Evolution of Photography

Evolution of Photography 
-- from Camera Obscura to Digital Photography

Image courtesy: 24 Hours (Toronto: Nov. 8, 2006)

(Click on the above image to view and read it in larger format)

Valentine's Day: Stories of Some Interfaith Couples in Ontario

L-R: Sahar (Muslim) + Alvaro (Catholic)

Today is the Valentine’s Day. Love is in the air all over.

On this day, it would be both interesting and enlightening to see that there are an increasing number of couples engaging in interfaith relationships.

Colin Boyd Shafer, a teacher-cum-documentary photographer, in his website, called Interlove explores ‘how people with differing beliefs come together in love.”

This website in next few months will profile 100 couples across Ontario with their individual stories. A number of stories, already published, are a fascinating read. These tell who they are, and how and why they fell for each other. 

L-R: Amanda (Atheist having New Darwinism spectrum) + Craig (Afrocentric Spirituality)

Photos courtesy: interlove.com/

Some of the couples mentioned there, in black-and-white photos and texts, come from following religious backgrounds: Jewish + Catholic, Muslim + Catholic, liberal and non-traditional Muslim + Greek Orthodox, Catholic + Agnostic, Jew-tile (Jew and gentile) + humanistic Jew, Atheist but culturally Jew + Aboriginal Anishnawbe Spiritality, and Catholic + Hindu.

You may visit the website, Interlove, to see the photos of these mixed faith couples and read their stories in detail.

More couples of interfaith backgrounds in Ontario can also visit this website and provide their details for inclusion in it.

Those who are photophiles (lovers of photographs) and want to see more photo projects of this same photographer, may visit his other website, called Colin Boyd Shafer.

PhotoSpeak

A child in fashion!

Photo (Toronto: May 19, 2011) © Jerome D'Costa

PhotoSpeak

Children and their mothers in Dinajpur town are seeking warmth
on a winter morning by making a fire on a roadside

Photo (Dinajpur, Bangladesh: March, 1975) © Jerome D'Costa

The Photo Meditation of the Month (December, 2009): THE DISTRESSED

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An elderly couple -- husband and wife -- living a distressed life,
completely dependent on the mercy of others

Photo (at Bannerghata, near Bangalore, India: 
November, 1974) © Jerome D'Costa

The Distressed

We have the distressed in our midst. They are the most unfortunates, the fallen through the cracks, the broken ones, the helpless, the impoverished, the suffering, the anxious and the dispirited.

People can be reduced to the distressed state due to extreme poverty, chronic physical sickness or disability, too much hard labour, mental illness, neglect and abandonment, old age and the like.

One day these very people were our near and dear ones. They shared their laughter with us, they wept with us at the misfortune of someone close to us, and they empathized with us. But now they are far away from this environment.

Jesus Christ showed extraordinary concern for the distressed. He mingled with them, talked with them, comforted them, and even, at times, healed them. His words, "You shall love your neighbour as yourself" (The Bible: Matthew 22:39), speaks a volume on this matter.

Today, those of us who are able, those who are physically and mentally strong, those who are capable of doing or achieving anything we set our mind to, have a neighbourly and moral duty to assist the distressed among us in any way possible. Today we may have everything, tomorrow we may not.

Flirting with the Past: Pope John Paul II Visits Bangladesh on Nov. 19, 1986

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It was 23 years ago today. Pope John Paul II visited Bangladesh on November 19, 1986. It seems as if only in recent past did we have his mesmerizing visit. His visit is still vivid in our memories.

I had the occasion of covering his visit to Dhaka photographically. It was quite a thrilling and awe-inspiring experience for me.

I present below some of the photos of the visit of this holy and personable pope. Please let me know your reaction to this historic visit.

Bangladesh President H. M. Ershad welcomes
Pope John Paul II at the Zia International Airport in Dhaka

President H. M. Ershad (left) introduces Pope John Paul II (right)
to international and Bangladeshi journalists at a press conference
in the VVIP room at the airport

The red-carpet welcome for the pope at the airport. Christians,
mostly Catholics, are waiting for the papal plane to arrive in Dhaka

Pope John Paul II ordains 19 Bangladeshi seminarians
to priesthood in the solemn Mass offered at the Ershad Army
Stadium in Dhaka Cantonment

Girls are offering the aroti (fire offering to God)
during the papal Mass

Pope John Paul II is offering the solemn Mass

Pope John Paul II is blessing the participants after the Mass

A section of the 50,000 participants in the papal Mass

The Pope is paying his tribute to the Jatiyo Smriti Shoudha
(National War Memorial) at Savar, a suburb of Dhaka

Pope John Paul II is praying at the National War Memorial

Pope John Paul II is writing his message on the
Celebrity Visitors' Book at the Jatiyo Smriti Shoudha
(National War Memorial) at Savar

Dancers demonstrating their respect for the Pope at the solemn
reception accorded to him on the grounds of the
Archbishop's House at Ramna, Dhaka
Photos (Dhaka: November 19, 1986) © Jerome D'Costa

PhotoSpeak

It is already two weeks that the garbage collectors in Toronto
are on strike for better pay package. A seagull is sitting on
a receptacle of uncollected garbage in the College Park

Photo (July 1, 2009) © Jerome D'Costa

PeteGraphy's Photostream Has Some Amazing Photos

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Photos Courtesy: PeteGraphy's Photostream

There are some amazing photos in PeteGraphy's Photostream. Photos -- macrographs (extreme close-ups), normal photos and wide-angles -- taken especially in Bangladesh and Canada adorn the screens. Other countries would get added as the photostream grows.

You may take a little time out of your busy schedule to visit these photos and have a visual feast indeed!