Shounak Roy, PhD, DESE, IISc Towards the end of the fifth year of my PhD, my professor told my lab-mate Priya and me to go and meet our US-collaborator, Prof. Vasic, from University of Arizona (UA). I received the confirmation in the first week of July, and the journey was scheduled on the 28th July. Getting the US visa on such a short notice was a tight affair. Fortunately, we managed to find a slot for visa interview on the 19th July and the visa was granted immediately. I received all required documents from institute within next 24 hours and I was all set for my trip to US. Being a photographer, I have always been enthralled to explore new places and to meet new people. To document my experience of this journey, I took my DSLR, Nikon D7000 with a 35mm lens, and my trusty Nikon Fm2 with 50mm f/1.4 lens loaded with Kodak Ektar 100. I also kept a Fuji 400H film as backup. These were the finest colour films available in my locality. For my DSLR, I was also carrying a 18-55mm lens. Our flight was on 28th July from Bangalore to Tucson, Arizona via Amsterdam and Los Angeles. These international airports were fascinating, as they brought together so many people of different cultures in the same space. That brought out the photographer in me, who has always been interested in trying to capture human interactions. A scene from Kempegowda International Airport, Bangalore A scene from Schilpol International Airport, Amsterdam My first halt was in Amsterdam. From there I changed my flight to cross the Atlantic. The flight from Amsterdam had some really nice views and Priya was gracious enough to let me have the window seat. Windmills over the sea According to the flight plan, we were possibly flying over south of Greenland. Icy waters of Greenland We crossed the ocean and then covering the vast landmass of North America finally I landed at the Los Angeles airport. We completed the formalities of immigration there. Still another segment of the journey was left. We boarded the Delta airlines to fly to Tucson, our final destination. The sublime landscapes over the Rocky Mountains remained as a soothing memory of this final journey. Rocky Mountains, Colorado We landed in Tucson on the evening of the 29th. We took a cab from the airport to reach our hotel. The hotel owner, Bhargav, was a Gujarati. He was very happy to see folks from India. It had been an exhausting journey, and soon after checking into our rooms we hit the bed. Exploration of Tucson awaited another sunrise. Hotel Room in Tucson The university was 1.5 miles away from where we were staying. Arizona being mostly a desert, it was quite hot and dry in Tucson. Bhargav advised us to take a bottle of water with ice in it. A graffiti in Tucson Prof. Vasic said that he would reach Tucson, on 1st August. His student, Mohsen, with whom I have already published a few papers, was supposed to arrive on 31st July. Nithin, another fellow from our lab now pursuing a PhD here at UA, would reach on 1st August as well. So for 30th July, we decided to walk down to the university and just roam around a bit. A scene in UA As we were walking down the road and exploring the places nearby the university, I tried to gauge the colour palette of the city. Most of the buildings and houses had a very subdued and almost de-saturated colour. It echoed perfectly with the desert theme. Now, I focused my mind about what to shoot here. I decided to take photographs of the city, its buildings and houses, the streets, the walls. In India, I did not find this much of emptiness in the streets. So, I deliberately excluded people from the photographs because I thought it would showcase the serene mood of emptiness. Next day we met Prof. Vasic and had insightful discussions with him. We talked about our work and Priya also presented her latest paper. In the following few days we worked in his lab and also explored the city. We went to Mesa with Nithin for a brief visit to his house. Emptiness around Tuscon Prof. Vasic invited us to his house for dinner. It was 20 minutes from the University. Nithin drove us there in his car. His house was on the foothills of the mountains. Prof. Vasic, Priya, me and Nithin in Prof. Vasic’s House We met Prof. Vasic’s wife Dragana and their older daughter. Dragana cooked us a special dinner from their hometown in Serbia. We hatched a plan of visiting the Grand Canyon and Sedona during the dinner. We were to execute it the following day. We rented a car to reach the Grand Canyon, with Nithin and his friend Saroya driving. From Tuscon, it was a five hour drive to the destination. On the way to Grand Canyon Before we had reached the Grand Canyon, we stopped in Sedona for a short hike. The weather was really hot and sunny, but we enjoyed every bit of it. Scenes from Sedona After Sedona we stopped in Flagstaff to go to our Airbnb house. We kept the luggage and freshened up a bit, and went out hurriedly to catch the sunset over the Grand Canyon. Unfortunately we reached there a bit late. Finding parking was a bit difficult. I was awestruck by looking at the Grand Canyon. I think Grand is an understatement for this place. It is a natural wonder of the earth. The entire canyon is impossible to roam around, it was more than 2000 sq. miles in area! Grand Canyon in the evening Although I took some photographs, I was not very satisfied with them. The light was low, so I had to boost up my ISO in my DSLR that resulted in a bit noisy images. In such light condition I couldn’t use my 100 ISO film at all. However, we came back to the Grand Canyon again in the morning. But the light then was very harsh. Grand Canyon in the morning We also visited the Desert view watchtower which was originally built by the natives many years back. The Desert View Tower I was not happy with the landscape shots that I was getting there. Well, I am not very good at landscapes in the first place. So, I tried my hand in street photography which happens to be my cup of tea. Some street photography in Grand Canyon Next, we visited the Tusayan Ruins. They had a small museum there, which was quite nice. Tusayan Ruins Museum The guy in charge, Ben Lopez, was excited to see us who came all the way from India. He was very excited to see my film camera. We had a nice time with him and I took a photo of him. He also gave us free stickers. We also met the sheriff who was in charge of conducted tours there. Ben Lopez and Sheriff We visited some more view-points in Grand Canyon. Then we came back to our house in Flagstaff. After taking some rest we returned to our hotel. The house in Flagstaff I had taken enough shots in this tour. While coming back I didn’t take any shot, and in fact, I didn’t even take out my camera. I was tired and a little sad that such a wonderful trip had come to an end. We landed back in India on the 14th August around 1:00 am to the familiar routine of academic life beginning next morning.
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Editorial, IISc PC Photos: Adway and Jyotirmoy KR Market is named after Krishna Rajendra Wadiyar (1884-1940), the twenty-fourth ruler of Mysore. KR’s Flower market is one of the largest wholesale markets in Bangalore. Every day flower sellers start their activities from around 2.00 am and they pack up within 6.30 am. Two of our club members went to KR market in the early morning of an August day and had a colourful photo walk. The following photographs are the portrayal of flower sellers at the market. Before the sun rises, the market is revived under the lamp post lights. Hundreds of people have already put their steps into the market interior to begin their day with colors. The day breaks in, sunlight pours down into the market. The first kiss of the sunlight. Some remains busy with color exchange Some are waiting for new buyers. And someone has just finished another round of negotiation with the buyers. After a busy marketing hour, the flower lady is enjoying a cup of tea. The market is about to close now. From photography club we often go for such photo walks in and around Bangalore. Anyone affiliated with IISc can join in such colorful and vibrant photowalks with IIScPC. For that, please join the "Introduction to Photography" workshop offered by the club and become official member. |
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