Category: Blog

Nostalgia: Internet, photography, Writing & Geocities

From left: My friends, Santosh, Karthik, Vipul, and I, during the trek along railway tracks near Sakleshpur, Karnataka. 2003.

Sharing the joy of rediscovering my lost pages on internet – thanks to strangers at Geocities.ws. Geocities.ws undertook the task of saving and archiving people’s homepages that once had a space on original Geocities.com website. But Yahoo shut the Geocities free web-hosting service in the year 2009 and deleted all the webpages in its servers.

Fistful of Dreams E-book

Screenshot of a page from Fistful Of Dreams E-book as seen through Apple iBooks on an iPod.

The e-book version of Fistful of Dreams is now available for iPad, iPhone and iPod platforms

Flash Mob – Slutwalk Bangalore

I had last covered a Flash mob three years ago, when dancing ban at public places in Bangalore was making fresh headlines. It had got some of the city’s dancing enthusiasts to assemble at a public square with music quietly streaming from their portable players. The confused security guards at the square were struggling to… Continue reading Flash Mob – Slutwalk Bangalore

Going Independent as a Photographer

I have now become an independent visual story-teller. Plenty of ideas are taking shape in my mind as I plan the days ahead. I share here a rough road map, ideas and plans, that I believe that independent photographers like me should consider while doing business in today’s world.

Wedding photography by an embedded journalist

A bride reaching out to her mother, while the latter is slowly being pulled away from her by their relatives. A Bidaai Scene, Bangalore, 2010. © Nishant Ratnakar

There is one particular moment during Hindu weddings that can get emotionally charged. It is the time of Bidaai, or the ritualistic farewell given to the bride by her family. If most rituals of Indian marriages are about joy and celebration, then Bidaai is about shedding tears, and more tears. This is especially true in… Continue reading Wedding photography by an embedded journalist

Making of a Documentary Photography Project

A mobile phone photograph of a young couple during a pre-wedding portrait shoot done at Ateneo De Manila University campus, while we were defending our final projects in front of 3-member panel. May 2011, Manila, Philippines. © Nishant Ratnakar

An online discussion and Q&A session with photojournalism students from my Alma Mater, ACFJ at Ateneo de manila University, Philippines. Spoke to them on how I worked on my long-term documentary photography project, Fistful of Dreams.

The Snake Catcher and Composition

A Cobra that was rescued by 'Snake Shivappa' from JC Nagar after it had strayed into a residence in the locality. The Cobra weighed around 5 kilograms and was around 5 to 6 feet in length. © Nishant Ratnakar

Snake catcher shivappa has rescued around 12,000 snakes in and around Bangalore city. But there is no permanent job for him. His life depends on whatever people give him after every catch.

Vijay:The official, first buyer of “Fistful Of Dreams”

This post is a conversation with Vijay G Rao, who bought the first copy of my maiden book “Fistful Of Dreams”. Vijay had ordered a copy of the book the very day it was made available online on blurb.com.