The First Light
Natures most serene moments are born at gm...and disappear at gn. Those are the moments that transfix Agni and many of us who live by the light of each day.
"In the backdrop, you can see the Vivekananda rock and the Thiruvalluvar monument. I took this photo a few minutes before dawn, and you can see the Thiruvalluvar monument lit with electric lights." says Agni.
Agni shares a moment of what happened right after the photo was taken in the description.
"I lost my Lee GND 0.9 filter into the sea waves shortly after this snap, while changing filters. I couldn't search for the filter because the water was too turbulent, and I ended up losing it permanently."
We have all lost equipment in the travelling adventures that capturing photography demands...and yet we continue. A filter is better than a strong bump to a red circled L series lens. Filters are our lenses first defence... but who protects the artist? Agnimax decided he doesn't need copyright protection for The First Light From Cape Comorin and has agreed to release under CC0 once acquired by a collector.
As an aside, Agni has acquired a beautifully short ens name agni.eth. In Hinduism the name Agni is a Sanskrit word meaning fire and suggests the fire god of Hinduism. Agni is conceptualised in ancient Hindu texts to exist at three levels, on earth as fire, in the atmosphere as lightning, and in the sky as the sun.
So it is perhaps meant to be that Agni found his creativity in capturing the suns best moments for us all to enjoy.
"I felt like Godzilla was trying to swallow the sun as I watched the scene. This is a one-of-a-kind rock formation that resembles a Godzilla or a Leopard. This can be seen from the sunrise point at Kolukkumalai. I love sunrises, as you all know, and Kolikkumalai is my go-to spot for a quick getaway." says Agni.
Unlike many artist who continue to wait for their genesis mints to sell on Foundation... Agni has been doing a roaring trade, now into double digits sales. There is a marketplace for more than firey gm's and gn's too.
"Kathakali, the highly stylized traditional Indian dance drama is known for its beautiful character makeup, rich costumes and precise body motions performed in sync with the anchor playback music and accompanying percussions. Over time, it has evolved from its 17th-century origins in Kerala to its current condition today."
Kathakali is a new series that is just two images young, here's the second in the series named 'Duryodhana'. Agni is deliberate about where each collection gets placed too... for collectors to feel a sense of cohesion across a group of artworks. The vivid colours of Kathakali and nature are left behind in the 'Thousand Shades of Life' collection, and rightly so. Black and white is a vibe all unto itself.
Wandering the streets can often tell us so much more about humanity than nature does and nowhere on the planet does energy at street level like India. Whether you're a nature lover or a street photography appreciator...Agni has you covered. These street photographs are the kind that are worth exploring frame by frame. #015, #016 and #018 all say something about Agni's ability to draw out the fullest expression of the subject.
My favourite? #009 embodies the intent of the collection entirely and we've all been one of those children in a shortest to tallest arrangement at some time in our lives....and we all know the one kid who doesn't look at the camera. Maybe...maybe it was you.
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