We’re holistically themed on rediscovering the extraordinary in the ordinary by vision. Let’s compliment with a little poster from an afternoon tea with Netta.
“Who would then deny that when I am sipping tea in my tearoom I am swallowing the whole universe with it and that this very moment of my lifting the bowl to my lips is eternity itself transcending time and space?”
― Zen and Japanese Culture
This is a photograph from 2014. While we were hanging out at a coffee shop in Istanbul, there came this ethereal little flower-seller selling flower bouquets to the cafe market. There are many experiences in this world to gift you a smile. It can be a cafe or a shore or aids of the sun or the wind or moments of bliss or the love of the season of sunset. This dream of the day does not last. Memories are fickling as seasons change. Poetry is oozing in 🙂 I’m always overwhelmed by the power of images. I’m delighted to preconize that I’ve discovered a treasure trove of some of the old photographs that I have carefully preserved and I’d like to share it with the lovely people here. Sign up for emails subscriptions so that you won’t miss them, and keep exploring 🙂
All of us who have traveled through the wider Middle East in all probability would have stumbled across one of these beautiful lights. These are Turkish mosaic lamps. Turkish lamps have a long history, the technique of producing these lamps started 5,000 years ago in its earlier forms. They had their early debut during the Ottoman era. Until the 19th century, candles and oil lamps were predominantly used for illuminating palaces and mansions. Before the spread of electric lamps, these lights were important symbols of rich heritage and civilization. Oil lamps were produced in the form of glass bottles or cup-shaped jars suspended from a chain. Bathhouses, mosques, and arenas of Istanbul were lit with these oil lamps. Over time, colored glass panes were used artistically with these lamps and they turned out to be even more beautiful. These are usually handmade and are an important element of Turkish and Anatolian roots and culture. We’d find variants of these types in other cultures as well. It’s an art and a skill to prepare hand blown glass which is cut from large sheets of different sizes and colors. A transparent, permanent but slow drying adhesive is applied to a small section of the base with a noticeable pattern through the adhesive to direct the artisan’s hand and there are several other steps to completion. Each one carefully crafted is a piece of art and expertise. I picked one from a journey to Istanbul in 2014.
It’s one of my favourite pastimes to graze through old photo archives and to relish and hark back to the stories and memories that evoked them. Recently, I discovered a treasure trove some of the old photos, notes and illustrations from my 2013 archives. I’ll be trying to share some of those nice memories here in some of the subsequent posts, God willing. After all, this is my wondercrate. Photo narrations are something that I never get tired of.
Panda cram is such a little chucklesome memory. Back in 2013, only a few of my colleagues had personal cars. So, a dear friend of mine had a sedan car with him which can carry 5 people max. So, we used to hop in this car for our lunch trips. So in total, we would be 5 people and the car would be almost full. And then, someday, he got this huge stuffed panda as a gift from somewhere and he had put this in his car. The panda is considerably huge and is tad bit almost the size of a grown-up boy 😀 And as usual, during a mid-noon when we were about to go for lunch on the car, we had this unusual co-passenger inside the car taking the size of an almost full-size adult, and I still remember all of us had to cram inside the car to accommodate this amigo and we laughed our heads off. Visualizing this would make me chuckle every time I think about it or see this photograph. Good times.
This is a photograph from a visit to Princess Islands in Turkey sometime in 2014. It’s a frame that still fills and imbue my mind. Grateful to Almighty for such visual treats for the soul. Having endless horizons is a sanctuary for the wandering souls. Just as a small piece of salt melts into a large glass and becomes part of the sea, in the infinite horizons wayfarer souls too melt and blend into eternity. Journeys often confer fulfillment upon crafting these membranes of memories. Share your stories with us 🙂
“ Watching the infinite horizons gives you infinite dreams, infinite ideas, infinite paths! Choose a great target and then you will see that great instruments will appear for you to reach that target! ” ― Mehmet Murat ildan
“Once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return.”
― Leonardo da Vinci
Planning to release some footage of drone flights tomorrow. Not the aerial imagery, but just the drone flying around for your visual gratification of cinematic drone B’rolls. I highly encourage you to skim through our moving images archive. I’m really thankful to AR for spending his valuable time with me for such creative pursuits. Cherishing’
I went with AR for another round of drone trials early morning.
While the motor bird was flying, I was engrossed with some silhouette moments.
Stay tuned as we plan to roll in some visuals of this little guy flying around very soon.
“Let us take you into a deeper experience, make a moment a lasting conveyable memory. Let us help build your tribe.”
― Deep Immersion
I’m sort of a detail-obsessed guy and some photographs like this are only for enjoying the randomness and the little details in them. If we look at a leaf branching out, there’re these nuances of art and perfection in them. We see the function designed into them here. It’s not random or accidental, but we see purpose and intention in them. As Ralph Waldo Emerson famously put it, “Every particular in nature, a leaf, a drop, a crystal, a moment of time is related to the whole, and partakes of the perfection of the whole.”
(The photo is captured from a cafe in Istanbul, circa 2014)
Wanted a smile that melts you down right now?
This sweet little angel appeared when I was on a bus while on a visit to Istanbul in 2014 and this little one kept smiling at me. Subtleties and details such as me being in that bus seat at the right moment of time and for this cute one to be exactly there to smile back and to capture that exact little moment! I believe in Almighty’s magical way of delighting us with details unconceivable. Everything happening in our life has a reason and a purpose, regardless of whether we can envisage it or not. Let’s be somebody’s reason to smile 🙂 | God bless.
