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Cecilia Lim | all galleries >> Galleries >> mixed impressions > Portrait of An Indian Man
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9 April 2004 Varanasi, India

Portrait of An Indian Man

This is one of my favourite images from India simply for the fact that I've never made a portrait like this before. One of the things I love about it is that it is reminescent of Rembrandt's paintings - with its natural soft lighting from a doorway, the dark background and the model's purposeful pose. This portrait looks very much like a planned photo session - where I was right there in his personal space, having him posing and looking directly into my lens. This infact couldn't be further from the truth - This portrait was in reality the lucky result of a happy snapper passing by in a car! He came into my view for a second and then he was gone. And it is perhaps the incongruity of the finished image and the context in which it was created that made such a deep and memorable impression on me. I don't think I deserve any credit for this image - this time I believe it was pure luck!!!


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Cecilia Lim05-Jul-2007 21:04
Thank you Melvin for your kind, kind, comment (blush!) I just wanted to share my journey in photography for the images I make. For me a big part of my images' success is dependent on improving it through post-processing. This process corrects exposure levels, colour balance and composition which affects meaning. Being a bit of a perfectionist, an image is never done even after it's taken. Hence I work on them over and over till I am satisfied - or at least until I think the image has reached its fullest potential. It is also rewarding for me to recognize the effort that goes into creating the finished product. So I am actually happy to share the process (struggles) here with my viewers.

Besides, I really suck at the technical aspects of photography. I have a love hate relationship with dslrs because I never know what the camera is really doing till after. For me, even with 4 eyes, I can never make a sound visual judgement based on the tiny viewfinder. Having started with a live electronic viewfinder in my early days of photography in point-&-shoots, where I can check for exposure and colour before I hit the shutter, it's frustrating not having that with dslrs which I use now. So I need to compensate for my inadequacies in my "lab". Oh well, I am not that good, which at least means there's room to grow! I admit I am a bit trigger-happy with my camera, so luck plays a part sometimes! Really! I may come across as a somewhat talented artist with my handful of highly polished images, but you should see the thousands of crap I didn't post here Melvin! (And I keep all of them! I am still hoping to turn crap into gold one day!)
Cecilia Lim05-Jul-2007 17:47
Thanks Ai Li for weighing in here. I enjoyed reading how you experienced this image - especially in the way you interpreted the darkness which was quite different from Phil's, yet equally rich in depth and meaning. Having studied this image more closely now, I think this man's pose reveals to us quite a lot about him and his social standing. Looking at his clothes and the ungentlemanly way he sits - slippers off, with one leg up on the chair and hand protruding out - we can deduce that he is definitely not rich nor a high society man, but rather from a lower income group. And although he looks quite poor, to me I see an air of complete confidence, pride and acceptance of who he is. He seems very comfortable with what he has and being where he is in his life. What I didn't realize before was how expressive his body language alone was already, but I see it now!

As for my framing, I literally didn't have time to compose perfectly zooming by in a car but I had at least 80% of the image working. Cropping it later in my "digital lab" gave me a chance to make it better. I think some purists would discredit any image manipulation after the release of the shutter - sure, I feel a bit guilty and am disappointed my framing wasn't perfect, but am grateful that I have the opportunity to improve on what I made. So I guess this image is the result of big-part-luck and small-part-design!

Thanks Phil and Ai Li so much for sharing your thoughts here and opening a discussion - it has given me the opportunity to learn and discover more about this man whom I only encountered for a fleeting second in my life.
Cecilia Lim04-Jul-2007 19:50
Wow Phil! I am totally blown away by your interpretation and the meaning you've drawn from this image. I never saw this image the way you did, and I even had serious doubts whether it was expressive. I thought I had already got a handle on what expressive imagery was but obviously I had not. You've enlightened me on how darkness serves as abstraction and a metaphor for greater meaning, and how the placement of a subject between the realms of darkness and light can bring such expressive meaning too. I have also overlooked how important body language can be in expressing meaning and human values, especially in portraiture. Thanks Phil for sharing your thoughts with me because in doing so you have again opened my eyes and taught me so much about what goes into expressive photography - photography that touches the heart and expands the mind.
Phil Douglis04-Jul-2007 15:51
I love this image, Celia -- it is so rich in incongruity, abstraction and human values. The incongruity comes with the foot replacing the hand -- it is every bit as facile, and it rests on his leg, just as his other hand should, but doesn't.
The darkness behind the man suggests infinity. It is an abstract rectangle suggestive of the portal between life and death. He sits at its edge, never recognizing the fact that death will eventually overtake him, as it must to us all.
Human values:try contemplation and mortality for starters. You made this in 2004, three years ago, a testament to your talent that has always been present.