Taj Mahal Series

Its magical.

I had seen it so many times on architecture books, postcards, magazines, etc....

I read is one of the most photographed buildings in the world!

I spent my whole afternoon in awe walking around it, breathing it in, and photographing it. I knew I wanted to photograph it dead-center, and it was hard with the amount of tourists fighting for a good viewing spot and wanting me to move out of their way. Since i photograph without any tripods or special equipment, I was lucky to just move in and out of position after i took few shots. Also, my height allows me to tower over most people and shoot right pass above them. I couldn't seem to stop photographing it because magically every photo was coming out unique, with its own soul. The light was rapidly changing on the steamy and humid Indian summer evening. A guard finally told me they were closing and that i had to leave immediately. I still get very emotional when i see these photos.

These are the 20 photos that I finally selected to create this series. After looking at them over and over and objecting to just pick one and I suddenly remembered the Rouen Cathedral paintings by the master Monet and went into studying further about how he came up with them. He also selected 20 within the more than 30 that he painted in a year. (certainly the photography is much rapid medium than painting, otherwise I would still be arguing with that guard to let me keep painting!)

The Taj Mahal is a building that even on its most abstract depiction can convey a lot of power and meaning. From this series I stemed onto creating one called 'LOVE and HATE' which speaks of the love history of the Taj Mahal followed by the hate which impeded from its twin building to be built.