3 March 2008
Thaipusam 2008 - People and Faces at Batu Caves
Posted by kckong under: Around town/KL; Portrait photography; Events; People; street shoot.
Following on the theme of unposed portraits from my previous post, I’ll share some photos of people caught unawares at the annual Thaipusam festival at Batu Caves last month.
No you won’t find any gory or shocking photos here. Though I must admit that it was the gory and shocking photos that first piqued my interest in Thaipusam. But having seen it all in my past visits, I didn’t take those images this time.
For those who’ve never experienced Thaipusam at Batu Caves, the road leading from the river to the temple’s grounds is where you want to be if you want the gory stuff. Kavadi-bearing devotees and their entourage of priests, musicians, friends and family start their procession from the river end of Batu Caves.
To capture the gory images, you’ll do well just by walking up and down that road. Or you could just stay at your chosen spot and wait for the images to come to you. Yes, it’s that easy … the images will literally come to you as the processions make their way to the temple. Only thing is you’ll have to be a bit street-wise and work your way within the ever-present crowd.
I did that the last two times I was at Thaipusam. This year, I headed straight up the 272 steps to the caves and spent the better part of the morning up there. Here’s my faves:
As always, click on these thumbnails to view larger versions in a magical lightbox. Captions can be viewed by hovering over the thumbs.
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