It's raining cats and dogs here. Assam is already flooded. My inspirations are bit low these days. The first photo is an old one from 2011 which I found while browsing my old albums. The second one, a dragonfly is a recent one when it was a nice sunny day.
I needed to share this. It is a Korean MV of Akdong Musician (AKMU) a
duo of brother and sister who sings and composes their own music (genius
kids). Brother is 17 yrs old and sister is just 14 yrs old.
I am sharing this not for the music but for the MV.
AMAZING VIDEO!!! The haunting melody of AKMU makes it more painful and beautiful! Absolutely lovely!
The MV has such a deep meaning. I have to give this one to the MV Director and Cinematographer (and even the story writer)!
AMAZING!!!
I know one of them loves manual Film Photography too just by watching
the video because the main lead was holding a Film camera (an
embellished Canon TL/ TLb Film camera IMHO) and buys a Fujifilm neopan 400
and efke 25 B&W film rolls!
AMAZING Cinematography and storyline! One of the BEST MVs I've ever watched!
Just watch it for AKMU, MV Direction, Cinematography and also Film Photography!
I may have left some details or misunderstood some points but this is my interpretation of the MV:
In the beginning, the MV shows an old man overlooking vast
"cold" buildings and a chameleon inside glass case. He is sipping cold
whiskey. A chameleon stands for "Change" which means the young
Photographer changed over the years. He is trapped in a world of adult
malice like the chameleon is trapped in the glass case and he in his
building (life). He is sipping iced whiskey suggesting that he is cold
and calculative now. His innocence is gone... As the chameleon looks outside his glass cage, the old man looks outside his glass window, he is reminiscing his past...
A
man who has just been laid off by his office (probably a Bank as
suggested by the office boxes) is clearly upset but when he sees a young
boy asking for a ride, he lets him in his car. The young boy is an
enthusiast Photographer (he is holding an embellished Canon FTb film camera IMHO)
who probably for the love of his Art/ dream left his home. He goes/
snoops around the driver's stuffs and takes pictures which suggests that
he usually documents his everyday life and journey. The driver gets
angry and let him off his car.
The Photographer boy walks all
the way to a town and first thing he does is go to this convenience
store. He is poor and hardly has cash to buy food but he prioritizes his
Art and buys 2 film rolls (Fujifilm neopan 400 colour 35mm film and ekta 25 B&W 35mm film rolls)
and a banana. This shows that the boy wants to pursue his dreams
(Photography) no matter what even at the expense of his hunger. The
shopkeeper clearly is guilty taking money from him since he knows the
boy doesn't have enough money but business is business.
Next,
the Boy goes to town square, eats his Banana and observes life around
and take Pictures. A man dressed as a statue, A rag-picker fights with a
man, two mothers fight over their children who supposedly got into a
fight, a deliveryman who is delivering these balloons for some special
occasion is lost and angry and later the man dressed as a statue looks
down and alone without audience (these two scenes shows an interesting
juxtaposition of how people buy happiness at the cost of others'
sufferings).
The boy takes photos of this lady (Hooker) and she
invites him in her car. The boy shows her his photo book and they chat
for good long hours. She shows him some warmth. She later gets gets
prepped up takes him to this bar where she hooks up with a man. The boy left his bag-pack in her car.
While waiting for his lady friend, the boy dozes off in the bar. The
hooker leaves with the man she was dancing with. The Bartender wakes the
boy and demands money. Boy when he realizes that the Hooker left him
and his bag is in her car, he runs after her only to be caught by the
Bartender. The bartender demands him the money the lady and his friend
owns him and since the boy doesn't have any money, he beats the boy up.
In this, the boy drops and breaks his precious camera. *Since The boy loves Photography and his camera. The breaking of his camera symbolizes breaking of his dreams.*
The
Photographer Boy goes to the Police station probably to complain about
his bag that he left in the Hooker's car or the beatings that he got or
his camera that the bartender broke. In the Police Station, there are
all sorts of criminals and a shouting prostitute. The (adult) Police are
busy with these (more important) cases and hardly pays him any head.
When persisted, the lady cop pays him no heed and asks him to wait
further.
Feeling betrayed by all these adults, he walks alone with his broken camera/ dream (without his bag which had his supply and few changes I believe). His heart feels cold, sad and angry.
He
comes upon a Trailer and sees a dog. He feels happy seeing a furry
friend but the dog barks at him. He looses himself and barks back at the
dog. The owner of the Trailer comes out to check and sees this beaten
up, hungry looking boy. He gets him inside the Trailer and feeds him
(instant Pasta?) and gives him warm drink indicating that he showed real
warmthness to the boy when he needed the most and "melted" his cold heart. Also the kind man mends his camera which indicates that his broken dream is given a new hope.
In the end, the old man who was reminiscing his childhood keeps his "melted" drink
next to his beloved camera indicating that his heart is not cold like
other adults. Also that he lived up to his dreams and aspiration since
the Camera is very much there.
(Maybe he became a successful Photographer)
P.S.
Whoever made this has a great sense of story telling, a deep
understanding of human nature, a talent of cinematography, Art and
Direction. The actors were also aptly chosen. Also it seems the
Director/ Cinematographer loves Film Photography like me because even
without money, the boy purchased 2 film rolls!
Abstracts from life... Some random abstract photos... Contrasts and colours... People and places...
I went to buy a second hand bicycle in a run down Cycle repair shop. The man made me wait for hours and I started fiddling with Olympus E-PL2. Beside the Cycle repair, there was this mud stall with the board reading "Chinese Stall" which means it serves Chinese food. Chinese food like noodles and fried rice are quite popular across India but they are totally Indianized to fit the Indian palette especially in such local restaurants. A lady with a Cat passed across the frame. She must be a cat lover. She is holding a cat on her right hand and a stone on her left, I think to ward off dogs. Interesting amalgamation.
I went grocery shopping and I saw this pretty vine entangling a live wire.
Red gate beside the grocery store.
Outside the grocery store. The photo is quite mundane but because the sack says "UNIQUE", I like it.
I don't know what species of flower it is but it is very fragrant. It leaves a sweet smell in the air. I loved taking walks by this place just because the air smelt so good!
Kompi is a Graphics Student in Santiniketan. I wanted to essay her frustration with her assignment. She was upset that she was running late with her class submission.
One of the most expressive street dogs I've ever seen. This dog was sitting on the wall. When I approached, it appeared as though he smiled at me! I took many photos of the dog and I will post them later in another post dedicated to the cute dog.
For some reason the unseen and unimportant things that we usually don't care for amuses me... ======================================= Photos edited in Adobe Photoshop CS6 Color Efex pro4 used in some of the photos. Place: Santiniketan and Itanagar Camera used: Canon 40D and Olympus E-PL2 Lenses: Super Takumar 50mm f1.4, Nikon 24mm f/2.8 AI-S, etc.
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