Listening Camera - A Black and White Memoir of Jazz Moments

The genius of jazz lies in its spontaneity and rebellious spirit; so can a photograph honestly frame this ephemeral music?

As his lens travelled back stage and up-close, between wires and sound-systems and even into private jam sessions – to Philadelphia, New York, Berlin, San Francisco and then closer home to Mumbai and Chennai - Navroze Contractor made this possible.  

Over decades he captured impromptu jazz moments; inevitably constructing a series called ‘Listening Camera.’

The beauty of his photography lies in its rawness, sense of movement and rapture that typifies Jazz. Each photograph becomes a musical tableaux - one can hear Sonny Rollins play the Freedom Suite and Stan Getz’s commendable ‘Cool Jazz.’ As one travels from one image to the next, one piece ends and another begins.

A Keith Jarrett is literally off his seat; lost to the world as he hits a chord on his electric piano; a dashing Louis Banks sits at a desk with his back to the camera;  as his portrait hangs above – creating a surreal duality.

Listening camera becomes an enthralling journey into a past that seems more alive than the present. 

Kiska Ravan?

Vodafone sends me a Dusshera message: Burai par acchai Ki jeet! Dusshera lata hai ek ummeed, Ravan ki tarah hamare dukhon ka ant ho. Ek nayi shuruat spl. msgs & logos ke saath. SMS DUS to51515@Rs3/SMS

Today, the image-making of the villain is a highly manufactured socio-political enterprise. This message of the triumph of good over evil has been abused to spread hatred and create a rift between communities. The question here is - who is being labelled evil? And why?

Until today I had never watched Ravan burning. This year I decided to become a spectator in the Dusshera celebrations. To many in the city, this event has become nothing more than ‘an inconvenience’. It simply means more traffic, more smoke and more noise.

We literally followed the fire-works and the crowds to reach the site. The lane adjacent to the maidan was overflowing with people, children selling heart-shaped balloons and hand-carts displaying bright bow and arrow sets and Hanuman’s gada. It was impossible to enter the gateway.

Young men stood on traffic islands, children sat on car bonnets or on their father’s shoulders. Grandmothers chatted with their neighbours and relatives. They seemed oblivious of the blaring traffic and the DTC bus that was trying to get past them.

The crackling loudspeakers invited BJP leaders on stage between powerful dialogues threatening Ravan to prepare for his death. Calls of Shri Ram Ki Jai! rang through the crowd. A child was reported missing. Visitors were asked to remain calm and avoid climbing the walls to enter the maidan. Ravan stood tall - overpowering yet silent; his tummy stuffed with explosives.

Was it just me feeling a fundamentalist vibe in the air? or was this all just harmless festivity?

While hearing repeated chants celebrating Ram’s greatness; I couldn’t help wondering - What of Sita being rejected and punished for her ‘impurity’? And what about the disfigured Shoorpanakha? Where is Ravan – the scholar, the follower of Shiva, the gifted ruler?

Frozen Pilgrim

Beleaguered god-men in saffron lined the holy river

the mountain road exposed dusty hillocks with tourist-infested tea stalls

the journey persisted; the forests grew thicker, the path grew thinner

Lohajung waited in silence.

The lush meadows with their untamed lichens glowed under the mid-day sun

by nightfall the earth was blanketed with white blossoms.

The mules ran about, braying wildly across the freezing night,

the brass bells 'round their necks played an eerie rhyme.

Bedni Bugayal witnessed summer snow.

a friendly moonbeam peered through a crack in our trembling plastic abode.

Nandaghuti glistened as the stars coquettishly conversed.

In the darkness, the snow leopard left his print on the virgin glacier.

polar mist scattered haphazardly across the winter dawn

The frost-bitten morning greeted blushing peaks

Ali Bugayal appeared garlanded with pearls.

The statued goddess stepped out to inspect her reflection in Roop Kund.

To quench her thirst a lovestruck warrior had once shot a single arrow.

The earth split open and sweet poison flowed interminably.

He Refused To Turn A Blind Eye

In 2005, Chinese officials initiated a forced abortion and sterilization campaign against women in Linyi, Shandong province who were deemed ineligible to bear another child under China's one-child policy. Even though the use of such forcible actions and brutality is prohibited under national regulations; only one voice rose in protest.

In August 2006, this solitary voice was sentenced to four years and three months’ imprisonment. Blind civic activist and Ramon Magsaysay Awardee, Chen Guangcheng is now undergoing harassment in jail.

By filing a lawsuit on the women's behalf, Chen became a local hero in Shandong and a protector of civic rights in an authoritarian regime. In an interview with TIME magazine he simply said, "Someone has to fight for people with no voice, I guess that person is me."

Prior to the judgment in 2006, Chen had been abducted by public-security agents from his hometown and was later held under house-arrest for several months. His wife and fellow activist Yuan Weijing as well as his lawyers are still routinely harassed by government agents.

As the Beijing Olympics draws nearer and the world continues to marvel at China’s blazing growth, it is time that those with a conscience take the trouble to trace the Human Rights record of our neighboring nation. Thousands of political prisoners are in jail along with approximately 32 journalists and 50 cyber-dissidents and Internet users. It becomes clear that all dissent is met with utmost intolerance and all those with a voice are ruthlessly silenced at every step.

Let us also look within our own boundaries and address the human atrocities that surround us. Civic Activists are like flickering candles in the darkness of our social reality. Let us support these voices that dare to speak.

To sign an Online Petition to FREE CHEN, please visit the following link

http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/free-human-rights-activist-chen-guangcheng.html

Sources:

TIME Magazine

Wikipedia

Amnesty International

Reporters Without Borders

Sunrise at Hut Bay, Little Andamans

In damp semi-darkness, knotted nets are brought out. The rested boats are dragged offshore by half clad, muscled bodies. Performing a kind of languid dance, raspy voices sing to approaching dawn. Boat shadows and footprints enmesh to form pleasant mosaics in the sand.

The foamy waves attempt to swallow these sinewy figures as they dive in for their morning dip. Swaying boats reach the middle of the sea at daybreak. They slowly circle as the net is cast; it swirls and settles over the belly of furious waters. Silver shrimp with bulging eyes are caught in dozens, multi-coloured fish writhe for a last breath on the cold wooden floor. It is just the beginning of another day…