Georgetown, Guyana

It’s been 50 years since some forward thinking people declared Independence for this little nation we now call Guyana.  They were looking forward to their futures, some idealistic land of self-rule and happiness for the masses I suppose.

I think by now, most of them have all gone and left many of us wishing we were still under colonial rule, it wouldn’t have been that bad, would it?  We’ll never know, and doing the whole “what if” dance is not going to help anyone.

Sadly, even though many of the idealist have gone, there remains some of the followers who can’t seem to open their eyes and realise that the old way can’t work and that the path the country is on is not the right one, that implementing old ideas, once discarded, will not bring about new changes.

I babble…  I’ve been staring at this photo for weeks and didn’t know what to write and now I write something quite out of character and from way out of left-field.

Here’s a photo  🙂


Wrong-way Rider 16-1092 |  Canon EOS 6D, Canon EF24-105mm f/4L |  Croal St, Georgetown.


Click on the image to see it in the gallery along with other images in the Black and White Gallery

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Home

Where is your home?  Is it an apartment, a flat, a house, a condo, a boat, a trailer, a bench in the park?  For many, the word home simply means a dwelling place, for me, it is a place where I am comfortable.

My family is my home.

Guyana is my home.

At work, I’m at home.

Certainly, on the seawalls, I am at home.


Home  |  Canon EOS 60D  |  Sigma 10-20mm  |  January 2016


Click on the image to see it in the Gallery

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The house on the corner

Last year sometime, someone called me to tell me that there was an old house on Regent Street that was being put up for sale, and they were letting me know just in case I wanted some photos before the new owners took over (and who would more than likely tear it down); I wish more people would call me like this actually.

I went out one Sunday morning, and took a few photos, some just to record the building, others with a more studied eye to the scene, and as usual I was always on the look-out for one or two that I think stand out from the rest; this is one of those.


Canon EOS 60D, Sigma 10-20mm  |  Regent & Light Streets, Georgetown, Guyana | 2015


Click on the image to see it in the Gallery

The Bush

Shooting in a Rainforest can be fun, rewarding even, but there are some parts of Guyana that are not quite rainforest, where the variety of trees forms a tangle of verdant threads in a patchwork green tapestry, and it’s hard to take a photograph to show the scale or the beauty… this is where I like to think is the type of area most Guyanese generally call “the bush”; although to most of us coastland dwellers, the “bush is anywhere beyond the towns that have visible treelines blocking your view 🙂

This one was taken just past 58 Mile, Mabura area.  Even in this quick snap you can see a fair variety in the trees, of note is the scale of the vegetation to the vehicle disappearing up the road.


 

Canon EOS 6D, Canon EF 24-105 f/4L


Click on the image to see it in the Gallery.


How we do it

A street photograph – as much as I can get one 🙂

It really needs very few words, but what caught my attention was the way the police officer and her companion deliberately walked diagonally off the pedestrian crossing…

In Guyana… is just suh!


2014  |  Canon EOS 60D, Sigma 17-50mm


Click on the image to see it in the Gallery along with some other attempts at Street Photography 🙂


Cara Lodge

An outside view of the Hotel,

I had dropped by hoping for a nice “blue hour”, and took some exterior photos of the hotel.  Tripod in hand, bag on my back, I kept moving from position to position for more than an hour… I think the guard was getting suspicious even though he was aware of what I was doing 🙂

Got there maybe 5:30pm, took my first shot by 5:45pm… this one was just about 6:30pm


2013  |  Cara Lodge, Quamina Street, Georgetown, Guyana


2013 Deck – Week 46

On a midday walk with Nikhil, We had to pass a Hindu family on the Seawall who were conducting a ritual, supposedly to Mother Durga (Goddess Durga), because of the yellow Jhandi flag.

I didn’t want to intrude, so I took a photo from a distance (and subsequently cropped it for composition), I thought it was a scene that should be recorded (even if just for myself)

I’ve always seen the various Jhandi flags along the coast, but only recently decided to ask about the colour, specifically in this instance.  There is so much of the Hindu culture that is  unknown to most of us, and the significance of various rituals and items are lost on us.  I even tried searching the internet for Yellow Jhandi Flag, and got a Trinidadian website telling me that the yellow is for Lord Krishna, while a local hindu woman told me it was for Mother Durga and that it was customary to have it alongside a Red flag.

It’s not a great photo, but it is representative of part of our culture here in Guyana, and it is a period piece, with a modern mode of transportation in evidence 🙂  It is also a scene that I don’t see often enough.



Click on the image to see it in the Gallery.

2013 Deck – Week 23

Keeping a photo project going is not easy, I found that many times I “force” the images by going out looking for things to shoot… and often times I’m not entirely satisfied with the results.  Most of the images that I like are the ones that I just happen to see, being in the right place at the right time  🙂

I was on the pavement near the intersection of Regent Street and Avenue of the Republic when I noticed the reflection of City Hall in the flooded pavement and road near to me, I actually had my camera in hand and tried to compose a few shots between people walking by me, and vehicles splashing the waters occasionally.

Some people can go out and “make” the photos, others are just the instrument that is manoeuvred into the right place at the right moment to see and capture what is shown to them  🙂


Canon Rebel T1i  |  Sigma 17-50mm  |  17mm, f/8, ISO400


Click on the image to see it in the Gallery along with the other images in the 2013 Deck Project.


2013 Deck – Week 16

Having a full time job that isn’t photography related makes for a hard time finding things to photograph, or more precisely, things that interest me…

I’ve actually been doing some walking with Nikhil recently and as such I’ve been accumulating some “street” photographs.  While it’s not exactly what I like to shoot, every once in a while I find one that I think is worth sharing

With Georgetown being the centre of activity in Guyana, the streets do tend to get congested 🙂

2013 Deck – Week 11

I’m not a Street Photographer, but on a recent PhotoWalk with other members of the Guyana Photographers’ Facebook Group down Regent Street, that type of photography was the primary aim of the walk.

I got a few images that I like, but this one, while not tack sharp was my favourite, there was a loud exchange of words between a few women across the street, then I noticed one of them running down the pavement, quickly snapped a shot  🙂


Click on the image to see it in the Gallery along with the rest of the Deck Photos for this year  🙂