Best Friends + Classroom, Shamli District, Uttar Pradesh, India, 2019

Day before yesterday we photographed their school for the first time this year. We visited this school many times over the past few years but this year they have made a more serious effort to include more girls. They are also looking to hire more teachers and improve their level of education.

Our session included an impromptu hour of photography in their classroom and in front of their friends, thus the smiles on their incredible faces.

Over the past three weeks we have visited over 10 villages and reconnected with all madrasas within them thanks to my brother Imdadulla Nadvi and his trust in our collaboration. Tomorrow we set out to visit two more schools and meet more beautiful students of this region.

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Xtina + Forest, Last Weekend, Ohio, 2017

We met through her sublime teacher Anna, when we were raising funds for Nirvana and the schools in Rajasthan. One day the entire class visited the Cleveland Museum of Art and asked me to come along. It was an honor of course, and a treat. During our visit one fresh face come along, fresh because she was absent when we photographed the class on my previous visit.

She had a way about her, and my reaction told Anna that we needed to set up a session just for her. So we did soon after that museum trip. She was truly a natural, years ahead of her age at that time. Xtina has since become an accomplished photographer herself, dedicating herself to the medium of film as well.

While there are countless remarkable features about Xtina, one which has impressed me deeply is her continued communication with me. We have maintained contact ever since those first days, and such contact culminated in our collaboration just this past weekend. Walking through the forest with such a creative, open mind inspired me even more so. While we only had an hour or so to create, the few rolls which were exposed will hopefully yield images such as this digital sample.

She is a sister to the girls in my work from Cuba, India, Lebanon and beyond... and truly understands their lives, their dreams. Xtina and her family do more than hope, they act on behalf of the girls in India... and for such they have my sincerest gratitude.

My hope is that the weather gives us a chance to do this again, and within the next few weeks!

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Note: This image was made with a Sony RX100M3.