Critique Welcomed Hindu Temple, Chino Hills California

[Brian Moore]

I was on my way to our office in Chino (pronounced "cheeno") yesterday morning. I intended to arrive at 8 am but I made very good time and I decided to investigate this building that I had noticed for the first time a few weeks ago.

There was a festival going on so lots of people arriving.

I asked permission to snap a few shots of the building and I was invited to do so, as long as I didn't take any inside the temple.

As I was lining up a shot a very nice man approached me and began talking. He was an Indian man from Bombay, living in USA, he was a volunteer for the day. He told me about the carvings. (All done in India in pink sandstone. Carved by hand and shipped over to the USA.) He invited me inside and although I only had a few minutes I readily accepted. What a treat! All hand carved white marble columns and walls and statuary. The place was filled with devotees. Several hundred people, the men lined up to pray one at a time to their deity, the women all seated on the floor worshipping in their own way.

I was a novelty in there. The men seemed to ignore me but the women seemed a little bewildered by my presence and I felt their eyes. But it was all very nice.

Because I couldn't take pictures inside I tried my best to sear the memory of the images into my brain. I wish so that I could have snapped a few shots. I believe they would have been wonderful, as the morning sun was gleaming into the interior and illuminating the marble and the people most magnificently.

I arrived at work on schedule at 8. I was walking on air.

It's the serendipity life holds: I tour a Hindu temple on the way to work. It is a thing I never thought I would ever do on the way to work.

These are shots that I snapped with the Sigma DP1 MacKillop. They are JPEGs straight out of the camera. No touch up at all.






Note the drone below. It buzzed me at one point. I look around for the "pilot." He was hiding in plane sight just steps from me. He was a monk dressed in orange robes. Who new Hindu monks had drones?

 

[Julian de'Courcy]

Incredible carvings and traditional architecture by the looks of it.
When I first started to read your piece, I pictured a building in a street, so my approach was with some presumptions that were soon dispelled and this could have been in India itself and I'd have not known different. Even down to the palms that line many Mumbai (Bombay )street highways.
A shame about no photography inside. Is this an absolute? Is there a possibility you could enquire as a serious photographer to visit with an appointment to shoot the interior. But maybe such things are better witnessed for real.
A good choice of camera for all that detail. Superb story and photo's Brian.

 

[Brian Moore]

Incredible carvings and traditional architecture by the looks of it.
When I first started to read your piece, I pictured a building in a street, so my approach was with some presumptions that were soon dispelled and this could have been in India itself and I'd have not known different. Even down to the palms that line many Mumbai (Bombay )street highways.
A shame about no photography inside. Is this an absolute? Is there a possibility you could enquire as a serious photographer to visit with an appointment to shoot the interior. But maybe such things are better witnessed for real.
A good choice of camera for all that detail. Superb story and photo's Brian.

Thank you Julian. No photography inside is not an absolute. Indeed, I went on line ASAP to learn more about the temple and saw interior photos. However, the place was empty when the interior photos were shot. For me the true appeal of the indoor images would have been the people and the sunlight.

 

[Julian de'Courcy]

Thank you Julian. No photography inside is not an absolute. Indeed, I went on line ASAP to learn more about the temple and saw interior photos. However, the place was empty when the interior photos were shot. For me the true appeal of the indoor images would have been the people and the sunlight.

Yes Brian I did wonder if it was the social aspect within the building that was of interest.
I am sure you are also aware these Merrill's you can set the volume to zero via the sound menu to complete silence which I have found very useful at times in certain situations where it is ok to photograph but would be impolite to be making loud camera noises. .

 

[Brian Moore]

Yes Brian I did wonder if it was the social aspect within the building that was of interest.
I am sure you are also aware these Merrill's you can set the volume to zero via the sound menu to complete silence which I have found very useful at times in certain situations where it is ok to photograph but would be impolite to be making loud camera noises. .

Thanks Julian. Actually I didn't know that but I appreciate you mentioning it. (Coming from, and still inhabiting, the film camera/SLR space, any sound more subdued than a lorry lurching forward uphill in 1st with a heavy load and a hole in its muffler seems quiet.) Nevertheless, inside the temple quiet wasn't the issue anyway. There was quite a bit of hubbub and ambient noise. I could probably have sneaked off a shot or two without anyone knowing but I would have been nothing more than a shit had I done so. (However, I hasten to add that I know you were not advocating such, Julian!)

 

[Milan Vjestica]

An excellent set Brian.

 

[Pete Askew]

A very interesting account and a a fine set to go with it. I like especially the first with all that symmetry going on and the detail in the last. I wonder what the footage from the drone turn out like?

 

[Brian Moore]

An excellent set Brian.

Thanks Milan. Much appreciated.

 

[Brian Moore]

A very interesting account and a a fine set to go with it. I like especially the first with all that symmetry going on and the detail in the last. I wonder what the footage from the drone turn out like?

Thanks, Pete. Maybe they posted that drone footage? Or maybe they will? I'll have to check their website. By the way, Pete, the drone buzzed me when I was taking the first picture in the above set.

 

[Pete Askew]

Maybe they are like flies and are attracted to shiny surfaces. Were you not wearing your baseball cap?!

 

[Brian Moore]

Maybe they are like flies and are attracted to shiny surfaces. Were you not wearing your baseball cap?!

Cheeky bugger!

 

[Rob MacKillop]

Great stuff, Brian. The clarity in the last one is astonishing, and only a mere jpg from a camera reputed to have awful jpgs!

 

[Brian Moore]

Great stuff, Brian. The clarity in the last one is astonishing, and only a mere jpg from a camera reputed to have awful jpgs!

Thanks Rob. Much appreciated.

 

[Douglas McMann]

What and incredible piece of architecture Brian...I remember seeing one just south of Sydney the first time we were in Australia...mesmerising...

 

[Brian Moore]

What and incredible piece of architecture Brian...I remember seeing one just south of Sydney the first time we were in Australia...mesmerising...

Turns out its called a "mandir" Dougie. That's the word for a Hindu temple. That one in Sydney belongs to the same Hindu sect as the one I visited: Swaminarayan.

 

[Ivar Dahl-Larsen]

Thank you for bringing me back to India Brian, quite an interesting story and strange to see it in California. Almost makes me bring out some of mine.

 

[Julian de'Courcy]

Thanks Julian. Actually I didn't know that but I appreciate you mentioning it. (Coming from, and still inhabiting, the film camera/SLR space, any sound more subdued than a lorry lurching forward uphill in 1st with a heavy load and a hole in its muffler seems quiet.) Nevertheless, inside the temple quiet wasn't the issue anyway. There was quite a bit of hubbub and ambient noise. I could probably have sneaked off a shot or two without anyone knowing but I would have been nothing more than a shit had I done so. (However, I hasten to add that I know you were not advocating such, Julian!)

Yes I'd not take photo there, I always ask if in doubt and if they say no, fully respect that. I had however contemplated this method in a gallery recently and in fact they allowed photo's within reason, so missed out on the adrenalin rush.