Thaipusam 2007: Needles
I was undecided at first while creating this Thaipusam 2007 image of this man, his hands clapsed and with sharp needles piercing his chest and upper abdomen.
I was undecided because I was not sure whether to focus on his fingers, or on the needles. I know I could not get both sharp, as I was using my Nikkor 75-300 zoom lens, set at 300 mm.
Fortunately, he had remained relatively still (while his helpers were piercing needles into other parts of his body). That gave me time to take a series of shots, focusing alternatively on his fingers and the skewers. I even had time to move around and photograph him from the opposite side, with him facing left in the photograph rather than facing right.
My instinct told me to focus on the needles. But I had doubts because I felt this might produce too gruesome an image.
Back home, when I reviewed the images, I felt that my instinct was right.
Those images with the needles less sharp, er, I mean less sharply focused, were not as successful. But they are certainly less gruesome, as the focus of attention is on the hands rather than the needles. You might prefer this version:
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Like the Thaipusam 2007 picture of beads, these images, too, are somewhat chaotic and messy image, with the diagonal lines of the needles criss-crossing the space all over. The top picture, especially, is more jarring than the second image.
But again, I feel, is a successful composition that makes good use of the diagonal lines.
Incidentally, the man in the picture is Chinese, which is unusual since the majority of Hindus are Indians. But occasionally, there are some non-Indians and even non-Hindus who take part in the Thaipusam festival as a form of thanksgiving and sacrifice.
The participants at Thaipusam 2007 included one German journalist! Too bad I wasn't there to photograph him.