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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
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Admiring Chamundi
Admiring Chamundi Chamundi angrily chasing Kalabhairava is a high point during the mid-December festival at Kakotuparambu in Coorg. Chamundi is the frightening form of the Divine Mother, so we can also identify her as Kali or Durga. As is often the case when stories of the gods are enacted, female roles are performed by males.…
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Source of life
Source of life At the source of the Cauvery River: a flow of water comes out of Mother Earth, giving life to plants, animals and humans downstream. The yoni placed at this very spot, signifying the source of life, is well chosen. It calls up the painting of “the origin of the world” (“l’origine du…
καιρός remembered
… the right moment, position chosen, shoot …
καιρός remembered 