Meditations of another kind
On the image “Ripples of a fall” by Manoj Vallati
Image of the month at CNP, December 2011
There are some images which take us beyond our sense of comprehension. It’s difficult to find a key to these images. At CNP, Image of the month for December (image by Manoj Vallati) “Ripples of a fall” fits into this category. A leaf fell. Water quivered sending out “Ripples of a fall”. The ripples did not die out in the cartesian space of the frame. They went far beyond the immediate becoming a metaphor in the mind of the photographer.
In a life lived by rote autumn is like any other day. Leaves fall without being seen, heard or felt. This one fell in full sight of a photographer. Lightness fell into stillness. Ripples emanated from the epicenter. The leaf not yet drowned; half afloat, half submerged, this was a quintessential fall moment. The shot has been taken from an angle in which the leaf looks disoriented. Like it has given in to the moment and surrendered to a greater will.
It follows from Manoj’s thoughts “during shooting I saw this scene where in the leaves were dropping off the trees intermittently, the serene lake was getting disturbed subtly by the falling leaves leaves. The moment was beautiful for me when the ripples were born and gradually disappear... The ripples in the photo are created by a leaf that fell a sec prior taking the shot.. The shadow portion is of the colors of the foilage and the highlights is that of the sky..” . Further “The ripples to me symbolize the subtle transition of the leaf as it enters a new dimension of life - death, symbolized by the highlights-- from darkness to light...” Manoj adds. The latter thought imbues his aesthetic intention with a life-quality and changes the picture into visual representation of his thought process. Pondering over his thoughts about death being a new dimension of life, tThe word death… started to ring bells and in a quick mental recall brought Pramod Viswanath’s image “Death…” before me for a quick juxtaposition. There were two different deaths here; one by Manoj; a dimension of life, and the other by Pramod, death as death, a finality from where there’s no return. It is interesting to see the visual treatments in both the cases. Use of elements in Pramod’s depiction is spot on. It is hard, it is impervious, and it is grey from which all tones of life have been sapped. Here's Pramod image.
On the other hand Manoj has captured a mystic view of death. Life is seen as a transience and death a passage into a world of light. His choice of elements to depict his thoughts is tremendous. Leaf, ripples, water, shades of black and white, everything goes with the theme of transience. Everything is light and passing; liquid. For a thought of this finesse the choice of background shade was very important. It should’ve had (and it does) two contending attributes of space. One proportionate to the size of leaf to depict that the event took place On it, the other large enough to show that everything happens in it. The former is available through the shadow part where we see the action happening on the surface. Moving upwards in the frame, in words of Manoj “from darkness to light” we get into the highlights part. This part is very important since it is here that the image would find required ground for its philosophical intent. It is meant to supply the cosmos for the event and lead viewer’s eye into the infinite. The gradation of tones from the lower to the upper part leads us into the journey quite well. A bit more whiteness in the top half would open up the frame and create space for mind’s eye to move from “the darkness to light”.
Thanks Manoj! For seeing the infinite in a moment so transient.
Nirlep Singh