Looks like the image was taken from the orchards across the river, due North of the palace. So at least it doesn't seem to be some death camp...[/quote]
Yes, across the river behind the orchards. The young girls were taking their cows down to graze and came up to the barbed wire to ask for money. The Taj is beautiful but the pollution was so depressing. This photo seemed to sum up how I felt at the time. (Maybe I'm not supposed to be explaining this yet?)
When I first saw this shot, I immediately thought "death"... Then, as I explored every inch, I see "dying"---I see the pollution, I see the girls desire for attention, money, ANYTHING... their eyes tell their own story... Oh, and then I notice the Taj---this is an EXEMPLARY photograph! You should call National Geographic... this is worthy of the highest praise!
Excellent job finding a unique perspective on a building that has been photographed almost to the point of cliché. The strange juxtoposition of the brutal barbed wire against the softly beautiful architecture, combined with the intense focus of the young girls, makes for an image that invites exploration of its underlying story. Well done.
Yeah, that's very interesting and powerful. It's the Taj Mahal, no question. But why the barbwire, and who are the kids?
Good questions - figure out some answers for yourself. You have enough elements in this image to keep you thinking for a week, if not a life time. But just to add to what you might think...Could it be that the Taj is, in many ways, an illusion, an illusion that keeps us from thinking about the lives of most Indians, particularly the poor, to whom the Taj and the world it represents are as foreign and exotic as it is to us? Could it be that barbed wire is needed to keep beggars away from the Taj, beggars who would destroy the illusion that brings so many tourists to India?
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Seeing all these great documentary shots is very motivational. Thanks for sharing!
I never think of there being barbed wire there. Their eyes are so captivating.
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What an absolutely wonderful capture. It stands as it is, but makes me want to know more about the young women and the barbed wire.
I love that the Taj Mahal is a soft gray in the background instead of a colorful structure that draws our eyes away from the girls.
I love the girls' eyes looking so seriously at the viewer.
Very successful, even without a caption. Maybe especially without a caption.
Virginia
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Looks like the image was taken from the orchards across the river, due North of the palace. So at least it doesn't seem to be some death camp...
Yes, across the river behind the orchards. The young girls were taking their cows down to graze and came up to the barbed wire to ask for money. The Taj is beautiful but the pollution was so depressing. This photo seemed to sum up how I felt at the time. (Maybe I'm not supposed to be explaining this yet?)
Tina
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This is not your typical "Taj Mahal" picture and that's what makes it so memorable.
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Powerful image. Thanks for sharing.
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Thanks for sharing such an amazing shot!
Marjohn
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Good questions - figure out some answers for yourself. You have enough elements in this image to keep you thinking for a week, if not a life time. But just to add to what you might think...Could it be that the Taj is, in many ways, an illusion, an illusion that keeps us from thinking about the lives of most Indians, particularly the poor, to whom the Taj and the world it represents are as foreign and exotic as it is to us? Could it be that barbed wire is needed to keep beggars away from the Taj, beggars who would destroy the illusion that brings so many tourists to India?
Let the photo speak for itself.
"He not busy being born is busy dying." Bob Dylan
"The more ambiguous the photograph is, the better it is..." Leonard Freed