https://www.kastooribarua.com/musings daily 0.75 2026-03-31 https://www.kastooribarua.com/musings/on-nibs-paper-and-the-pleasures-of-ink monthly 0.5 2026-03-31 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5eae1a7748edc3660e4fc2b0/00261345-3c63-478b-97aa-b496c574f44e/58E7FB42-57DB-4DD3-87CE-0F72F104EFA2.JPG Musings - on nibs, paper, and the pleasures of ink - Make it stand out writings from my prayer journal https://www.kastooribarua.com/musings/disappearing-joy-of-reading monthly 0.5 2026-02-25 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5eae1a7748edc3660e4fc2b0/bee96f81-407e-40a1-a0c4-3d1b58c04d99/Books Musings - a brooding threnody to the disappearing joy of reading - Make it stand out shelf from my study https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5eae1a7748edc3660e4fc2b0/e90c0eee-ff17-4f1c-b63b-3f9967e00b72/75D0C5B0-864C-42ED-AE54-2E8733AE8C5B.jpeg Musings - a brooding threnody to the disappearing joy of reading - What I miss most is the tactile and spatial memory that physical books offer. With a printed book, I can see and feel my progress, the shifting balance of pages, the visual placement of passages, and the subtle cues that help anchor ideas in the mind. Even the faint scent of an older book contributes to the sense of inhabiting a tangible object. On a screen, each page feels uniform and almost interchangeable, and that loss of spatial orientation leaves me feeling slightly unmoored. Simple actions such as moving back and forth between sections also feel less intuitive, requiring several taps rather than a quick physical gesture. At the same time, I remain aware that continuing to purchase and store large numbers of physical books may not be practical. The logistical demands are real. Yet this self-imposed restraint has had an unexpected consequence, a subtle diminishment of identity and joy. I want to experience books as sources of pleasure and companionship, not merely as instruments for acquiring knowledge. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5eae1a7748edc3660e4fc2b0/c3c828ab-b01e-4a64-b316-ce5230562aa4/camphoto_1804928587.jpeg Musings - a brooding threnody to the disappearing joy of reading - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.kastooribarua.com/musings/where-im-at-cinema-books-et-al monthly 0.5 2023-11-07 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5eae1a7748edc3660e4fc2b0/1699329422760-C8XPAEZVG8HYD5ZZ8CXW/5EB35080-C737-4EE6-867F-733C850AF549.JPG Musings - where I’m at—cinema, books, et al. - Reading this was a feeling of hiraeth because it transported me to my parents’ home where I was surrounded by the comfort of family and books. And while I was working my way through Kurosawa’s life in words, I ended up watching two more of his films, those being: Seven Samurai and Stray Dog. The kind of personal perspective I was able to glean as I read the book and watched his films is an inimitable experience. It was almost as if I was able to “feel” the films as they were being made and Kurosawa’s vision itself. To me, it has become unequivocal and undeniable that Kurosawa was unabashedly earnest, stoic, and a prolific screenwriter and film director who had great faith in his actors and never shied away from openly showing his gratitude to his mentors and the people who helped him realize his stories despite the repercussions of the World Wars and the American propaganda that the Japanese were so resistant towards. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5eae1a7748edc3660e4fc2b0/1e3a7b76-72a2-44c5-bb15-ca675ad46901/9957A12B-97FF-4008-A113-307A657A2FB1.JPG Musings - where I’m at—cinema, books, et al. - However, this lack of direction was coincidentally and quickly resolved by my ever-resourceful supervisor who has been going through the first draft of my dissertation. He pointed out that I do need to know how nation-states were formed in Europe and North America and insert a page or two about it in one of my initial chapters. Just some bed-time reading. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5eae1a7748edc3660e4fc2b0/ab59c03f-b229-40eb-b5a0-d87c6012ca85/0838BF91-119C-4D86-BF66-C6D1433A0D9F.JPG Musings - where I’m at—cinema, books, et al. - Make it stand out Actors William Shimell and Juliette Binoche in Certified Copy by Abbas Kiarostami. https://www.kastooribarua.com/musings/a-new-cinephilic-obsession monthly 0.5 2023-10-27 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5eae1a7748edc3660e4fc2b0/8ad3e4bc-9adb-4897-bf34-633c9a86c79e/IMG_7062.jpg Musings - a new cinephilic obsession https://www.kastooribarua.com/musings/a-cinephiles-latest-acquisitions monthly 0.5 2023-10-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5eae1a7748edc3660e4fc2b0/1697427093082-ZYRLEUCZKCEACRCCI0YB/A814ECC6-F316-4AD5-8FD6-E6E4BCA2C669.JPG Musings - a cinephile’s latest acquisitions - Make it stand out Today’s spoils https://www.kastooribarua.com/musings/a-fall-photowalk monthly 0.5 2023-10-15 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5eae1a7748edc3660e4fc2b0/1697330517021-B5RXSQ1XYPO0SZ44HAXU/IMG_6804.JPG Musings - a fall photowalk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5eae1a7748edc3660e4fc2b0/1697330519015-OPXPEZN8FBG3JOYD8YG6/IMG_6768.JPG Musings - a fall photowalk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5eae1a7748edc3660e4fc2b0/1697330519850-LFBWGP9LBMAHCRIWWND8/IMG_6775.JPG Musings - a fall photowalk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5eae1a7748edc3660e4fc2b0/1697330520808-YEBR99KUVENB05BOBJQT/IMG_6774.JPG Musings - a fall photowalk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5eae1a7748edc3660e4fc2b0/1697330521690-78C08BB3HBCWUSCUFT1O/IMG_6776.JPG Musings - a fall photowalk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5eae1a7748edc3660e4fc2b0/1697330522903-US4BV74FE2FCHV308733/IMG_6769.JPG Musings - a fall photowalk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5eae1a7748edc3660e4fc2b0/1697330523271-A57CRRYAP5FKCNCPD64O/IMG_6772.JPG Musings - a fall photowalk https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5eae1a7748edc3660e4fc2b0/1697330524350-NKXPACGROVZHVL0YTNUZ/IMG_6770.JPG Musings - a fall photowalk https://www.kastooribarua.com/musings/film-fantasia monthly 0.5 2023-09-26 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5eae1a7748edc3660e4fc2b0/1695319949593-80VMPXRG0ZV57AQYTBYV/000031280027.jpg Musings - film fantasia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5eae1a7748edc3660e4fc2b0/1695320019362-CR6ANS4YPJT29XXFOCYV/000031280017.jpg Musings - film fantasia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5eae1a7748edc3660e4fc2b0/1695320062285-XCWGNBYCZ4JKF0ZBXZ0P/000031280033.jpg Musings - film fantasia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5eae1a7748edc3660e4fc2b0/1695320089309-MHRN702Z31LHR2POYX0L/000031280035.jpg Musings - film fantasia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5eae1a7748edc3660e4fc2b0/1695320154446-E02S69C8YQ7BHHVIMP93/000031280034.jpg Musings - film fantasia https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5eae1a7748edc3660e4fc2b0/1695320211934-TG0OJN7HV7IDCK918EY8/000031280016.jpg Musings - film fantasia https://www.kastooribarua.com/musings/curating-a-reading-list monthly 0.5 2023-09-26 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5eae1a7748edc3660e4fc2b0/1694576022720-59L7GITICWIANXDBXBYI/IMG_8AF6A48F350D-1.jpg Musings - curating a reading list before I conclude my Ph.D. - Make it stand out A screenshot of my Apple Books Library. https://www.kastooribarua.com/musings/notes-after-a-year monthly 0.5 2021-04-22 https://www.kastooribarua.com/musings/notes-on-underground monthly 0.5 2023-09-26 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5eae1a7748edc3660e4fc2b0/1588595758065-8OZEK0O5MMWI9JI2W141/Airborne.jpeg Musings - notes on underground aerial voyages Airborne, March 5, 2019 https://www.kastooribarua.com/musings/of-lockdown monthly 0.5 2023-09-10 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5eae1a7748edc3660e4fc2b0/1588501042229-RWOCLZ4XYLH06GYKY59U/Sculpting+in+Time.jpg Musings - of lockdown, sleeplessness, and appetites my notes from Sculpting in Time, Tarkovsky, p 16-17 https://www.kastooribarua.com/musings/category/musings monthly 0.5 https://www.kastooribarua.com/literary-illuminations daily 0.75 2026-03-31 https://www.kastooribarua.com/literary-illuminations/fleur-jaeggys-sweet-days-of-discipline monthly 0.5 2026-03-31 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5eae1a7748edc3660e4fc2b0/c7b9d227-2369-48ea-975e-0b281eab4217/IMG_3164.jpeg Literary Illuminations - The Architecture of Worship: On Fleur Jaeggy's Sweet Days of Discipline - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.kastooribarua.com/literary-illuminations/on-earth-were-briefly-gorgeous monthly 0.5 2023-10-05 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5eae1a7748edc3660e4fc2b0/72675f76-ea83-4ca5-b5c7-d9882541041c/B94A011C-1831-42DC-AD99-D73F99425ED9.JPG Literary Illuminations - Review: On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous - Make it stand out an excerpt from page 12 of On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong https://www.kastooribarua.com/literary-illuminations/reading-rituals monthly 0.5 2023-09-26 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5eae1a7748edc3660e4fc2b0/99b9fe2c-7fec-4de3-a6de-5fce9d5be6b1/35D0CA1B-6B87-45BE-98B7-87BDCE42A474.JPG Literary Illuminations - Reading Rituals - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.kastooribarua.com/cinematic-intellections daily 0.75 2026-02-23 https://www.kastooribarua.com/cinematic-intellections/devi monthly 0.5 2026-02-23 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5eae1a7748edc3660e4fc2b0/1771828639573-LDQA9WQODJ07BIFJJVIH/Sharmila+Tagore+as+Doyamoyee Cinematic Intellections - The Aesthetics of Ethical Clarity and Phenomenological Precision in Satyajit Ray’s Devi - Make it stand out A still from Devi https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5eae1a7748edc3660e4fc2b0/4027f80f-2e00-4ae8-932d-2eebb758e926/Devi-4.jpeg Cinematic Intellections - The Aesthetics of Ethical Clarity and Phenomenological Precision in Satyajit Ray’s Devi - Make it stand out A still from Devi https://www.kastooribarua.com/cinematic-intellections/kokuho monthly 0.5 2026-02-23 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5eae1a7748edc3660e4fc2b0/97428c5c-7996-40c0-b1ab-6a18a6c85f04/Screenshot+2026-02-17+at+20.03.46.png Cinematic Intellections - Kokuho by Lee Sang-il: Art as an Act of Sacrifice and Consecration - Make it stand out Still from Kokuho https://www.kastooribarua.com/cinematic-intellections/nostalghia-by-andrei-tarkovsky monthly 0.5 2023-10-19 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5eae1a7748edc3660e4fc2b0/631c10e7-a588-44f6-ba81-572a58811bd8/social_02_temp-1485277473-58878921-620x348.jpg Cinematic Intellections - Nostalghia by Andrei Tarkovsky: Reconfiguring Nostalgia Through Representational Aesthetics - Make it stand out Nostalghia (1983) by Andrei Tarkovsky https://www.kastooribarua.com/cinematic-intellections/kiyoshi-kurosawas-cure monthly 0.5 2023-10-27 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5eae1a7748edc3660e4fc2b0/b82a923a-2f58-4324-8384-4733a6d5d14a/Cure.jpeg Cinematic Intellections - Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s Cure - Make it stand out Cure (1997), directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5eae1a7748edc3660e4fc2b0/f51e4333-4ffb-4f35-93b0-cf764064ced6/cure+copy.jpg Cinematic Intellections - Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s Cure - Make it stand out Cure (1997), directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa https://www.kastooribarua.com/cinematic-intellections/wesandersonshenrysugar monthly 0.5 2023-09-30 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5eae1a7748edc3660e4fc2b0/1696049456062-ZYGBEMVECO8R9BCEEO4H/MV5BYTYwNDU2NTktYTc0Zi00NGFjLWEwMGQtZDY3NDRlNGMxMmQ2XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTIzNDk2NzE2._V1_.jpg Cinematic Intellections - Wes Anderson’s The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.kastooribarua.com/cinematic-intellections/cold-touch-versus-warm-touch-film-makers monthly 0.5 2023-09-26 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5eae1a7748edc3660e4fc2b0/6d28b19f-0051-48e2-b495-c59e949673b9/comparison.png Cinematic Intellections - Cold Touch Versus Warm Touch Film-makers - Make it stand out Above: Oppenheimer by Christopher Nolan; Below: Stalker by Andrei Tarkovsky https://www.kastooribarua.com/rapid-recipes daily 0.75 2023-09-25 https://www.kastooribarua.com/rapid-recipes/my-take-on-oyakodon monthly 0.5 2023-09-26 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5eae1a7748edc3660e4fc2b0/1619130305167-32KH8SZR86N861D0NUFM/cera-gnRq8lp3Xks-unsplash.jpg Rapid Recipes - my take on oyakodon - The ingredients that I use are: Freshly cooked rice Some sliced chicken An egg Scallions Onions Mushrooms (seasonal) 2 Seaweed sheet strips Light soy sauce Dark soy sauce Sichuan powder Umeboshi strings Butter Sesame oil Mirin https://www.kastooribarua.com/rapid-recipes/matcha-flavoured-lychee-ice-cream monthly 0.5 2023-09-26 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5eae1a7748edc3660e4fc2b0/1619122495087-BYL0SUULWAT8I1CFFX0T/matcha_affogato_unsplash.jpg Rapid Recipes - matcha flavoured lychee ice cream - The steps are few and quite simple: Matcha affogato from Unsplash. https://www.kastooribarua.com/aesthetic-impressions daily 0.75 2023-09-26 https://www.kastooribarua.com/aesthetic-impressions/home-as-heterotopia monthly 0.5 2023-09-26 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5eae1a7748edc3660e4fc2b0/1695595527068-EBMU69J4B45CB1EBN3PG/dhs.jpeg Aesthetic Impressions - home as heterotopia: understanding Do Ho Suh’s “Home Within Home” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5eae1a7748edc3660e4fc2b0/1695595645886-DROGKY6XZTGLFJDMUWIT/do-ho-suh-s-installation-at-museum-of-modern-and-contemporary-art-mmca-view-1-home-within-home-within-home-within-home-within-home-do-ho-suh-stir-190814030712.jpg Aesthetic Impressions - home as heterotopia: understanding Do Ho Suh’s “Home Within Home” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5eae1a7748edc3660e4fc2b0/1695595965418-YC7EQK6FJTZDQH14KMSH/image8.jpg Aesthetic Impressions - home as heterotopia: understanding Do Ho Suh’s “Home Within Home” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5eae1a7748edc3660e4fc2b0/1695595965342-EZ2Q68A2YIPBSVVCR6R4/image11.jpg Aesthetic Impressions - home as heterotopia: understanding Do Ho Suh’s “Home Within Home” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5eae1a7748edc3660e4fc2b0/1695598381830-748BR36V25BJVT9BL9UD/do-ho-suh-home-within-a-home-at-MMCA-designboom-04.jpg Aesthetic Impressions - home as heterotopia: understanding Do Ho Suh’s “Home Within Home” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5eae1a7748edc3660e4fc2b0/1695598394034-3XJ9PQSWID9E2S0N2LMB/do-ho-suh-home-within-a-home-at-MMCA-designboom-0.jpg Aesthetic Impressions - home as heterotopia: understanding Do Ho Suh’s “Home Within Home” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5eae1a7748edc3660e4fc2b0/1695598413749-4ZRWIB4X6WCWI8VK6SIS/do-ho-suh-home-within-a-home-at-MMCA-designboom-07.jpg Aesthetic Impressions - home as heterotopia: understanding Do Ho Suh’s “Home Within Home” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5eae1a7748edc3660e4fc2b0/1695598413035-NKGMRWT98B3CNXBDPPK9/do-ho-suh-home-within-a-home-at-MMCA-designboom-08.jpg Aesthetic Impressions - home as heterotopia: understanding Do Ho Suh’s “Home Within Home” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5eae1a7748edc3660e4fc2b0/1695598438374-J73CMCL8X0X87EN1C805/do-ho-suh-home-within-a-home-at-MMCA-designboom-02.jpg Aesthetic Impressions - home as heterotopia: understanding Do Ho Suh’s “Home Within Home” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5eae1a7748edc3660e4fc2b0/1695598438357-KD1XKLRY1ZW8FJDHDHYQ/do-ho-suh-home-within-a-home-at-MMCA-designboom-03.jpg Aesthetic Impressions - home as heterotopia: understanding Do Ho Suh’s “Home Within Home” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5eae1a7748edc3660e4fc2b0/1695598624830-IAM3ODFRZZ4LE92CV64Z/do-ho-suh-home-within-a-home-at-MMCA-designboom-06.jpg Aesthetic Impressions - home as heterotopia: understanding Do Ho Suh’s “Home Within Home” https://www.kastooribarua.com/home daily 1.0 2025-08-24 https://www.kastooribarua.com/about daily 0.75 2026-02-27 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5eae1a7748edc3660e4fc2b0/e5127258-ba73-40cd-929c-99a55a06341a/BA55A152-9680-46F6-A368-C91B38C81152.JPG About - About My name is Kastoori Barua, and I am based in London, Ontario. This website began as a space where I wrote for myself about the things that move me, and it continues to serve that purpose, though it now also functions as a kind of personal archive. I completed my PhD in the Department of English and Writing Studies at the University of Western Ontario, which I defended in early March 2025. My doctoral research examined the nexus between visual aesthetics and literary depictions of migration, belonging, and identity, approached through various philosophical lenses of hospitality across media forms. Beyond the ambit of academia, I am broadly interested in the relations between art, aesthetics, and society, and in the dialectics that emerge within cultural studies. Formerly an art curator and critic, I am especially drawn to hyper-contemporary conceptual art and to the artistic representation and framing of migrants in post-migration contexts. My ongoing intellectual and professional endeavor is to identify or create ways of integrating theory to praxis, thereby reintroducing a politico-philosophical valence to art. Outside of my professional and cerebral pursuits, I enjoy watching F1, anime, and practicing archery. You can reach me at kbarua2(at)uwo(dot)ca Updated on: 02.26.2026 https://www.kastooribarua.com/publications daily 0.75 2026-02-20 https://www.kastooribarua.com/cameralucida daily 0.75 2023-10-14 https://www.kastooribarua.com/cameralucida/bourbon-filled-christmas monthly 0.5 2021-04-06 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5eae1a7748edc3660e4fc2b0/1617742046875-KE5TTH00COI7KUWJ9QN9/IMG_1460.jpg Camera Lucida - bourbon-filled christmas - bourbon-filled christmas Celebrating Christmas with my folks after two whole years. The tree here is two decades years old. We bought it in Austin, Texas when I was still a wide-eyed six-year-old. Festivities feel real when there’s special food being prepared and decorations in place with the ones who mean the most to you. It’s been a few years since I got buzzed with the family. Occasions like these are such a welcome change. Shot with Kubrick. https://www.kastooribarua.com/cameralucida/a-winter-afternoon monthly 0.5 2021-04-06 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5eae1a7748edc3660e4fc2b0/1617729614813-ZBQ2SBW2847EEVXIRCRQ/A+Winter+Afternoon Camera Lucida - a winter afternoon - a winter afternoon This was one of the first Polaroid photos that I took when Kubrick (Lomo’Instant Automat Glass Magellan edition) arrived in December, 2020. Taken atop my apartment building, The saturated greens and blues come together to become a kind of Rothko painting. Not as portable as a Fujifilm Instax camera, Lomo’Instant has a superior lens that leans towards artistic “defects” (for the lack of a better word). This photo vaguely reminds me of Hokkaido when I visited Japan in 2000. Shot with Kubric. https://www.kastooribarua.com/cameralucida/a-study-in-blue monthly 0.5 2021-04-06 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5eae1a7748edc3660e4fc2b0/1617730893910-0WZ747EN140OB74LOOED/A+Study+In+Blue Camera Lucida - a study in blue - a study in blue Though unclear, this pair of socks has a Kabuki actor’s face woven. A gift from a Japanese friend who visited me in spring 2017. Shot with Kubrick. https://www.kastooribarua.com/cameralucida/a-long-petal-of-the-sea monthly 0.5 2021-04-14 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5eae1a7748edc3660e4fc2b0/1617742565475-JX3KTS4R8RR12GXKUVR7/a+long+petal+of+the+sea Camera Lucida - a long petal of the sea - a long petal of the sea Not strictly pertaining to my dissertation, A Long Petal Of the Sea by Isabel Allende was one of the books that I picked up to get back to my non-academic reading hobby that I had lost for a few years as I progressed with my Ph.D. endeavors. Sunny, wintry afternoons were spent on the roof with my books and sunglasses as my washed hair dried. Shot with Kubrick. https://www.kastooribarua.com/cameralucida/ru monthly 0.5 2023-08-22 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5eae1a7748edc3660e4fc2b0/1618428366466-0UFKX8VP3AZL07G5ISY4/Lavender+melancholy.jpeg Camera Lucida - ru - ru "In French, in old French — nobody uses it anymore — but it means a brook, a very small stream. It's pronounced differently in Vietnamese, and is commonly used by mothers to soothe their children. It means a lullaby, or to lull your child to sleep, and I just thought it was such a beautiful word, a poetic word, but used every day." -Kim Thuy Lately, I’ve been visiting the banks of a stream a couple of kilometers from where I live almost every evening to witness the sundown. There’s a specific place where I always sit, right behind some wistfully lavender flowers growing gingerly at the very edge of the bank. My emotions change with the colors of the sky and the temperature around me. During the pandemic, this stream has been my succor much like the lullabies that mothers sing to their children. 13 April 2021 Shot with Kubrick. https://www.kastooribarua.com/cameralucida/shimmering-shikaras monthly 0.5 2023-09-20 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5eae1a7748edc3660e4fc2b0/1d03f0a0-bfab-4e21-bde0-28318b1de98e/IMG_3906+Copy.jpg Camera Lucida - shimmering shikaras - shimmering shikaras Kashmir is truly a dreamscape of verdant undulating valleys, softly lit pastel skies, and shimmering waters. This photo was taken on my birthday as I sat with a dear friend I had met after half a decade on the edge of the lake. My favorite memory in all of Kashmir was indisputably the Shikara ride. To be at leisure with a cup of qahwah as the boat traverses the still waters of the lake is an inimitable, magical experience. Kashmir’s immense beauty sadly melded with its immense conflict that has become inextricable from its identity as a Union Territory in distress. To me, this photo will forever bleed both sadness and pain through its heartbreaking beauty amidst the silence of the place and its people. July 22, 2023. 6:34 PM, Srinagar: Boulevard Road, Old Gagribal Suri Mohalla. Shot with my iPhone 13. https://www.kastooribarua.com/cameralucida/before-sunrise monthly 0.5 2023-10-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5eae1a7748edc3660e4fc2b0/5d9dee19-ff42-4622-ac36-025efdc78644/JPEG+image-F7002990ACDA-1.jpeg Camera Lucida - before sunrise - before sunrise It is around this time in the morning when the sky and the city colors coalesce in harmony and the buildings look as though they’ve been painted on a flat wash of chromatic hues. August 29, 2023. 6:20 AM, London, Ontario. Shot with my iPhone 13. https://www.kastooribarua.com/cameralucida/dusked monthly 0.5 2023-10-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5eae1a7748edc3660e4fc2b0/1696211162196-YJO07PANPH98AD3BMH4E/6DA5F455-E950-46A9-B00C-BE9DDD94A028.JPG Camera Lucida - dusked - dusked What I find most interesting about this scene is the juxtaposition of the drab sky and the luminous streets and lights of the city. November 11, 2022. 5:13 PM, London, Ontario. Shot with my iPhone 13. https://www.kastooribarua.com/cameralucida/hunters-moon monthly 0.5 2023-10-09 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5eae1a7748edc3660e4fc2b0/1696211568764-04M1U8FYSE3RFZUWFH6Z/1FD6847C-F35A-407C-AB04-D907CF1285F3.JPG Camera Lucida - hunter's moon - hunter’s moon The Hunter’s Moon is the first full moon after the Harvest moon. It is a reminder that winter isn’t too far off and it’s time for me to gather as much sunlight and warmth as possible for the next half year. October 11, 2022. 9:04 PM, London, Ontario Shot with my iPhone 13. https://www.kastooribarua.com/cameralucida/honeyed-monoliths monthly 0.5 2023-10-14 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5eae1a7748edc3660e4fc2b0/1d1b40a0-cd17-4d05-a753-f63f3823ed13/IMG_6516.jpg Camera Lucida - honeyed monoliths - honeyed monoliths I’m not a fan of banks or urban monoliths that have no architectural aesthetics imbued in them, but the honeyed sunlight from the dying day coloured the buildings with a warmth and softness that is rare in a concrete jungle. The windows merge with the sky as they reflect the clouds and the soft shades of blue as the sun slowly sinks into the horizon. October 8, 2023. 6:35 PM, London, Ontario Shot with my iPhone 13. https://www.kastooribarua.com/cameralucida/pandemic-panacea monthly 0.5 2023-10-14 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5eae1a7748edc3660e4fc2b0/1697326661784-76HXJOZ18ZXPEGLGEUSQ/IMG_5233.jpg Camera Lucida - pandemic panacea - pandemic panacea I remember this was the time when I watched Stalker by Tarkovsky and I was completely taken by the visuals. Often, my parents and I would drive through the town to simply savour a change of place and pace during the pandemic and we’d get off at isolated scenic spots and I would frame them on my phone screen. This was one such image that reminded me of the visuals from Mirror which was my first Tarkovsky film when I was 19. April 21, 2021. 7:12 PM, Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar, Rupnagar, Punjab Shot with my iPhone XS. https://www.kastooribarua.com/cameralucida/physics-astronomy monthly 0.5 2023-10-14 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5eae1a7748edc3660e4fc2b0/18e429b5-b00e-43f7-801a-ebb3577c9168/camphoto_579758561_Original.jpg Camera Lucida - physics & astronomy - physics & astronomy A photo from my second semester in university when I was still very new to the Ph.D. program as well as the role of a teaching assistant. January 4, 2019. 11:53 AM, Western Universiy, London, Ontario Shot with my iPhone XS.