Today is World Photography Day. Aug 19, 2026. I wanted to showcase some of my recent photographs. I searched for websites where I could upload them and finally concluded that it had to be my own website!

There are some photographs which are very beautiful and there are other photographs which instantly evoke a feeling.

Roland Barthes used the word ‘punctum’ to describe what sets the latter apart from others. The photograph with a punctum may not be technically outstanding, but it touches our heart. It arouses a strong feeling that comes from deep inside.

It is one thing to understand this theory, and another to click photographs which carry ‘punctum.’

I am presenting here eight photographs. They convey feelings, I think so. Undoubtedly, you are the best judge. Here we go ….

I was in Ireland, the sun was setting and a young friend stood in the sand, alone and lost in his thoughts.

At the Mumbai airport you will always see people waiting anxiously for their friends and relatives. Never a word spoken. Long sighs. And suddenly the mood changes when someone arrives.

Young girls are at their cheerful best when they are in a shopping mall. Their mothers put them in a trolley to make sure that the little ones are not running beyond their sight. And little girls find this new vehicle interesting; they can’t hide their happiness.

Commuting without complaint is the hallmark of a Mumbaikar. The situation for them is bad. They are packed like sardines in the bus, they stand on the steps which is hazardous, but they have no time to complain. Mumbaikars are always on the move, driven by anxiety and stress.

I went to Solapur to meet Beedi workers and met them at their homes. Ladies roll one thousand beedis a day, and they earn about Rs four to five thousand a month. It is a woman’s job to roll beedies. Burdensome, hazardous and exploitative.

On a typical London day I was sipping my coffee, sitting in a café. A man with his back to me was lost in his thoughts. What was it about? Overall demeanour suggested loneliness which they say makes us vulnerable.

Someone had left flowers on the bench in Wimbledon commons. Why did they not carry the flowers away? Did she not come there to meet? Was that a sign of rejection? Did they have a quarrel?   

And finally, this pic – The musician was playing his saxophone when he noticed a little kid admiring him, having come out of his pram. One discovered music and the other discovered a musician! Stunning!!

Loneliness, boredom of waiting, sheer joy of shopping, anxiety and stress of city life, helplessness of poverty and exploitation, rejection and the pleasant surprise of finding appreciative audience in a young boy. Many moods and emotions, these photographs instantly convey us.

“What I want is that my picture should evoke nothing but emotion.” said Pablo Picasso.

All my candid photographs. Nobody posed for them. Nothing was planned. Yet somehow, they have captured emotions. What say you?

Vivek S Patwardhan

“What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others.” All matter copyrighted.

“तुम्ही जो वारसा मागे ठेवून जाता, तो म्हणजे दगडी स्मारकांवर कोरलेले शब्द नव्हे; तर तो वारसा म्हणजे इतरांनी आयुष्य विणताना विणले गेलेले तुमचे धागे होत.” सर्व मजकूर कॉपीराइट-संरक्षित आहे.