith is THE one” rather than the less glamorous tenet of “actions speak louder than words,” here was a celebration shared by 3 religions. The local Catholic Church invited the communities of the nearby Hindu temple and Muslim mosque to join for the annual Piranala festival. This scene, of candles outlining the Islamic crescent, the Hindu om, and the Christian cross – all being equally tended to – has always struck me as the way God would want us to treat each other.

Abe Pachikara, Copyright 2005 (click for larger image)

Image size: 11x12. Includes: ~3” acid free matt and backing; steel black 16” x 20” frame; and ready to hang wire.  Here is purchase info.

The Locals

Capturing people naturally sometimes means making them bored of your camera. On several morning walks an inquisitive set of local boys followed along, clearly friends who would lightly chat in Malayalam and watch me shoot. On “walk # 6” it appeared they were no longer “camera aware.”  So I turned and took this shot to capture the range of personalities, from swaggering and confident, to quiet and introspective. 

(Below is a photo of the original, shot in Tri-X Pan, printed in a good old fashioned dark room – this does not capture many nuances in the print image unfortunately.)

Abe Pachikara, Copyright 1996 (click for larger image)

Image size: 11“x 14”. Includes: ~3” acid free matt and backing; steel black 16” x 20” frame; and ready to hang wire.   Here is purchase info.

A Day’s Catch

Another boat safely arrives, laden with fish from the sea, as the sun trundles into the horizon.

(Below is a photo of the original, shot in Tri-X Pan, printed in a good old fashioned dark room – this does not capture many nuances in the print image unfortunately. 

Also, I do miss the verification borders that were part of film based images.)

Abe Pachikara, Copyright 1996 (click for larger image)

Image size: 8 “x 12”. Includes: ~3” acid free matt and backing; steel black 16” x 20” frame; and ready to hang wire.   Here is purchase info.

Morning Walk

Long before sunrise, local temples awake us with devotional songs that carry across the rice paddies.  As light seeps into the day, people can be seen walking to and fro, either on specific errands or to get their daily dose of exercise and reflection.

 

Abe Pachikara, Copyright 2009 (click for larger image)

Image size: 11x14. Includes: ~3” acid free matt and backing; steel black 16” x 20” frame; and ready to hang wire. $225

Evening Muslim Festival

Even small towns know that the way to impress is to bring out the real machinery. In this case, the center piece of the parade is 5 elephants. I was both elated and nervous to see the cadres of drummers, throngs of clamoring people, and thunderous cacophony of music caging in these utterly massive, patient beasts. Every block or so their mahouts turned these behemoths to face a crowd on the sidewalk, their riders would carefully stand up, and ceremoniously swing large fans in unison.

Abe Pachikara, Copyright 2010 (click for larger image)

Image size: 11x14. Includes: ~3” acid free matt and backing; steel black 16” x 20” frame; and ready to hang wire. $225