Saturday, June 02, 2007

A Calcutta Man's Newspaper Ritual

Taking Portrait Photography At Face Value

I don't take a lot of portraits and on the rare occasions that I do, it is because my attention is caught by a striking face. During my brief trip to India, a friend pointed out this elderly man sitting outside his front door in South Calcutta, reading his newspaper in the warm sunlight. I got out of the car, introduced myself to him and asked if I could possibly take his photograph. He kindly agreed. I just wish I'd had the time to ask him to tell me a few things about himself. All I can tell you is that he was kind, he was gracious and he was dignified. He could have been anyone's grandfather.



Photograph copyright: DAVID McMAHON

9 comments:

Pijush said...

The perfect Portrait Shot, Narrow DOF with big aperture. The angle is nice. Loved it.
I am planning to visit India in this month and will try to take some picture like this.

Anonymous said...

Wandered into your blog by accident, and I'm glad I did. It is neat and full of fun. I'm bookmarking it right now!

Anonymous said...

Hello again: Can I please add your link to my blog? I'd have emailed and asked, but I couldn't locate your email-ID.

david mcmahon said...

Hi Pijush,

I was pretty happy with the shot. He had such peace written all over his face.

When do you head off to India?

Cheers

David

david mcmahon said...

Hi Shashikiran,

Thanks very much - I'm glad you enjoyed the site.

Yes, of course you can link my blog to yours. Thank you for asking.

It's a busy weekend here, but I'll definitely visit your site in the next couple of days.

Thank you for dropping by.

Cheers

David

Cuckoo said...

How real this picture looks... with that expression.

Anonymous said...

I'm usually afraid to ask people if I can take their photo.

Nice capture.

david mcmahon said...

Hi Cuckoo,

Thank you. He had the most amazing face, with just a wonderful aura of total peace.

Keep smiling

David

david mcmahon said...

Hi Steph,

I know what you mean. It's a tricky situation, but hey, there's no harm asking!

You would do so with great class.

Keep smiling

David