Thaipusam in Singapore in Video. Shot with my canon 500D. Pictures of this event are here here and here. There is some skin piercing involved so if you are very sensitive to this, maybe you should skip this video. Right click on the video if you want to see it in 1080 HD on vimeo.
Singapore Thaipusam 2011 from Lost Aruban on Vimeo.
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Kodak Black and White 400 Tmax. Shot with my Canon 500 and 50mm 1.8. A smooth grain black and white film. Not as much contrast as I am looking for in Black and White film, but easily remedied in any editing program.
Friend of mine
Thaipusam image I shot to finish this roll. Look for other thaipusam photos on the rest of my blog.
Peaches in concert in Singapore and yes thats an outfit made of breasts.
Outside at Clarke Quay.
My favorite image from the roll.
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Fujifilm Neopan Acros 100 is a black and white film. According to comments online it is renowned for its fine grain. I tend to push the contrast so it may not be so apparent in the images I present.
All pictures were taken with a film Canon EOS 500 with a Canon 50mm 1.8 lens. All shot at f2.2
I tend to shoot a lot of pictures from the back. It is interesting how much somebody’s back can say.
Devotee right after getting his cheeks and tongue pierced. A long bare-footed walk in the hot Singaporean sun still awaits him.
I like how his walking staff divides the frame in two. Devotees with heavy kavadis or people wearing the wooden shoes with nails would use these nicely decorated walking canes.
I like this film. It has great tonality. As long as you expose correctly and don’t blow out your highlights you are able to get some great black and white images and with some post processing you can really achieve the look you are looking for. I do acknowledge I process in a heavier contrast than others may prefer.
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I took these images at Thaipusam Singapore 2011 with Lomo negative color 35mm film and my Olympus Mju2, MjuII or Stylus Epic ( I should really just pick one and stick with it, right?)
One of the Chinese devotees in the temple. He had a row of small pots filled with milk pierced to his back.
I was shooting at about 9am so there was enough light in the temple for 100 film. The end result has a faint yellow feeling to it, but that can be the product of the scanning.
One of the devotees preparing to get his cheeks pierced. The crowd around him shouts the same words, louder and louder until the metal skewer piercing his flesh.
Again the yellowish tone of the film. I am not sure if I like it or not, it does give the pictures a distinct look and maybe more interesting than just the “normal” colors.
The above image was shot outside and it gives a much more vibrant picture then the ones shot inside the temple. It was probably the light conditions inside the temples that caused the yellowish tint. No noticable grain which I wouldn’t expect from 100 film. I like it and would reccomend it. I am not sure about the price since it was a gift, but knowing the people at Lomo it is probably more expensive then the film from Fuji and Kokak, something to consider.
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He was preparing when I arrived at the temple. I saw him from the beginning until leaving the temple with hooks pierced through the skin of his back. To me it is interesting to see non-Indians follow this Hindu ceremony.
It was interesting to see how he was almost in a trance-like state. With loud traditional music playing non-stop, and incence smoke all around the temple I fell I was almost in a trance for the time I was there.
The man in the back was shouting loudly in the guy’s ear as part of the preparation of getting his forearms pierced. He later asked the guy if he also wanted to have his chest pierced, but the guy declined.
When all the skewers are inserted and the kavadi is complete, I feel it is almost modern art how the skewers intersect and pierce the flesh.
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This young devotee just got his forearms pierced and asked his mom to take a picture for him on his iPhone. That should make for an interesting Facebook status update.
This man was helping a devotee get his kavadi in order and his piercings in place. I found it interesting he was wearing a bluetooth earphone piece. I wonder if he would have taken a call if somebody rang.
“What?, yeah, kinda busy piercing somebody right now”.
“Huh?, yeah piercing his flesh with about 100 skewers”
” Hello? You still there?”
Another helper picking up small pots of milk to pierce into the devotee back and chest. I noticed he was wearing a power bracelet. I guess balance is important when doing a task this sensitive.
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Thaipusam is a Hindu festival celebrated mostly by the Tamil community on the full moon in the Tamil month of Thai (January/February).
The festival commemorates the occasion when Parvati gave Murugan a vel (spear) so he could vanquish the evil demon Soorapadman.
On the day of the festival, devotees will shave their heads and undertake a pilgrimage along a set route while engaging in various acts of devotion, notably carrying various types of kavadi (burdens). At its simplest this may entail carrying a pot of milk, but mortification of the flesh by piercing the skin, tongue or cheeks with vel skewers is also common. The greater the pain the more god-earned merit.
The above picture is taken of one of the first devotees I saw and he was the only one I saw that day who didnt have a kavadi with a belt. His heavy contraption was held on his waist by piercing his flesh.
I took a day of work and went to shoot in Sri Srinivasa Perumal Temple. There was constant music playing with trance-inducing rythems, hypnotizing horns and incense smoke. I shot 3 rolls of film which I will post once I get these developed. One interesting note was the large amount of expat wives who were present to also photograph this event. I am still puzzled by this.
