LAST DAY AT THE OFFICE --FRIDAY SEPT 30 2011
Our final project to finish was the photography of new product and jewelry that we had worked on durig my "residency". The only output the photographer and graphic artist have ever done is taking flat white shots of new product--
and print out art that other people send them (as we did from Blue Moon too.) I encouraged "You don't always have to send them straight boring pictures like this, try using some props or arranging them in some interesting way to look more appealing-- give it a try and show me--here was what I got first-
As we passed by single file, me leading, Shadab following, and "the man" carrying our bucket-- all the contsruction workers truly thought I was insane and yelled out to the man "what are they doing, what is it, what does she want?" I'm sure the man replied "who knows I just carry this shit"-- because here is a well dressed white westerner tip toe-ing with sparkly sandals through mud and over piles of rebar and rusty nailed planks, picking up old sticks, broken marble, and pieces of only the rustiest crudest metal and considering each one "hmmm. no, this is not right" etc. and throwing it back-- the construction guys eventually became excited about participating, and started bringing me pieces of junk to see if it was usable. "No, not that, yes, this is good! No, no, oh yes this one" etc. hilarious. The nice part (so Memsahib of me) was that even Shadab the graphic artist does not carry the bucket of junk, there are much lower pay scale men who do this sort of carrying, so "the man" toted up a very heavy load of metal, stone and rocks for us up 3 flights to my office.
I said ok bring in your rickety photo lights and place them like so, put the metal here and hang the necklace on it, a few pieces of green in the background, make sure you focus on the item and fuzz the back out with short depth of field, etc. showing them some examples from internet searches.
Now many office people from the floor I worked on begin to crowd into the small office to watch the show--crazy white girl putting beautiful jewelry on carefully arranged junk. Mr. Saha peers in-- shouts in alarm "Marni! (He is the detail-obsessed-regimented-routine-every-Sunday-9 am-at-the-fishmarket--unchanging-cautious one) "You MUST NOT handle this material--if you get cut by this you can contract THE TETANUS DISORDER. I have seen this happen many times. Please--have "the man" (who carried the junk) handle it for you." I said no Mr. Saha it is fine I'm very careful, and I already have tetanus shots. (However, the day before I DID get a cut on my index finger from some old stone beads covered in dirt and immediately washed for 10 minutes and quickly applied one of my bandaids with neosporin in the pad.) That night it began to hurt and look a little infected-- I dreamed that a huge green larvae grew inside my cheek and had to be cut and pulled out in big puss-oozing pieces -- the doctor had a hard time getting it all because it had become attached to my nerves and muscles, so gross!) So yes, it is a concern what you can catch out there.....
We took a few shots and put them up on the computer for all to look at.
Many OH!! BEAUTIFUL! OH VERY NICE, YES! comments from everyone, and so when the next pieces were photographed everyone had to have a say "No, more to the left. It is crooked. More rocks. Higher up on the metal. Place it in the center." and I just stood back and watched.
With these images cropped they will work very well for a line sheet to send out.
So I saved the last important topic, that I was so afraid to ask, for lunch with the Guptas that day --"Would you agree to co-brand the finished jewelry lines with me? Design a new logo, etc?" and they immediately said yes, that would be great, good exposure for you and for us being associated with a great designer! Wow that was easy. Imagine a much cooler logo but the content would be--
LEAVING FOR THE AIRPORT
It was my mistake not to learn the phrase "I dont hug" in the politest and most delicate Hindi because all these women -- the sample makers, my two jewelry assistants, the manager of the sample makers, the lowly assistants of the sample makers who can't speak any english, the woman who cleaned the stairs every day and we greated each other with palms together "Namaste" (I think the men basically just flick their hands at her or grunt like "Get out of my way" or never acknowledge her at all?), somehow were sooooo sad (seemed unnaturally intense to me?) to see me go and hugged me so tight and all gave me gifts of jewelry they made and handcrafted pillows and other little doo-dads and their email and cel phone numbers? There are no women in any positions of power there, so I guess it was new and fun for them to work with me and be encouraged to bring their own ideas to the table, many of which I used and were great. Isn't that sad that they never had that opportunity even in these modern times? I made a point to tell the Guptas constantly how much they had contributed and that this or that one should be promoted to design director etc.
Even a few of the guys wrote me these emails "thank you for teaching me new ideas and techniques to improve my skills" and normally I would feel the tone was snarky and sarcastic (to have a WOMAN teach them something) but I think they were real.
One more thing for the office workers to laugh at --- I had previously asked Sakshi what the brooms were called that the people sweep dirt with every day, and she told me"Char Doo" or for a smaller one that would fit in my suitcase a "Chortah Char Doo" I said I wanted one. "for what??!!" I said to hang on my wall, it is a memento to remember all the dirt, plus a beautiful hand-made natural piece of art, in my opinion.
So as my last send-off Sakshi grandly hands me my Char Doo and I say "Oh my gosh, thank you SOOO much!!! my Chortah Char Doo!!!" and everyone laughs very loudly, and Sakshi says no --"Charrr Dooh"-- (sounded the same to me) what you just said is "My little magic!" ha ha ha once again I wonder, what HAVE I been saying in Hindi that is wrong and would obviously be why people look at me like I'm mental?
You only buy the bottom part, the long grass tied together, and you have to find your own stick to shove into it. One of the props was just the right thickness so I broke it in half and put it in the brush and pretended to sweep a little bit and this brings on HUGE laughs from the crowd. 'What is she going to do with it? Why did you give her that? Why does she want it? and Sakshi explains in Hindi how I will hang it on my wall at home as art. Total blank confusion on their faces and murmuring.
I walk out to the car all packed with my stuff and dozens of people follow me out and crowd around "good bye miss marni! we will miss you!! come back soon!!!" a few more hugs. Ther driver pulls out and all wave together-- it was really nuts and ridiculous.
Our final project to finish was the photography of new product and jewelry that we had worked on durig my "residency". The only output the photographer and graphic artist have ever done is taking flat white shots of new product--
 |
| They've been sending this way for 5 years |
 |
| see the nice props - a notebook? and artfully arranged with tags askew |
 |
| next try: scary black stuff with chopped arm for jewelry |
And I said carefully "Well.... that's definitely a start in the right direction, but lets try something else-- for our new lines of jewelry for example." I said grab a bucket we're going to get some good props. I lead them out to the back of the factory where there are piles and piles of junk and old rusty metal and rough old weathered wood, stones and chips of marble, beautiful leaves from tropical bushes here and there.
As we passed by single file, me leading, Shadab following, and "the man" carrying our bucket-- all the contsruction workers truly thought I was insane and yelled out to the man "what are they doing, what is it, what does she want?" I'm sure the man replied "who knows I just carry this shit"-- because here is a well dressed white westerner tip toe-ing with sparkly sandals through mud and over piles of rebar and rusty nailed planks, picking up old sticks, broken marble, and pieces of only the rustiest crudest metal and considering each one "hmmm. no, this is not right" etc. and throwing it back-- the construction guys eventually became excited about participating, and started bringing me pieces of junk to see if it was usable. "No, not that, yes, this is good! No, no, oh yes this one" etc. hilarious. The nice part (so Memsahib of me) was that even Shadab the graphic artist does not carry the bucket of junk, there are much lower pay scale men who do this sort of carrying, so "the man" toted up a very heavy load of metal, stone and rocks for us up 3 flights to my office.
I said ok bring in your rickety photo lights and place them like so, put the metal here and hang the necklace on it, a few pieces of green in the background, make sure you focus on the item and fuzz the back out with short depth of field, etc. showing them some examples from internet searches.
Now many office people from the floor I worked on begin to crowd into the small office to watch the show--crazy white girl putting beautiful jewelry on carefully arranged junk. Mr. Saha peers in-- shouts in alarm "Marni! (He is the detail-obsessed-regimented-routine-every-Sunday-9 am-at-the-fishmarket--unchanging-cautious one) "You MUST NOT handle this material--if you get cut by this you can contract THE TETANUS DISORDER. I have seen this happen many times. Please--have "the man" (who carried the junk) handle it for you." I said no Mr. Saha it is fine I'm very careful, and I already have tetanus shots. (However, the day before I DID get a cut on my index finger from some old stone beads covered in dirt and immediately washed for 10 minutes and quickly applied one of my bandaids with neosporin in the pad.) That night it began to hurt and look a little infected-- I dreamed that a huge green larvae grew inside my cheek and had to be cut and pulled out in big puss-oozing pieces -- the doctor had a hard time getting it all because it had become attached to my nerves and muscles, so gross!) So yes, it is a concern what you can catch out there.....
We took a few shots and put them up on the computer for all to look at.
 |
| Not bad for first try with "real" props--click on the pic to see larger version which shows more detail |
Many OH!! BEAUTIFUL! OH VERY NICE, YES! comments from everyone, and so when the next pieces were photographed everyone had to have a say "No, more to the left. It is crooked. More rocks. Higher up on the metal. Place it in the center." and I just stood back and watched.
With these images cropped they will work very well for a line sheet to send out.
 |
| cropped. the rusty metal looks great. Keep in mind these are just first sample prototypes, the wirework will be much improved in production for orders |
So I saved the last important topic, that I was so afraid to ask, for lunch with the Guptas that day --"Would you agree to co-brand the finished jewelry lines with me? Design a new logo, etc?" and they immediately said yes, that would be great, good exposure for you and for us being associated with a great designer! Wow that was easy. Imagine a much cooler logo but the content would be--
 |
| Could be a new direction in life |
LEAVING FOR THE AIRPORT
It was my mistake not to learn the phrase "I dont hug" in the politest and most delicate Hindi because all these women -- the sample makers, my two jewelry assistants, the manager of the sample makers, the lowly assistants of the sample makers who can't speak any english, the woman who cleaned the stairs every day and we greated each other with palms together "Namaste" (I think the men basically just flick their hands at her or grunt like "Get out of my way" or never acknowledge her at all?), somehow were sooooo sad (seemed unnaturally intense to me?) to see me go and hugged me so tight and all gave me gifts of jewelry they made and handcrafted pillows and other little doo-dads and their email and cel phone numbers? There are no women in any positions of power there, so I guess it was new and fun for them to work with me and be encouraged to bring their own ideas to the table, many of which I used and were great. Isn't that sad that they never had that opportunity even in these modern times? I made a point to tell the Guptas constantly how much they had contributed and that this or that one should be promoted to design director etc.
Even a few of the guys wrote me these emails "thank you for teaching me new ideas and techniques to improve my skills" and normally I would feel the tone was snarky and sarcastic (to have a WOMAN teach them something) but I think they were real.
One more thing for the office workers to laugh at --- I had previously asked Sakshi what the brooms were called that the people sweep dirt with every day, and she told me"Char Doo" or for a smaller one that would fit in my suitcase a "Chortah Char Doo" I said I wanted one. "for what??!!" I said to hang on my wall, it is a memento to remember all the dirt, plus a beautiful hand-made natural piece of art, in my opinion.
So as my last send-off Sakshi grandly hands me my Char Doo and I say "Oh my gosh, thank you SOOO much!!! my Chortah Char Doo!!!" and everyone laughs very loudly, and Sakshi says no --"Charrr Dooh"-- (sounded the same to me) what you just said is "My little magic!" ha ha ha once again I wonder, what HAVE I been saying in Hindi that is wrong and would obviously be why people look at me like I'm mental?
You only buy the bottom part, the long grass tied together, and you have to find your own stick to shove into it. One of the props was just the right thickness so I broke it in half and put it in the brush and pretended to sweep a little bit and this brings on HUGE laughs from the crowd. 'What is she going to do with it? Why did you give her that? Why does she want it? and Sakshi explains in Hindi how I will hang it on my wall at home as art. Total blank confusion on their faces and murmuring.
I walk out to the car all packed with my stuff and dozens of people follow me out and crowd around "good bye miss marni! we will miss you!! come back soon!!!" a few more hugs. Ther driver pulls out and all wave together-- it was really nuts and ridiculous.
