About Chennai and Madras

Hi Chennai lovers,

Madras (yes, it is still Madras for me) is the city I love. Though born in Kerala, I spent my childhood in Madras before moving to IIM Ahmedabad in 1969 and later pursuing my career in Bombay and Africa. I returned to Madras in 1985 and has been here since, except for an 8-year stint in Trivandrum. Though I am from this city, being an amateur photographer and a management professional makes me a curious observer of this city.

As a log of such observations, I have put together this photoblog on Madras, with some random photographs and brief text or captions. Mostly, street photography (photographie de rue, strassenfotographie).

The images may not be technically perfect (some are taken with my cellphone), but I think these reflect aspects of life around us here in this city which we sometimes take for granted.

While taking photographs and sharing I keep in mind Henry Thoreau’s quote: ” The question is not what you look at, but what you see”.

Please have a look: https://madrasnallamadrasblog.wordpress.com/

and give your suggestions.

As a Madrasophile, I recently read ‘Tamarind City – where modern India began’ by Bishwanath Ghosh. He has cleverly covered the modernity and tradition of Madras with a lot of love and sensitivity. Mylapore, George Town, and Triplicane appear prominently in his book. This blog contains a handful of images from these and other areas.

The other book on Chennai which I read recently was ‘Madras, Chennai and the Self – A conversation with the City’ by Tulsi Badrinath. She has also covered the city, its people and the paradoxes with affection and appreciation.

24th Dec 2016. Though I have been blogging continuously every day from January 2016, I realized from the archives that my first blog on this site was on 25th December 2009. That means this blog is 9 years old already. Awesome feeling.

Please also visit and follow my other blogs:

Layman’s views on the stories behind Hindu monuments and Sculptures: stonestoriessite.wordpress.com

Visual Ramblings: shutterbugiyer.wordpress.com

Facebook: Harihara Subramanian

Twitter: harisub

Thanks and regards

Harihara Subramanian V

(Shutterbug Iyer)

“To me, every hour of light and dark in Madras is a miracle. Every cubic inch of space in Madras is a miracle.”

Apologies to American poet Walt Whitman

” Every street scene has a story in it and it is the task of the photographer to discover it”. –apologies to Michaelangelo.

The World is my Studio

Faces of Chennai