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River Stour, Blandford
First time out with the new camera and 'long' lens - the 300mm +1.4TC being the full frame equivalent of 840mm. Whilst the MFT (m4/3) sensor has the effect of doubling the focal length it also increases the depth of field at any given aperture, which is very useful for close up and macro photography, but does create problems when trying to photograph subjects against busy backgrounds like this and is clearly one of the few downsides of the system I need to get used to. Fortunately there are far more pros than cons, but I already know that it's going to take fair while to get used to the change.
Program:Aperture-priority AE
Lens:AF-S DX VR Zoom-Nikkor 18-105mm f/3.5-5.6G ED
F:19.0
Speed:1/20
ISO:100
Focal Length:24.0 mm (35 mm equivalent 36.0 mm)
Focus Mode:AF-S
AF Area:Single Area
Shooting Mode:IR Control
VR:Off
Metering Mode:Multi-segment
WB:Auto
Focus Distance:5.62 m
Dof:inf (1.20 m - inf)
HyperFocal:1.51 m
The Wiener Lokalbahn is the Vienna equivalent of the Chicagoland Shore. The electric interurban railway operates a 30 km line between the Vienna city center and the suburban town of Baden. The line is a combination of tram style running in both cities with dedicated right of way in between. The town of Guntramsdorf is the equivalent of Michigan City where the line has a short streetrunning segment through a residential street. Here one of the classic Series 100 wagons along with a newer series 400 passes through the Guntramsdorf streetrunning segment
Bosco Verticale, Torres verdes para Milán
Via Gaetano de Castillia 17-23 Milán
Arquitectos: Stefano Boeri, Boeri Studio (Boeri, Barreca, La Varra). 2009-14
Forma parte del proyecto “Porta Nuova” destinado a transformar un área industrial de 290.000 m2 en una zona residencial y de oficinas. Esta área incluye los barrios de Isola, Varesine y Garibaldi.
El proyecto de Varesine incluye la Torre Solaria de 150 m y la Torre Diamante de 140 m, ya finalizada. El proyecto de Isola incluye varios rascacielos residenciales de altura media como el Bosco Verticale, de 111 metros de altura.
Estos "rascacielos boscosos" son un ejemplo de simbiosis entre arquitectura y naturaleza. Los rascacielos residenciales verdes, se basan en diseños rectangulares y sencillos, de alturas variables con 18 o 24 plantas (78 metros y 121,5 metros). Cada uno de los 400 apartamentos, tiene acceso al menos a un balcón, lo que equivale a un jardín o un pequeño pedazo de bosque para sus residentes, ya que hay varios cientos de árboles que crecen sobre las fachadas, mezclados con miles de arbustos y plantas trepadoras.
En vez de ocupar el suelo urbano con viviendas unifamiliares, se ha buscado su equivalencia en un modelo en altura, trasladando también la superficie arbolada, consiguiendo de esta manera un rascacielos con 50.000 m2 destinados a apartamentos y 10.000 m2 para especies arbóreas, arbustos y plantas. Los árboles tendrán una altura máxima de 3, 6, y 9 metros, según el espacio libre que quede por encima de la jardinera de hormigón armado que hay en cada terraza.
Para el mantenimiento de este bosque vertical se ha ideado un sistema de riego que filtra y reutiliza las aguas residuales de la torre; también cuenta con instalaciones de energía eólica y solar. Todos estos árboles en fachada harán que disminuya bastante en verano la carga térmica del edificio debido a la radiación solar, aumentándola en invierno cuando estén sus ramas sin hojas. Todo el CO2 liberado durante su construcción (principalmente por el hormigón de su estructura) se verá compensado con su uso.
www.stefanoboeriarchitetti.net/en/portfolios/bosco-vertic...
blog.is-arquitectura.es/2011/10/20/bosco-verticales-torre...
www.plataformaarquitectura.cl/cl/02-128191/en-construccio...
Stefano Boeri, Boeri Studio www.stefanoboeriarchitetti.net/en/
Crows are the equivalent to seagulls on the coast where I live in England . I find them such feisty birds and really got to respect them during my time in Goa . They feature a lot in my photos . I like this action shot taken at Jardim, the place where I stayed .
My homage to Carl Andre’s Equivalent VIII and certainly not just some random blocks I spotted. Tate Britain I eagerly await your call.
Program:Aperture-priority AE
Lens:AF-S DX VR Zoom-Nikkor 18-105mm f/3.5-5.6G ED
F:5.6
Speed:1/350
ISO:100
Focal Length:105.0 mm (35 mm equivalent 157.0 mm)
Focus Mode:AF-A
AF Area:Dynamic Area
Shooting Mode:Single-Frame
VR:On
Metering Mode:Multi-segment
WB:Auto
Picture Control:Standard
Focus Distance:4.22 m
Dof:0.35 m (4.05 - 4.40)
HyperFocal:97.97 m
Against the sun disk. Maximal optical zoom (1200 mm in 35-mm equivalent), no tripod used. As usual :))
Captured by Canon SX50 HS in Tomsk (Western Siberia, Russia). May 2015.
Program:Manual
Lens:0mm f/0 MF
F:2.0
Speed:1/800
ISO:110
Focal Length:85.0 mm (35 mm equivalent 127.0 mm)
Focus Mode:Manual
Shooting Mode:Single-Frame, Auto ISO
VR:Off
EV:-2/3
Metering Mode:Spot
WB:Auto1
Focus Distance:0.01 m
Dof:-0.00 m (0.01 - 0.01)
HyperFocal:179.64 m
Program:Manual
Lens:12-28mm f/4 G
F:6.3
Speed:0.3
ISO:100
Focal Length:15.0 mm (35 mm equivalent 22.0 mm)
Focus Mode:AF-S
AF Area:Contrast-detect (wide area)
Shooting Mode:[3], IR Control
VR:Off
WB:Auto1
Focus Distance:3.98 m
Dof:inf (1.22 m - inf)
HyperFocal:1.74 m
shot with an olympus om-d e-m10 mark ii—720nm infrared converted—and an olympus 12mm f/2.0 wide angle lens
Program:Manual
Lens:18-105mm f/3.5-5.6 G VR
F:9.0
Speed:1/125
ISO:100
Focal Length:18.0 mm (35 mm equivalent 27.0 mm)
Focus Mode:AF-C
AF Area:Dynamic Area (3D-tracking)
Shooting Mode:Continuous
VR:On
WB:Auto1
Focus Distance:2.82 m
Dof:inf (1.10 m - inf)
HyperFocal:1.80 m
I posted the equivalent hotel window view a couple of days ago, so before it drifts too far back in my photostream, here's a pinhole (home made *) version I took yesterday. Six vertical frames stitched in Photoshop Elements 24 (Mac) with subsequent tweaks of levels, cropped and a bit of sky cloning.
* pin prick in a piece of aluminium drink can.
These jagged rocks, backlit and pounded by booming surf, caught my attention as I wandered the Beara Peninsula this weekend. It is a wild and magical place!
Taken with a 300 mm lens and 2x extender on a 1D3 which has a 1.3 crop sensor. So this was the equivalent of a 780mm lens! The light was so strong I was able to handhold the camera, bracing my elbow on the roof of my car. Who says landscapes all have to be wide-angle shots?
I could probably best relate to this as the equivalent of giving your little brother an unplugged video game remote and acting like he's the one who's good at the game.
Probably in an event to keep me more engaged in the US rail scene than I was at the time (looking back 2 months later makes me realise how none of this can be recreated back home), the R'bauers assigned me to choose somewhere for this coal train we were pretty sure was close by.
A quick geeze at Sun Seeker and Google Maps, trying to pinpoint where the late afternoon shadows won't have covered the BNSF Fallbridge Sub. Came to the conclusion that John Day Dam Road may be the best bet.
Up a hill and only a few minutes later, I could see the microscopic coal wagons at Towal moving. An excited shout to the R'bauers, and this bad boy rolls by a few minutes later.
Specifically, a coal train from Spring Creek mine in Montana to the Centralia Power Plant in Washington. From what Lewis' notes lead me to believe, this power station is scheduled for closure later in the year.
6117-9361-6038-6550(r) BNSF C SCMCEC 021 east of Maryhill 22-4-25
Program:Aperture-priority AE
Lens:24-70mm f/2.8 G VR
F:2.8
Speed:1/40
ISO:360
Focal Length:24.0 mm (35 mm equivalent 36.0 mm)
AF Fine Tune Adj:+11
Focus Mode:AF-C
AF Area:Dynamic Area (21 points)
Shooting Mode:Single-Frame, Auto ISO
VR:Off
EV:-1/3
Metering Mode:Spot
WB:Auto1
Picture Control:Standard
Focus Distance:0.40 m
Dof:0.03 m (0.38 - 0.41)
HyperFocal:10.27 m
Sirui 50mm f/1.8 Anamorphic 1.33X
2020 l 10 aperture blades | Sony E mount
On APS-C: the horizontal EFL* is 35mm and the vertical EFL is 50mm.
Paris | 2021
ARW to Jpeg via LightRoom ... Desqeezed with Photoshop
* EFL: equivalent focal length
The viaduct was opened in July 1841. The 11 million bricks needed for its construction travelled up the Ouse River (via Newhaven and Lewes) from the Netherlands. It cost £38,500 to build (equivalent to about £2½ million in 2000[5]).
The structure is a Grade II listed building and was restored in 1996 with grants from the Railway Heritage Trust and English Heritage. Matching stone was imported from France, to ensure a close match with the existing balustrades and pavilions.
The viaduct is still used, with around 110 trains per day passing over it on the Brighton Main Line.
Bogotá; 2600 meters above sea level.
La Candelaria is a historic neighborhood in the city's downtown, it is the equivalent to the Old City in other cities. The architecture of the old houses, churches and buildings has Spanish Colonial, Baroque and art deco styles. It houses several universities, libraries and museums.
The city was founded there on August 6, 1538 and the first church was built, this town encompasses the historic center of Bogotá, as well as an important tourist, educational and commercial center.
This could be considered as the Indian equivalent of the American Hummingbird. Like other Sunbirds, it feeds on small insects and builds characteristic hanging nests. The species is named after a colonial Dutch governor of Ceylon, Joan Gideon Loten. Only 12–13 cm long, its long bill helps distinguish it from the similar Purple Sunbird. Their long down-curved bills and brush-tipped tubular tongues, are adaptations to their nectar feeding. The bill lengths vary across populations with the longest bills found on the east of Peninsular India and in Sri Lanka. Clicked in the garden; cropped slightly but otherwise untouched. I made sure that the stem of the coconut tree in the background was perfectly aligned with the stem on which the bird had perched so as to create a nice lighter coloured backdrop to isolate the bird from the darker backdrop.
Top shot in Photography Bay Reader Photos Roundup for August 19, 2018.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hijra_(South_Asia)
Hijra (for translations, see [n 1]) is a term used in South Asia – particularly in India and Pakistan – to refer to trans women (male-to-female transgender individuals).[1][2] In different areas of Pakistan and India, transgender people are also known as Aravani, Aruvani or Jagappa.[3]
In Pakistan and Bangladesh, the hijras are officially recognized as third gender by the government,[4][5] being neither completely male nor female. In India also, transgender people have been given the status of third gender and are protected as per the law despite the social ostracism. The term more commonly advocated by social workers and transgender community members themselves is khwaja sira (Urdu: خواجہ سرا) and can identify the individual as a transsexual person, transgender person (khusras), cross-dresser (zenanas) or eunuch (narnbans).[6][7]
Hijras have a recorded history in the Indian subcontinent from antiquity onwards as suggested by the Kama Sutra period. This history features a number of well-known roles within subcontinental cultures, part gender-liminal, part spiritual and part survival.
In South Asia, many hijras live in well-defined and organised all-hijra communities, led by a guru.[8][9] These communities have sustained themselves over generations by "adopting" boys who are in abject poverty, rejected by, or flee, their family of origin.[10] Many work as sex workers for survival.[11]
The word "hijra" is an Urdu word derived from the Semitic Arabic root hjr in its sense of "leaving one's tribe,"[12] and has been borrowed into Hindi. The Indian usage has traditionally been translated into English as "eunuch" or "hermaphrodite," where "the irregularity of the male genitalia is central to the definition."[13] However, in general hijras are born with typically male physiology, only a few having been born with intersex variations.[14] Some Hijras undergo an initiation rite into the hijra community called nirwaan, which refers to the removal of the penis, scrotum and testicles.[11]
Since the late 20th century, some hijra activists and Western non-government organizations (NGOs) have lobbied for official recognition of the hijra as a kind of "third sex" or "third gender," as neither man nor woman.[15] Hijras have successfully gained this recognition in Bangladesh and are eligible for priority in education.[16] In India, the Supreme Court in April 2014 recognised hijra and transgender people as a 'third gender' in law.[17][18][19]
Nepal, Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh have all legally recognized the existence of a third gender, including on passports and other official documents.
Terminology
The Urdu and Hindi word hijra may alternately be romanized as hijira, hijda, hijada, hijara, hijrah and is pronounced [ˈɦɪdʒɽaː]. This term is generally considered derogatory in Urdu and the word Khwaja Sara is used instead. Another such term is khasuaa (खसुआ) or khusaraa (खुसरा). In Bengali hijra is called হিজড়া, hijra, hijla, hijre, hizra, or hizre.
A number of terms across the culturally and linguistically diverse Indian subcontinent represent similar sex or gender categories. While these are rough synonyms, they may be better understood as separate identities due to regional cultural differences. In Odia, a hijra is referred to as hinjida, hinjda or napunsaka, in Telugu, as napunsakudu (నపుంసకుడు), kojja (కొజ్జ) or maada (మాడ), in Tamil Nadu, Thiru nangai (mister woman), Ali, aravanni, aravani, or aruvani, in Punjabi, khusra and jankha, in Sindhi khadra, in Gujarati, pavaiyaa (પાવૈયા).
In North India, the goddess Bahuchara Mata is worshipped by Pavaiyaa (પાવૈયા). In South India, the goddess Renuka is believed to have the power to change one's sex. Male devotees in female clothing are known as Jogappa. They perform similar roles to hijra, such as dancing and singing at birth ceremonies and weddings.[21]
The word kothi (or koti) is common across India, similar to the Kathoey of Thailand, although kothis are often distinguished from hijras. Kothis are regarded as feminine men or boys who take a feminine role in sex with men, but do not live in the kind of intentional communities that hijras usually live in. Additionally, not all kothis have undergone initiation rites or the body modification steps to become a hijra.[22] Local equivalents include durani (Kolkata), menaka (Cochin),[23] meti (Nepal), and zenana (Pakistan).
Hijra used to be translated in English as "eunuch" or "hermaphrodite,"[13] although LGBT historians or human rights activists have sought to include them as being transgender.[24] In a series of meetings convened between October 2013 and Jan 2014 by the transgender experts committee of India's Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, hijra and other trans activists asked that the term "eunuch" be discontinued from usage in government documents, as it is not a term with which the communities identify.
Gender and sexuality
These identities have no exact match in the modern Western taxonomy of gender and sexual orientation,[24] and challenge Western ideas of sex and gender.[11]
In India, some Hijras do not define themselves by specific sexual orientation, but rather by renouncing sexuality altogether. Sexual energy is transformed into sacred powers. However, these notions can come in conflict with the practical, which is that hijras are often employed as prostitutes.[25] Furthermore, in India a feminine male who takes a "receptive" role in sex with a man will often identify as a kothi (or the local equivalent term). While kothis are usually distinguished from hijras as a separate gender identity, they often dress as women and act in a feminine manner in public spaces, even using feminine language to refer to themselves and each other. The usual partners of hijras and kothis are men who consider themselves heterosexual as they are the ones who penetrate.[26] These male partners are often married, and any relationships or sex with "kothis" or hijras are usually kept secret from the community at large. Some hijras may form relationships with men and even marry,[27] although their marriage is not usually recognized by law or religion. Hijras and kothis often have a name for these masculine sexual or romantic partners; for example, panthi in Bangladesh, giriya in Delhi or sridhar in Cochin.[23]
Social status and economic circumstances
Most hijras live at the margins of society with very low status; the very word "hijra" is sometimes used in a derogatory manner. The Indian lawyer and author Rajesh Talwar has written a book highlighting the human rights abuses suffered by the community titled 'The Third Sex and Human Rights.'[28] Few employment opportunities are available to hijras. Many get their income from extortion (forced payment by disrupting work/life using demonstrations and interference), performing at ceremonies (toli), begging (dheengna), or sex work ('raarha')—an occupation of eunuchs also recorded in premodern times. Violence against hijras, especially hijra sex workers, is often brutal, and occurs in public spaces, police stations, prisons, and their homes.[29] As with transgender people in most of the world, they face extreme discrimination in health, housing, education, employment, immigration, law, and any bureaucracy that is unable to place them into male or female gender categories.[30]
In 2008, HIV prevalence was 27.6% amongst hijra sex workers in Larkana.[6] The general prevalence of HIV among the adult Pakistani population is estimated at 0.1%.[31]
In October 2013, Pakistani Christians and Muslims (Shia and Sunni) put pressure on the landlords of Imamia Colony to evict any transgender residents. "Generally in Pakistan, Khwaja Sira are not under threat. But they are in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province because of a 'new Islam' under way", I.A. Rehman, the director of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan.[32]
In a study of Bangladeshi hijras, participants reported not being allowed to seek healthcare at the private chambers of doctors, and experiencing abuse if they go to government hospitals.[33]
Beginning in 2006, hijras were engaged to accompany Patna city revenue officials to collect unpaid taxes, receiving a 4-percent commission.[34]
Since India's Supreme Court re-criminalized homosexual sex on 13 December 2013, there has been a sharp increase in the physical, psychological and sexual violence against the transgender community by the Indian Police Service, nor are they investigating even when sexual assault against them is reported.[35]
On 15 April 2014, in National Legal Services Authority v. Union of India, the Supreme Court of India ruled that transgender people should be treated as a third category of gender or as a socially and economically "backward" class entitled to proportional access and representation in education and jobs.[36]
Language
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The hijra community due to its peculiar place in sub-continental society which entailed marginalisation yet royal privileges developed a secret language known as Hijra Farsi. The language has a sentence structure loosely based on Urdu and a unique vocabulary of at least a thousand words. Beyond the Urdu-Hindi speaking areas of subcontinent the vocabulary is still used by the hijra community within their own native languages.
In South Asian politics
In 2013, transgender people in Pakistan were given their first opportunity to stand for election.[37] Sanam Fakir, a 32-year-old hijra, ran as an independent candidate for Sukkur, Pakistan's general election in May.[38]
The governments of both India (1994)[39] and Pakistan (2009)[40] have recognized hijras as a "third sex", thus granting them the basic civil rights of every citizen. In India, hijras now have the option to identify as a eunuch ("E") on passports and on certain government documents. They are not, however, fully accommodated; in order to vote, for example, citizens must identify as either male or female. There is also further discrimination from the government. In the 2009 general election, India's election committee denied three hijras candidature unless they identified themselves as either male or female.
In April 2014, Justice KS Radhakrishnan declared transgender to be the third gender in Indian law, in a case brought by the National Legal Services Authority (Nalsa) against Union of India and others.[17][18][19] The ruling said:[41]
Seldom, our society realises or cares to realise the trauma, agony and pain which the members of Transgender community undergo, nor appreciates the innate feelings of the members of the Transgender community, especially of those whose mind and body disown their biological sex. Our society often ridicules and abuses the Transgender community and in public places like railway stations, bus stands, schools, workplaces, malls, theatres, hospitals, they are sidelined and treated as untouchables, forgetting the fact that the moral failure lies in the society's unwillingness to contain or embrace different gender identities and expressions, a mindset which we have to change.
Justice Radhakrishnan said that transgender people should be treated consistently with other minorities under the law, enabling them to access jobs, healthcare and education.[42] He framed the issue as one of human rights, saying that, "These TGs, even though insignificant in numbers, are still human beings and therefore they have every right to enjoy their human rights", concluding by declaring that:[41]
Hijras, Eunuchs, apart from binary gender, be treated as "third gender" for the purpose of safeguarding their rights under Part III of our Constitution and the laws made by the Parliament and the State Legislature.
Transgender persons' right to decide their self-identified gender is also upheld and the Centre and State Governments are directed to grant legal recognition of their gender identity such as male, female or as third gender.
A bill supported by all political parties was tabled in Indian parliament to ensure transgender people get benefits akin reserved communities like SC/STs and is taking steps to see that they get enrollment in schools and jobs in government besides protection from sexual harassment.[43]
History
The ancient Kama Sutra mentions the performance of fellatio by feminine people of a third sex (tritiya prakriti).[44] This passage has been variously interpreted as referring to men who desired other men, so-called eunuchs ("those disguised as males, and those that are disguised as females"[45]), male and female trans people ("the male takes on the appearance of a female and the female takes on the appearance of the male"),[46] or two kinds of biological males, one dressed as a woman, the other as a man.[47]
During the era of the British Raj, authorities attempted to eradicate hijras, whom they saw as "a breach of public decency."[48] Anti-hijra laws were repealed; but a law outlawing castration, a central part of the hijra community, was left intact, though rarely enforced. Also during British rule in India they were placed under the Criminal Tribes Act 1871 and labelled a "criminal tribe," hence subjected to compulsory registration, strict monitoring and stigmatized for a long time; after independence however they were denotified in 1952, though the centuries-old stigma continues.[49]
In religion
The Indian transgender hijras or Aravanis ritually marry the Hindu god Aravan and then mourn his ritual death (seen) in an 18-day festival in Koovagam, India.
Many practice a form of syncretism that draws on multiple religions; seeing themselves to be neither men nor women, hijras practice rituals for both men and women.
Hijras belong to a special caste. They are usually devotees of the mother goddess Bahuchara Mata, Lord Shiva, or both.
Hijras and Bahuchara Mata
Bahuchara Mata is a Hindu goddess with two unrelated stories both associated with transgender behavior. One story is that she appeared in the avatar of a princess who castrated her husband because he would run in the woods and act like a woman rather than have sex with her. Another story is that a man tried to rape her, so she cursed him with impotence. When the man begged her forgiveness to have the curse removed, she relented only after he agreed to run in the woods and act like a woman. The primary temple to this goddess is located in Gujarat[50] and it is a place of pilgrimage for hijras, who see Bahucahara Mata as a patroness.
Hijras and Lord Shiva
One of the forms of Lord Shiva is a merging with Parvati where together they are Ardhanari, a god that is half Shiva and Half Parvati. Ardhanari has special significance as a patron of hijras, who identify with the gender ambiguity.[50]
Hijras in the Ramayana
In some versions of the Ramayana,[51] when Rama leaves Ayodhya for his 14-year exile, a crowd of his subjects follow him into the forest because of their devotion to him. Soon Rama notices this, and gathers them to tell them not to mourn, and that all the "men and women" of his kingdom should return to their places in Ayodhya. Rama then leaves and has adventures for 14 years. When he returns to Ayodhya, he finds that the hijras, being neither men nor women, have not moved from the place where he gave his speech. Impressed with their devotion, Rama grants hijras the boon to confer blessings on people during auspicious inaugural occasions like childbirth and weddings. This boon is the origin of badhai in which hijras sing, dance, and give blessings.[
Hijras in the Mahabharata
Mahabharata includes an episode in which Arjun, a hero of the epic, is sent into an exile. There he assumes an identity of a eunuch-transvestite and performs rituals during weddings and childbirths that are now performed by hijras.[53]
In the Mahabharata, before the Kurukshetra War, Iravan offers his lifeblood to goddess Kali to ensure the victory of the Pandavas, and Kali agrees to grant him power. On the night before the battle, Iravan expresses a desire to get married before he dies. No woman was willing to marry a man doomed to die in a few hours, so Arjuna as Brihinala marries him. In South India, hijras claim Iravan as their progenitor and call themselves "aravanis."[52]
"Sangam literature use ' word 'Pedi' to refer to people born with Intersex condition, it also refers to antharlinga hijras and various Hijra, The Aravan cult in Koovagam village of Tamil Nadu is a folk tradition of the transwomen, where the members enact the legend during an annual three-day festival. "This is completely different from the sakibeki cult of West Bengal, where transwomen don't have to undergo sex change surgery or shave off their facial hair. They dress as women still retaining their masculine features and sing in praise of Lord Krishna,". "Whereas, since the Tamil society is more conservative and hetero-normative, transwomen completely change themselves as women. In the ancient times, even religion has its own way of accepting these fringe communities." The Bachura Devi worship in Gujarat and Jogappa cult of Karanataka are the other examples.the kinds of dialects and languages spoken by these community in different parts of the country and the socio-cultural impact on the lingo. 'Hijra Farsi' is the transgender dialect, a mix of Urdu, Hindi and Persian spoken in the northern belt of India, Pakistan and Afghanistan and 'Kothi Baashai' is spoken by the transgender community in Karnataka, Andhra, Orissa and parts of Tamil Nadu. "They even have sign languages and typical mannerisms to communicate. The peculiar clap is one such"
—Gopi Shankar Madurai, National Queer Conference 2013[54][55]
Each year in Tamil Nadu, during April and May, hijras celebrate an eighteen-day religious festival. The aravani temple is located in the village Koovagam in the Ulundurpet taluk in Villupuram district, and is devoted to the deity Koothandavar, who is identified with Aravan. During the festival, the aravanis reenact a story of the wedding of Lord Krishna and Lord Aravan, followed by Aravan's subsequent sacrifice. They then mourn Aravan's death through ritualistic dances and by breaking their bangles. An annual beauty pageant is also held, as well as various health and HIV or AIDS seminars. Hijras from all over the country travel to this festival. A personal experience of the hijras in this festival is shown in the BBC Three documentary India's Ladyboys and also in the National Geographic Channel television series Taboo.
Hijras in Islam
There is evidence that Indian hijras identifying as Muslim also incorporate aspects of Hinduism. Still, despite this syncretism, Reddy (2005) notes that a hijra does not practice Islam differently from other Muslims and argues that their syncretism does not make them any less Muslim. Reddy (2003) also documents an example of how this syncretism manifests: in Hyderabad, India a group of Muslim converts were circumcised, something seen as the quintessential marker of male Muslim identity.[clarification needed]
In films and literature
Bangladesh
The film Common Gender (2012) relates the story of the Bangladesh hijra and their struggle for survival.
India
Hijras have been portrayed on screen in Indian cinema since its inception, historically as comic relief. A notable turning point occurred in 1974 when real hijras appeared during a song-and-dance sequence in Kunwaara Baap ("The Unmarried Father"). There are also hijras in the Hindi movie Amar Akbar Anthony (1977) who accompany one of the heroes, Akbar (Rishi Kapoor), in a song entitled "Tayyab Ali Pyar Ka Dushman" ("Tayyab Ali, the Enemy of Love"). One of the first sympathetic hijra portrayals was in Mani Ratnam's Bombay (1995). 1997's Tamanna[56] starred male actor Paresh Rawal in a central role as "Tiku", a hijra who raises a young orphan. Pooja Bhatt produced and also starred in the movie, with her father Mahesh Bhatt co-writing and directing. Deepa Mehta's Water features the hijra character "Gulabi" (played by Raghubir Yadav), who has taken to introducing the downtrodden, outcast widows of Varanasi to prostitution. Not surprisingly, perhaps, the film generated much controversy. There is a brief appearance of hijras in the 2004 Gurinder Chadha film Bride & Prejudice, singing to a bride-to-be in the marketplace. There's also a loose reference, in the guise of "Rocky" ("Rokini") in Deepha Mehta's Bollywood/Hollywood.
The 1997 Hindi film Darmiyaan: In Between directed & co-written by Kalpana Lajmi is based on the subject of Hijra, wherein a fictitious story of an actress bearing a son that turns out to be neuter.
In the 2000 Tamil film Appu directed by Vasanth, a remake of the Hindi film Sadak, the antagonist is a brothel-owning hijra played by Prakash Raj. (In Sadak, the brothel-owning character was played by Sadashiv Amrapurkar under the name "Maharani".)
In 2005, a fiction feature film titled Shabnam Mausi was made on the life of a eunuch politician Shabnam Mausi. It was directed by Yogesh Bharadwaj and the title role played by Ashutosh Rana.
Jogwa, a 2009 Marathi film, depicts the story of a man forced to be hijra under certain circumstances. The movie has received several accolades.[57]
In Soorma Bhopali, Jagdeep encounters a troupe of hijra on his arrival in Bombay. The leader of this pack is also played by Jagdeep himself.
In Anil Kapoor's Nayak, Johnny Lever, who plays the role of the hero's assistant, gets beaten up by hijras, when he is caught calling them "hijra" (he is in habit of calling almost everyone who bothers him by this pejorative and no one cares much, except this once ironically, as the addressees are literally what he is calling them.)
One of the main characters in Khushwant Singh's novel Delhi, Bhagmati is a hijra. She makes a living as a semi-prostitute and is wanted in the diplomatic circles of the city.
Vijay TV's Ippadikku Rose, a Tamil show conducted by postgraduate educated transgender woman Rose is a very successfully running program that discusses various issues faced by youth in Tamil Nadu, where she also gives her own experiences.
In addition to numerous other themes, the 2008 movie Welcome to Sajjanpur by Shyam Benegal explores the role of hijras in Indian society.
In the Malayalam movie Ardhanaari, released on 23 November 2012, director Santhosh Sowparnika tries to depict the life of a transgender person. Manoj K Jayan, Thilakan, Sukumari and Maniyanpilla Raju perform leading roles.
In August, 2015, a music video featuring 7 hijras dressed in outfits or uniforms of various professions and singing the National Anthem of India created by a YouTube channel Yathartha Pictures went viral for being the first National Anthem video sung by hijras in India.[58][59] The hijras featured in the video were brought together by the Humsafar Trust, a Mumbai-based NGO which promotes LGBT rights.[60][61]
Tamil
Vaadamalli by novelist Su.Samuthiram is the first Tamil novel about Aravaani community in Tamil Nadu, published in 1994. Later transgender activist A. Revathi became first Hijra to write about transgender issues and gender politics in Tamil, her works have been translated in more than 8 languages and acting as a primary resources on Gender Studies in Asia. Her book is part of research project for more than 100 universities. She is the author of Unarvum Uruvamum (Feelings of the Entire Body); is the first of its kind in English from a member of the hijra community.[62][63][64] She also acted,directed several stage plays on Gender and Sexuality issues in Tamil and Kannada."The Truth about Me: A Hijra Life Story" by Transgender A.Revathi[65] is part of the syllabus for Final Year students of The American College in Madurai. Later Naan Saravanan Alla" (2007) and Vidya's "I am Vidya" (2008) became first transwoman autobiography.[66][67]
Pakistan
The 1992 film Immaculate Conception[68] by Jamil Dehlavi is based upon the culture-clash between a western Jewish couple seeking fertility at a Karachi shrine known to be blessed by a Sufi fakir called 'Gulab Shah' and the group of Pakistani eunuchs who guard it.
Murad (which means desire; the English title was Eunuch's Motherhood), was an award winning biographical Telefilm drama made by Evergreen Media Europe for Pakistan's television channel Indus TV that aired in 2003. The cast had the country's top male television actors playing "hijras": Sohail Asghar, Nabeel, Qazi Wajid, Kamran Jilani. It was directed by Kamran Qureshi, written by Zafar Mairaj and produced by Iram Qureshi. It won both Best TeleFilm and Best Director awards at 2003 Indus Telefilm Festival.[69][70] The story revolves around "Saima", a trans woman, who adopts a helpless child "Murad" and her relationship with him against the backdrop of her struggling throughout her life and her "desire" for her son. She has sent him away to live at a hostel so she can earn a living as a dancer, after her son gets cross with her, due to teasing (verbal and sexual) they face while dancing. This was the first time that influential male actors came out to support "hijra" rights during interviews; noting that in Pakistani English at that time eunuch was the term to describe a transgender person, and "khwaja sara" (also khwaja sira) had not yet replaced what is now considered a derogatory term due to decades of heckling and name calling, "hijra".[71][72]
In 2004, Kamran Qureshi directed a trans drama, Moorat ("effigy," however, the English title was Eunuch's Wedding. It was produced by famous actor and producer Humayun Saeed and Abdullah Kadwani with more than a dozen star-studded cast members for a 33-episode series.[73][74] It was nominated for Best Drama Serial, Abid Ali for Best Actor, and Maria Wasti for Best Actress at the Lux Style Awards 2005.[69][75] The show was credited for making people understand the pain and abuse that khwaja sara (hijra) constantly endure when people make fun of the way they look or dress without knowing them or how they were naturally born this way. The story involves a young lady who is arranged to marry. It turns out her husband is transgender. The story unfolds trans community and their deprived and isolated world. It portrays eloquently how they, too, are not far away from the human emotions and feelings and their world not much different from the heterosexual community. Even though they are in plain sight, they are tthey are taboo subjects and are not taken seriously. This makes them suffer endlessly in silence wrapped in slurs. The 33-episode series therefore touches on transgender abuse, women abuse, poverty, immorality of arranged marriages, and child abuse.[76]
Bol (Urdu: بول meaning Speak), is a 2011 Urdu-language social drama Pakistani film. It concerns a patriarch, Hakim, who is a misogynist, a domestic abuser, a bigot, and a zealot who forces religion on his family. They face financial difficulties due to Hakim wanting a son. He rejects his transgender daughter, Saifi, as he wanted an heir and she identifies as a girl. Saifi is deeply loved by the rest of her family. As she grows up, men want to take advantage of her and she does not understand at first. However, her oldest sister intervenes and teaches Saifi about what kind of touching is inappropriate. As Saifi grows older, she is not allowed to leave the house. She finds her sister's dresses compelling and tries them on, revealing her gender identity. A neighbour played by famous South Asian singer Atif Aslam, who is in love with one of the sisters, gets Saifi a job at a place where they paint trucks, with the blessing of Saifi's sisters and mother. Saifi dresses like a boy; however, other boys sense her lack of self-esteem and eventually gang-rape her. She is saved when another transgender person, played by Almas Bobby (a transgender actor), finds her and takes her home. Hakim overhears Saifi telling her mother and Zainab what happened. When everybody is asleep, Hakim locks the room and suffocates his child for luring the men for the "shame" he would have to bear if the story got out.[77] It received several positive reviews from critics and went on to win the Best Hindi film award in IRDS Film awards 2011 by Institute for Research and Documentation in Social Sciences (IRDS).[78]
Outside South Asia
The novel Bombay Ice by Leslie Forbes features an important subplot involving the main character's investigation of the deaths of several hijra sex-workers.
The novel City of Djinns by William Dalrymple also features a chapter on hijras.
The novel A Son of the Circus by John Irving features a plot-line involving hijras.
In the graphic novel Habibi by Craig Thompson, the protagonist, Zam, is adopted by a group of hijras.
In the 2009 Brazilian soap opera Caminho das Índias (Portuguese: "The way to India"), hijras are shown in some occasions, especially at weddings and other ceremonies where they are paid for their blessing.
In the TV comedy Outsourced (2011), a hijra is hired by Charlie as a stripper for Rajiv's "bachelor party", much to Rajiv's utter horror.
A short film, under the direction of Jim Roberts, is being made by Rock Star Productions in which the protagonist is portrayed as a hijra. This film is set to be released on 1 May.[year needed][citation needed]
Kamran Ahmed Mirza is a popular gender performance artist in Oregon, United States.
Documentaries
Jareena, Portrait of a Hijda (1990)
Ladyboys (1992)
Bombay Eunuch (2001)
The Hijras: India's Third Gender (2001)
India's Ladyboys (2003)
Between the Lines: India's Third Gender (2005)
Middle Sexes (HBO documentary includes segment on modern Hijda) (2005)
Shabnam Mausi (2005)
The Hijras of India (BBC radio documentary)
Kiss the Moon (2009)
Call me Salma (2009)
Mohammed to Maya also titled Rites of Passage (2012)
This tree........this damn tree......the equivalent of an ear worm for me. I cant stop revisiting it to try to capture it at its best.
I had already had one failed sunrise session with it and knew I could do better with the proper conditions. Well, this particular morning the conditions were better, with a cracking sunrise going off to the right and these clouds behind getting lit up with the first blush.
The pastel tones in the clouds does it for me, subtle layers of light and colour adding depth to this shot.
Really happy with this one.....will I continue to go back to. the tree though? Yep lol
Program:Manual
Lens:0mm f/0 MF
F:2.0
Speed:1/4
ISO:100
Focal Length:85.0 mm (35 mm equivalent 127.0 mm)
Focus Mode:Manual
Shooting Mode:IR Control
VR:Off
EV:-2/3
Metering Mode:Spot
WB:Auto1
Strobist: AB1600 with gridded 60 X30 softbox camera right. Reflector camera left. Triggered by Cybersync.
Focale équivalente à 166 mm, la distance à vol d'oiseau entre Chamechaude et le Mont-Blanc est supérieure à 100 km!
La Mussara, Tarragona (Spain).
EnFoCa: 2ª KDD - "Los Castillejos" i La Mussara [22/03/2009].
ENGLISH
La Mussara is a town in Tarragona that has been left about 50 years ago. It is on the edge of a cornice of the Muntanyes de Prades, at 990m. height, and thence there are spectacular views of all Tarragona.
It appears mentioned in documents in 1173 where it states that the town already was inhabited. The church of La Mussara appears mentioned in a bull of Celestine III in 1194. The temple maintained the category of parish until in 1534 it passed to depend on the one on Vilaplana. Nowadays about the church of San Salvador, built on the previous one of gothic style, it only left the four walls and the bell tower of 1859. As peculiar things of this town, it was named ranas to its inhabitants because when it rained a little, it formed a great pool in the only street of the town. Also from here it comes the Catalan saying “baixar de La Mussara” (to lower of La Mussara), equivalent to the Castilian “bajar de la higuera” or “bajar de la parra”.
The Mussara gave up exist officially in January 1960, and nobody knows so that of its depopulation. It is attributed mainly to the phylloxera plague, but that is not a zone in which the culture of the grapevine is important, reason why almost surely that the abandonment could have to the water shortage... or simply that the population was scattered and there they lacked the more basic things like a doctor, a rector, electricity or telephone. All this halo of mystery in the disappearance of the town and the place in which it has given cause to a series of histories and legend that borders the fantasy and the superstition, cataloguing La Mussara like a “damn town”.
Inside the church and in the cemetery black masses are celebrated. Proof of it is the esoteric symbols that sometimes appear painted in the walls. In many corners of the town also they are deposited branches of flowers. There is one who has heard helmets of horses in the neighborhood of the church, or even chimes of the same church (that does not have bell). There is people who say to feel a species of call that it impels to him to go to La Mussara. A friend mine, who is neighboring of the zone, commented me that some years ago a man raised in his car, stopped minutes next to the pool, and soon he went at full speed to the precipice of the viewpoint.
Some hikers who have themselves bold to spend the night there have seen luminous shades, or figures moving between the houses and losing themselves behind the trees. Even there are witnesses of UFO sightings. But in which they agree more most of phenomena it is in the cold fog that appears suddenly and that it disorients people immersed in her, in such a way that what for them can seem minutes, soon they discover in its clocks that have spent hours. The electrical apparatuses also are altered.
From remote times to well entered 20th century, that zone has been land of witches. It counts the legend that during the carlists wars soldiers went to the cemetery of La Mussara to unearth a carlist general called Cercós (really Isidre Pàmies i Borràs, named general for a reason or purpose posthumous by Carlos VII) to shoot it (or to hang it, according to other sources), although already was dead. The fog confused to them and unearthed and shot the body of a old witch (l'àvia Boronada). This caused that the fog thickened still more to his around and that the soldiers fled terrified when occurring account of the error. One tells that this unleashed a curse on them.
Another legend talks about a rock near, which who steps on it or it jumps it passes to a parallel dimension, “Vila del Sis” (Town of the Six). It is know the case of a pair of “boletaires” (pickers of mushrooms) that went by the zone looking for mushrooms in October 1991. They were speaking one with another one calmly, watching the ground, when one of them, Enrique Martinez Ortiz, it let respond, and until now it has not been known nothing else about him. He was neighboring of the place and he perfectly knew the land, reason why doubt that was had lost. Searches by the zone were organized during days, with the participation of soldiers of a close barracks, with unfruitful result.
It is all truth or lie, which is clear is that La Mussara is a place surrounded by natural beauty by its landscape, and of mystery by its undocumented history.
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CASTELLANO
La Mussara es un pueblo de Tarragona que lleva unos 50 años abandonado. Está al borde de una cornisa de las Muntanyes de Prades, a unos 990m. de altura, y desde allí hay unas vistas espectaculares de toda Tarragona.
Aparece citado en documentos de 1173 donde consta que el pueblo estaba ya habitado. La iglesia de La Mussara aparece citada en un bula de Celestino III de 1194. El templo mantuvo la categoría de parroquia hasta que en 1534 pasó a depender de la de Vilaplana. Hoy en día de la iglesia de San Salvador, construída sobre la anterior de estilo gótico, sólo quedan las cuatro paredes y el campanario de 1859. Como cosas curiosa de este pueblo, a sus habitantes se les llamaba ranas porque cuando llovía un poco se formaba una gran charca en la única calle del pueblo. También de aquí proviene el dicho catalán "baixar de la Mussara" (bajar de la Mussara), equivalente al castellano "bajar de la higuera" o "bajar de la parra".
La Mussara dejó de existir oficialmente en enero de 1960, y nadie sabe el por qué de su despoblación. Se atribuye principalmente a la plaga de filoxera, pero aquella no es una zona en que el cultivo de la vid sea importante, por lo que casi seguro que el abandono se pudo deber a la escasez de agua... o simplemente que la población ya estaba muy diseminada y allí faltaban las cosas más básicas, como médico, rector, electricidad o teléfono. Todo este halo de misterio en la desaparición del pueblo y el lugar en que se encuentra han dado pie una serie de historias y leyendas que rozan la fantasía y la superstición, catalogando La Mussara como "pueblo maldito".
En el interior de la iglesia y en el cementerio se celebran misas negras. Prueba de ello son los símbolos esotéricos que a veces aparecen pintados por las paredes. En muchos rincones del pueblo también se encuentran depositados ramos de flores. Hay quien ha oído cascos de caballos en los alrededores de la iglesia, o incluso campanadas de la misma iglesia (que no tiene campana). Hay gente que dice sentir una especie de llamada que le impulsa a ir a La Mussara. Un amigo mío, que es vecino de la zona, me comentó que no hace muchos años un hombre subió en su coche, se detuvo unos minutos al lado de la charca, y luego se dirigió a toda velocidad al barranco del mirador.
Algunos excursionistas que se han atrevido a pasar la noche allí han visto sombras, o figuras luminosas moviéndose entre las casas y perdiéndose tras los árboles. Incluso hay testigos de avistamientos OVNI. Pero en lo que más coinciden la mayoría de fenómenos es en la fría niebla que aparece de repente y que desorienta a los que se ven inmersos en ella, de tal modo que lo que para ellos pueden parecer minutos, luego descubren en sus relojes que han pasado horas. Los aparatos eléctricos también se ven alterados.
Desde tiempos remotos hasta bien entrado el siglo XX, aquella zona ha sido tierra de brujas. Cuenta la leyenda que durante las guerras carlistas unos soldados fueron al cementerio de La Mussara a desenterrar a un general carlista llamado Cercós (realmente Isidre Pàmies i Borràs nombrado general a título póstumo por Carlos VII) para fusilarlo (o colgarlo, según otras fuentes), aunque ya estuviera muerto. La niebla les confundió y desenterraron y fusilaron el cuerpo de una anciana bruja (l'àvia Boronada). Esto provocó que la niebla se espesara aún más a su alrededor y que los soldados huyeran despavoridos al darse cuenta del error. Se cuenta que esto desató una maldición sobre ellos.
Otra leyenda habla de una roca cercana, que quien la pisa o la salta pasa a una dimensión paralela, a la "Vila del Sis" (Villa del Seis). Se conoce el caso de una pareja de "boletaires" (recolectores de setas) que iban por la zona buscando setas en octubre de 1991. Iban hablando uno con otro tranquilamente, mirando al suelo, cuando uno de ellos, Enrique Martínez Ortiz, dejó de responder, y hasta ahora no se ha sabido nada más de él. Era vecino del lugar y se conocía perfectamente el terreno, por lo que se duda que se hubiera perdido. Se organizaron batidas por la zona durante días, con la participación de soldados de un cuartel próximo, con resultado infructuoso.
Sea todo ello verdad o mentira, lo que está claro es que La Mussara es un lugar rodeado de belleza natural por su paisaje, y de misterio por su historia indocumentada.
Más info: ca.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Mussara, www.franrecio.com/investigaciones/la_mussara_pueblo_maldi...
Strobist: AB1600 with gridded 60 X30 softbox camera right. Reflector camera left. Triggered by Cybersync.
Program:Manual
Lens:24-70mm f/2.8 G VR
F:10.0
Speed:13
ISO:100
Focal Length:24.0 mm (35 mm equivalent 36.0 mm)
Focus Mode:AF-S
AF Area:Contrast-detect (normal area)
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Focus Distance:11.89 m
Dof:inf (2.32 m - inf)
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AF Fine Tune:+18
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Got a blue magic water,
I've got a blue magic water....
Program:Manual
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ISO:800
Focal Length:12.0 mm (35 mm equivalent 18.0 mm)
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Dof:inf (1.06 m - inf)
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Program:Manual
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Dof:inf (3.03 m - inf)
HyperFocal:4.05 m
AF Fine Tune:+11
A very rough experiment to see if my Flickr followers like the 50mm equivalent perspective better or the 35mm equivalent.
Program:Manual
Lens:70-300mm f/4-5.6 G VR
F:8.0
Speed:1/1000
ISO:100
Focal Length:86.0 mm (35 mm equivalent 129.0 mm)
Focus Mode:AF-C
AF Area:Dynamic Area (3D-tracking)
Shooting Mode:Single-Frame
VR:On
WB:Auto1
Picture Control:Standard
Focus Distance:28.18 m
Dof:54.52 m (17.52 - 72.04)
HyperFocal:46.15 m
n 1888 Queen Victoria granted Belfast the status of the city and it was agreed that a grand and magnificent building was required to reflect this new status. City Hall opened its doors on the first of August 1906, at a time of unprecedented prosperity and industrial might for the city.
The new City Hall was designed by Alfred Brumwell Thomas in the Baroque Revival style and constructed in Portland stone. The incredible building cost £369,000 to complete, the equivalent around 128 million pounds today but remains an extraordinary beacon of success and civic pride for Belfast.
City Hall has many connections with the famous ocean liner Titanic. Viscount William Pirrie who was Lord Mayor in 1896-1897 just before City Hall’s construction, was also managing director of Harland & Wolff Shipyard. He is the man credited as having the idea for both ambitious builds. He used many of his skilled workmen in the fit-out of City Hall which is why the interiors today are considered an incredible insight into the finish of Titanic’s lounges and suites, the ship’s carving panelling being very similar.
Program:Manual
Lens:12-28mm f/4 G
F:11.0
Speed:10
ISO:100
Focal Length:12.0 mm (35 mm equivalent 18.0 mm)
Focus Mode:AF-S
AF Area:Single Area
Shooting Mode:IR Control
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Focus Distance:3.98 m
Dof:inf (0.56 m - inf)
HyperFocal:0.65 m
Program:Manual
Lens:24-70mm f/2.8 G VR
F:16.0
Speed:13
ISO:100
Focal Length:36.0 mm (35 mm equivalent 54.0 mm)
Focus Mode:AF-S
AF Area:Contrast-detect (normal area)
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Focus Distance:17.78 m
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About three months ago, my sister discovered this beautiful 1955 Dodge Jobline pick-up truck in a local Charleston newspaper. Knowing how much I'd always dreamed of owning a 1950's red pick-up, she rang to tell me about the listing and I located it online. We talked about how beautiful it was and of all the things we'd love to do with the truck, but the price was simply too high and over time, we soon forgot about her.
Then, about two weeks ago, our Granny passed away and I found myself back in S.C. for her burial. One day shortly after, with emotions still at an all-time high, my sister and I decided we would go kayaking where our Granny and Grandpa were born and raised. It would've been a great trip, except none of the weather forecasters had predicted the severe thunderstorms that ensued and we quickly found ourselves in need of alternative plans. What better to do than shop, right?
With our trip canceled, we found ourselves riding around Mt. Pleasant with a ridiculously large two-person kayak on our roof and "nothing" to do. I mentioned thinking it would be nice to go back and check out this 1960's “Endless Summer” type canary yellow station wagon we’d passed the day before, so we headed to the garage where it was parked. After perusing a wide array of vintage vehicles, we made out way to the garage and struck up a conversation with the mechanics. We inquired about some of the vintage vehicles and mentioned we’d found a red 1950’s red pick-up a few months back and asked if they’d ever seen one. They mentioned knowing of both a black and a white 1950's truck, but no red one. As the conversation neared the ½ hour mark, one of the mechanics remembered he’d seen a red 1950’s pick-up parked at a law firm not far from the shop. As soon as he said this I thought (and my sister claims I said out loud), “That’s it!”.
After getting a few other places / people’s names who might know where to find a 1950’s pick-up, we took our chances and headed to see the truck the mechanic had mentioned seeing "a while back". We had nothing to lose by looking. As soon as we saw the vehicle and drove around the back-end, I knew it was the same one my sister had found three months prior. On the driver’s door window hung a sign advertising a slashed price and a phone number. After taking some photos and checking out the vehicle, my sister rang the listed number. We’d both just assumed the truck belonged to a man, so when a woman answered, she was surprised. After speaking for a few minutes, it became clear the voice at the other end was not going to “hand the phone over” (to a man). So, my sister asked, "Are you the owner?", to which the woman replied, "Yes!".
Needless to say, I think we were all a little surprised. The owner - Christine - explained she'd moved to Charleston from NYC to get into the bakery business and had bought the truck to "pick up men" – yes, that’s why she’d gotten it. At this juncture, my sister looked like she'd seen a ghost. There were several reasons for this "ook". One being, she’d been born in NY and two, her sister (that'd be me) currently lives there. Thirdly, she'd been trying to figure out how to transition out of a career in radio and was thinking of starting a baking business! I'm not kidding. When she asked Christine if owning the truck had indeed helped her meet any men, she said it hadn't, but that the truck had been rented quite a few times for photo shoots and commercials. Gears in our heads quickly began turning. And Christine was so happy that women were calling about the truck because she specifically wanted to sell the truck to a female. She told us to go into the offices and get the keys to go for a spin.
She’d also mentioned the mechanic who’d worked on the truck was close by and told us where to find his garage. After going in and speaking with a lovely woman who had some problem locating the keys, we went back outside to wait. After a few minutes, the keys arrived and the girl mentioned if we could wait, that the mechanic who’d worked on the vehicle would be coming by to pick both she and her Mum in a few minutes. Huh? Why?!? Because the mechanic was her father! When we heard this, it was like a bolt of lightening had struck. How was it possible the mechanic we’d just been told about and whom we were going to go visit would be coming to us? Things were just getting too weird, so, of course, we waited. It seemed kizmit was taking over at this juncture.
It had been a while since I’d driven a standard, though it’s been my main transmission for the majority of my driving years, so I wasn’t too worried. And, my sister had learned how to drive a standard shift on a tractor on someone’s farm, so between the two of us, we thought we’d be okay. Not long after, the mechanic arrived. If seemed the truck hadn’t been started in a while, so he had to jump-start her and we all piled in. He took us to a nearby car park and we drove around back to an empty area. My sister decided to go first and we all had a really good laugh. Next, it was my turn and after the mechanic properly explained the H-gear pattern, I did an so-so job with the ½ ton, no power steering, no power breaks slant V6 badass – though this isn’t to say it wasn’t nerve-racking as hell! Not only was she extremely difficult to maneuver, but somehow driving her made one’s hands completely black and at some point, we’d all touched our faces and had black marks all over ourselves and our clothing. We looked like Al Jolsen in his black-face – except, in reverse!
After returning to the law firm, we said we’d be back in a few days. We spent a day trying to figure out how we could make getting this truck happen and returned to take (what we’d already named) “Big Red” to a few mechanics shops and restoration experts the following day. Before getting out on crowded main roads, we decided to get some more practice driving the truck and so, after some quick cleaning of the windows and interior, we headed back to that nearby car park.
It’s a good thing my sister had learned to drive on a tractor, because on this particular 97degree afternoon, “Big Red” was akin to driving around in a 1/2 ton tractor. Driving Red was roughly the equivalent to taking part in a triathlon in 105 degree temperatures. Because she’s so hard to drive, on one occasion, I had to grab the giant wheel and help my sister make a turn! Yes, it took two of us and we’re both over 5”10, with plenty of muscle. Oh how I was beginning to appreciate power steering!
Jerking in-and-out-of all three gears, my sister finally stalled Big Red for a second time - sending us to a halting stop. Sweating and dirty, she screamed out in frustration, “Oh my God, I can't do this! We’re crazy! This is never going to work!”. Searching for the inspirational words an older sibling is supposed to have at the ready, I turned my head and spotted this white big rig parked just beside us and nearly fainted. For, it was a Cardinal line truck with no more than two cardinal emblems – one on the cab and one on the trailer - emblazoned upon it.
You see, our Grandfather, who had died when we were very small was a country boy (related to Swamp Fox - yeah!) and his favorite bird was the cardinal. We know anytime one crosses our paths, to pay close attention. Gasping, I directed her attention right toward the “cardinal spotting” and we both nearly lost it. Tears welled up in both our eyes. My sister then took a deep breath and said, “Did you see the pair of cardinals fly past us as we drove back here?”. I hadn't and said so, but quickly grabbed my camera to capture the rig carrying the cardinal message from our Gran.
While neither said so, in that moment, I think we both knew we'd buy the 1955 Dodge- even before we took her to get checked out. Can't go against the elders, right? We offered nearly half the original price and Christine accepted. So, if for any reason, you’re in need of a classic 1955 Dodge pick up truck in fire engine red, you know who to contact!
Photographer: A. Golden, eyewash design - Charleston, S.C., July, 2008
Program:Manual
Lens:24-70mm f/2.8 G VR
F:3.2
Speed:1/250
ISO:3200
Focal Length:70.0 mm (35 mm equivalent 105.0 mm)
AF Fine Tune Adj:+11
Focus Mode:AF-C
AF Area:Dynamic Area (3D-tracking)
Shooting Mode:Single-Frame, [3], Auto ISO
VR:On
EV:-2/3
Metering Mode:Multi-segment
WB:Auto1
Picture Control:Standard
Focus Distance:1.41 m
Dof:0.05 m (1.39 - 1.44)
HyperFocal:76.44 m
shot with an olympus om-d e-m10 mark ii—720nm infrared converted—and an olympus 12mm f/2.0 wide angle lens
294 705 lifts a string of sliding-wall cars (essentially the equivalent to boxcars in America, just with a different opening mechanism) from Graeff Spedition along the Rhine River waterfront in Mannheim, Germany's Handelshafen. More than half a dozen of these large warehouses line the riverfront here, and three customers have kept the rails alive to serve some of them over the last few years with Graeff being the vast majority of the business. Graeff has been the main customer receiving the older two-axle sliding-wall cars at a warehouse beyond the bridge in the background generally a few times a week, but within the last year has added traffic in the larger four-axle cars which get spotted on the road-shared spur at the building pictured here. Schrott Wetzel occasionally loads out scrap beyond the bridge as well and Wetlog occasionally receives a car at the building right behind this one - as they did this day.
Here the crew can be seen returning from the Graeff warehouse beyond the bridge with four empty two-axle cars and four four-axle cars lifted from the building pictured. Interestingly, two of the two-axle empties were spotted at the Wetlog warehouse, which can be seen in the background, for loading immediately after having been pulled from the main customer Graeff. The crew will pull all the way out of the spur and shove loads for Graeff beyond the bridge down the front track, and re-spot four four-axle cars at the pictured location as well - having to switch tracks a few times to work around the two empties spotted at Wetlog in the background.
It's great to see more business come to an increasingly unique operation; however, with the increased traffic the small segment of cobblestone (not pictured here) that was still present in a portion of the road-shared spur was unfortunately removed during some track improvements. Mannheim Handelshafen, Germany
Edit: Apparently the four axle cars were for Wetlog and loaded with sugar, but the service was only temporary for about a month.