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Buffalo buddies
Buffalo buddies Two sweet young buffaloes having a nap in their courtyard. Two specimens out of a total of more than half a billion livestock animals in India. Photo of the week: Buffaloes, Orchha, Madhya Pradesh, India 2017
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Sunset silhouette
Sunset silhouette Plants, stones, an Indian cow, drawn in sharp outlines against a clear evening sky.I don’t think I ever consciously noticed the forms of these plants – stems, flowers, leaves – in such amazing detail as on this silhouette picture. Photo of the week: Orchha, Madhya Pradesh, India 2017
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Looking at you!
Looking at you! I had the feeling that someone was watching me. I turned round and saw this little owl with big eyes. We looked at each other for a while and I took a photo.Now that I’m looking at the photo, I realise that most, if not all, other birds have one eye on…
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Onigawara
Onigawara The scary creature on the roof is an ‘oni’, a Japanese ogre. Temple roofs are often ornamented with these ogre tiles (onigawara) and also with small round hanagawara, i.e. tiles with floral designs. The roofs of Japanese temples are intricate works of very fine craftsmanship. See for example the small roof on the photo…
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Okame
Okame Okame is the name of the mask depicting a young woman with a small, upturned nose and large, round cheeks. It is also the name of the wife of the master carpenter who built the main hall of the Senbon Shakado Temple in Kyoto, where I saw this beautifully illuminated mask. The story goes…
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Noh apparition
Noh apparition In a Noh museum, one naturally expects to see Noh masks. With their painted high eyebrows (hikimayu) and other typical features, Noh masks often look striking. But this mask, emerging from the darkness, looks more like a ghost, with elements of the background faintly shining through the face.Are we looking at an illuminated…
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The man of her heart?
The man of her heart? Dark clouds over the IJsselmeer (Lake IJssel). An expanse of water shining brightly with a silvery lustre caused by the light of a sun that’s nowhere to be seen.A woman stands on the shore, a man approaches on his kiteboard. Does she patiently stand by and watch, full of admiration…
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The Envy of Heaven
The Envy of Heaven Reflections of light make the dark teak arches and ceilings of Tipu Sultan’s palace gleam, where he used to spend the summer with his royal consorts. Perhaps that is why it was known as the ‘Envy of Heaven’. Photo of the week: Tipu Sultan’s summer palace (1791), Bangalore, Karnataka, India 2019
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Palm pond
Palm pond I was walking past a pond and saw the leaves of a dark-green palm reflected in it. This made me pause for a moment and wonder. A pond lined with dark plastic, filled with water, with light brown, undulating sand at the bottom and a thin wire mesh on the surface. All of…
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A drunk’s dream
A drunk’s dream Had the bottles been full this would have been a drunk’s paradise. Empty they’re his worst nightmare. Photo of the week: Bottle room, Mythri Manasa Sangama, near Bangalore, Karnataka, India 2019
καιρός remembered
… the right moment, position chosen, shoot …
καιρός remembered 