Faces - Young and Old

It has been quite a while since I last posted an article on this Blog. There are a number of issues on which I want to write … but after the marathon series on Sino-Bhutan border issues, I seem to have drained of all intellectual juice - I developed a mental block. But some readers keep reminding me that I have been quiet for far too long. So here goes ……. Luckily, I am more fortunate than most - because when I run out of words, I can make up for the deficit by resorting to posting photos of which I have plentiful :)

I love photographing rural faces - there is so much character there. The first photo below of an old man was photographed in Punakha - on the way to Talo. I think he was herding cows.

The old man below was photographed in Khoma village in Lhuntse. There is something nice about the face.

This old man with a strange looking cap is a Sharchop - strange that I cannot remember where in the East I photographed him. I normally remember the location of every photo I shoot quite vividly.

The little girl below was photographed in Yadi, Mongar. I like that look of dangerous defiance in her eyes. She looks sooooo audacious!

This pretty little girl was photographed during Paro Tsechu some 8-9 years ago.

I caught the young lady below in Dungkar, Kurtoe in the Eastern part of the country. I love her traditional Bhutanese hair cut and the Koma Jabtha made of old coins. They are rarely seen these days.

The mischievous boy with a plastic bowl on his head was photographed in Dungkar school in Kurtoe. He was eating his lunch of pre-cooked noodles. The moment he saw me training my camera on him, he turned the bowl upside down on his head and gave me a genuine beaming smile that lit up his face. Those of you who have read the Mad Magazine cannot fail to notice the striking resemblance to Mr. Newman - the hero of the Mag.

The last photo shows an old lady and her multiple moods. I photographed her in Paro Tsechu some years back. As I watched her talk to her young companion, I noticed the fleeting change in her facial expressions. It looks like she is crying - she is not. Strangely the changes were not the result of her emphasis on whatever she was saying - but it was brought on by the words her companion was saying. This is the first time I noticed that a person’s facial expressions could undergo changes based on what the other person was saying.

PS: Double-click on the image to display a larger version of the photo.