Everywhere you look in India there is a photograph waiting to be taken. The towns, countryside and people shimmer with colour, vibrancy and variety. It is reminiscent of the stunning photography in National Geographic magazine. People live their lives right in front of you. Yet despite this I took few pictures.
Pictures I didn't take:
1) Choking pollution. Riding out of the crystal clarity of the Himalayas I was soon smothered in India's industrial smog. Factories billowing brown clouds, trucks belching black exhaust, roadside fires of litter adding to this acrid mix. The sky was a gritty, dirty brown. The sun was a meek orange disc. At every crossroads there was traffic anarchy. Indians put the bus stations and taxi ranks at these cauldrons of chaos for added drama. And dogs dodge death (usually) and sacred cows stroll calmly through this bedlam, pausing occasionally to eat rubbish.
I thought every Indian town would be this bad, so didn't capture this post apocalyptic scene on film.
2) Everyday beauty. The industrial zone around the city of Jammu gave way to vast plains of lush green paddy fields framed by silvery irrigation channels. Women in bright red, green and gold saris toiled in the fields or walked homeward balancing bundles of firewood on their heads. They seemed to live their lives largely separate from the men - who sit in tea houses chatting. It didn't seem right to photograph them.
3) Bathtime. Beside many roadside cafes there is often a large open tank of water. Locals and lorry drivers strip to their underpants and wash themselves and their clothes. Good to see this level of hygiene, but I guessed photography would be inappropriate.
4) Schoolchildren. In some rural areas the government give girls cycles to ride to school. So you see processions of girls weaing nun like uniforms riding old fashioned style bikes - all gleaming in the early morning sunlight.
Smaller children are squeezed into tiny 3 wheeled tuk tuks. Ten children fit into each, with the rear row facing backwards, we wave and say hello when we overtake each other.
5) Basic, rural villages. Clusters of simple huts, with clean swept yards. Oxen tethered close by, chicken roaming free. Women pumping water from nearby wells, toddlers playing in the dust, school age children tending meagre flocks of goats. I wouldn't like it if tourists took pictures of me in my normal life, I afford the same respect and privacy to the villagers.
6) A tiger. See below.
Now for photographs I did take:
Pictures I didn't take:
1) Choking pollution. Riding out of the crystal clarity of the Himalayas I was soon smothered in India's industrial smog. Factories billowing brown clouds, trucks belching black exhaust, roadside fires of litter adding to this acrid mix. The sky was a gritty, dirty brown. The sun was a meek orange disc. At every crossroads there was traffic anarchy. Indians put the bus stations and taxi ranks at these cauldrons of chaos for added drama. And dogs dodge death (usually) and sacred cows stroll calmly through this bedlam, pausing occasionally to eat rubbish.
I thought every Indian town would be this bad, so didn't capture this post apocalyptic scene on film.
2) Everyday beauty. The industrial zone around the city of Jammu gave way to vast plains of lush green paddy fields framed by silvery irrigation channels. Women in bright red, green and gold saris toiled in the fields or walked homeward balancing bundles of firewood on their heads. They seemed to live their lives largely separate from the men - who sit in tea houses chatting. It didn't seem right to photograph them.
3) Bathtime. Beside many roadside cafes there is often a large open tank of water. Locals and lorry drivers strip to their underpants and wash themselves and their clothes. Good to see this level of hygiene, but I guessed photography would be inappropriate.
4) Schoolchildren. In some rural areas the government give girls cycles to ride to school. So you see processions of girls weaing nun like uniforms riding old fashioned style bikes - all gleaming in the early morning sunlight.
Smaller children are squeezed into tiny 3 wheeled tuk tuks. Ten children fit into each, with the rear row facing backwards, we wave and say hello when we overtake each other.
5) Basic, rural villages. Clusters of simple huts, with clean swept yards. Oxen tethered close by, chicken roaming free. Women pumping water from nearby wells, toddlers playing in the dust, school age children tending meagre flocks of goats. I wouldn't like it if tourists took pictures of me in my normal life, I afford the same respect and privacy to the villagers.
6) A tiger. See below.
Now for photographs I did take:
 |
| On average, one truck a day crashes OVER the edge in the Himalayas |
 |
| This kind man let me ride his Roayal Enfield Bullet, 350cc |
 |
| Taj Mahal, Agra, nr Delhi. Sublime. |
 |
| No tiger. But I did see a wild leopard - you will have to look closely. |
You took that photo of the leopard? You are crazy.
ReplyDeleteYou took that photo of the leopard? You are crazy.
ReplyDelete