oochappan as (oochappan)

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Name: oochappan as Contact
Country: Belgia
Intro: www.flickr.com/oochappan/
My latest photos are on flickr due to piracy encouraged by TE.

Any reward of photos goes straight to poor people of Madurai.
What comes from there, goes back there.

The story behind Tamil Nadu is that I go there every year since 1987, the first 3 months of the year.
I made a lot of friends over there and in fact I try to tell their story through my photos.

During all those years I have seen a lot of places ....the Central Prison in Chennai, hospitals where some small babies were left behind because they were seropositif, local social workgroups, and living 2 months in a small fisherman-community fishing with them at night .... I do write and speak a tiny bit Tamil in a land where still 40% is illiterate. Pity, that white skin makes me still a foreigner.

They may be poor - I call it a low living standard: what we got in our pocket, they got in their heart. The diamond they got is the one of joy and struggle for life. That you can see in all the colors they use on their temples.
We are taking all for granted: income, insurances, health care .... our prosperity. But they don't put elder and handicapped people separate in institutions, they stay part of society.
So help financially is not really the right way. The key to it is sharing !
That's why I share here the photos and there my heart.
I try to maintain some kind of "social engaged photography", a concept that uses all techniques to put spot on this Tamil culture to uplift it by finding the beauty in all situations making you wonder to know more about.

I do love portraits and action-shots and to be involved as much I can with spontaneous wondering eyes seeking the true nature and the joy as Tamil life is organic, full of energy and only when I go for a portrait, eyes is all that count, the mirror of a soul. My target is trying to make an honest bridge to the beauty of the Tamil Culture.
Enjoy the colors for joy of life, the friendship and much more .... values that we seem to have lost in our paradise ?
I hope that I can pass on this beauty of the Tamil culture and make Tamils proud of their own country.

COLORS FOR JOY - Tamil Nadu photo album by oochappan - NOW AVAILABLE HERE

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My Website www.oochappan.be
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What use is having a great depth of field, if there is not an adequate depth of feeling . - William Eugene Smith

It is impossible to express India's particular beauty in black-and-white. Black-and-white might be a good medium to convey Europe's fear and alienation, but colour is natural for an Indian, and more appropriate for the extraordinary diversity of India. Unlike European art, Indian art did not have the tradition of independent black-and-white sketches and drawing. If any line drawings were made, they were for being filled out in colour. Colour is the fountain of India. Colour is the basis of the entire rasa theory, that governs Indian painting, dance, music, and literature. - Raghubir Singh, 1942-1999
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Member Since: 2004-07-05
Equipment: Canon EOS 1D Mark II, Canon EOS 5D, FujiFilm F610, Nikon 5700, Nikon 950, Olympus OM-1, Pentax 110
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