Tramping the Dusty Roads: Footprints on a Dusty Globe

We’ve forgotten how to smile

Rajiv Chopra — Tue, 29 Apr 2025 10:48:32 GMT

A brief introduction: George Harrison and a smile.

When I was a younger lad than I am now, I used to collect magazines with all sorts of cricket information and rock stars. I was a genuine, passionate collector. Later, when I was in college, I moved on from rock stars and plastered my room wall with photos of nubile women. As we walk down life’s long roa…

At the Hanging Gardens with Mr. Pillai.

Rajiv Chopra — Wed, 09 Apr 2025 05:01:34 GMT

A year after I started photography and produced some horrible photographs, I took a course at the Pillai School of Photography at Fort, in Bombay.

Mr. Pillai was a fabulous, lively, articulate, passionate, and humorous teacher. He took us to the Hanging Gardens in Bombay - I refuse to call the city Mumbai - for a photo walk, where I shot a few more horr…

My first trip to the Elephanta Caves

Rajiv Chopra — Wed, 12 Mar 2025 12:02:25 GMT

It was long ago, & I was fiddling with my camera.

I know the image is blurry. I used a 100 ISO film inside the main cave entrance, which forced me to use a slow shutter speed, resulting in a blurry image.

You see this carving as soon as you enter the main cave: cave number one.

Memories. Matheran.

Rajiv Chopra — Mon, 17 Feb 2025 10:02:27 GMT

The Story.

This story goes back years—decades—when I worked in a steel mill and was a happy bachelor. One benefit of our lifestyle was that we always enjoyed each other's company in the evenings and occasionally engaged in playful activities. Thanks to an escapade one evening, I turned to photography to rectify my bad weekend habits.

One day, we decided t…

Memories. Bombay. Photographs.

Rajiv Chopra — Mon, 03 Feb 2025 12:47:43 GMT

The Photographs.

Rocks in the water. Cuffe Parade. Bombay.

Camera: Olympus OM-2n. 50 mm, f1.4 lens.