Their village is their world, and more exactly their home is their world. Unless they are attending school, they are almost always within the confines of their homes.
They’re fully aware of the hardships facing them and yet they persevere and endure through it all. In this classroom they could be themselves and act out their creative thoughts. It’s been an honor to be at their side all of these years.
This elderly man stands watch over the school in his village on a daily basis. During the day he sits in front of the school hoping to receive donations for the school from cars passing by on the road. He also has a wonderful voice as we were honored to record one afternoon. It's been my privilege to have known this man.
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I can’t imagine taking only monochrome film with me to India and am grateful to have taken the chance years ago… the colors of the shawls and faces in Uttar Pradesh!
I do miss these young girls and their friends, and have the highest respect for their courage in the midst of indifference and intolerance. Their village is the one in which I sleep during my stay in Uttar Pradesh, thanks to @chmunshadali and his beautiful family.
Their village is their world, and more exactly their home is their world. Unless they are attending school, they are almost always within the confines of their homes.
They’re fully aware of the hardships facing them and yet they persevere and endure through it all. In this classroom they could be themselves and act out their creative thoughts. It’s been an honor to be at their side all of these years.
I can’t imagine taking only monochrome film with me to India and am grateful to have taken the chance years ago… the colors of the shawls and faces in Uttar Pradesh!
This is what happens when the digital camera comes out. The girls start to run around, pick friends and get creative. We use available light and sit still while the students direct the photography. I’m blessed to have film portraits of all these girls, and some digital images as a reminder of our times together.
In many instances, life after the death of the husband is a life waiting for death itself. So many women are married when quite young to men much older than them. As a result, the death of their husbands leaves them as young women with children and without a security net. The stories are endless, the humiliation eternal.
Depending on position and caste, some of these women are forced to shave their heads, others refrain from wearing jewelry or from presenting their beauty to the world. They are to remain invisible for the rest of their lives, almost as a means to relieve Society from its conscience. With over 40,000,000 widows in existence, this leaves a void difficult to ignore.
Like many widows, she has been left to defend for herself and for her children. Instead of being looked after by her community, she belongs to the majority receiving nothing from the State and lacking a pension.
In many instances, life after the death of the husband is a life waiting for death itself. So many women are married when quite young to men much older than them. As a result, the death of their husbands leaves them as young women with children and without a security net. The stories are endless, the humiliation eternal.
Depending on position and caste, some of these women are forced to shave their heads, others refrain from wearing jewelry or from presenting their beauty to the world. They are to remain invisible for the rest of their lives, almost as a means to relieve Society from its conscience. With over 40,000,000 widows in existence, this leaves a void difficult to ignore.
I remember her very well. While we waited for softer light, she insisted on being photographed right then and there. Her reason was that she needed to go home. All of a sudden all the girls wanted to be photographed right then. She had a great attitude and did her best with the sunlight!
In many instances, life after the death of the husband is a life waiting for death itself. So many women are married when quite young to men much older than them. As a result, the death of their husbands leaves them as young women with children and without a security net. The stories are endless, the humiliation eternal.
Depending on position and caste, some of these women are forced to shave their heads, others refrain from wearing jewelry or from presenting their beauty to the world. They are to remain invisible for the rest of their lives, almost as a means to relieve Society from its conscience. With over 40,000,000 widows in existence, this leaves a void difficult to ignore.
This is a silver gelatin print of a young student made by me, the photographer, in my darkroom. It is printed on Ilford MGIVWT glossy fiber 11x14 paper, and toned in selenium for permanence. It is processed in a Zone VI washer to archival standards, and allowed to dry overnight on a screen. The camera/lens combination was a Hasselblad 501CM/100mm, and the frame was exposed onto Kodak's fabulous Tri-X film. This portrait is from a library of well over 300,000 negatives exposed over the last 24 years, from four continents and a dozen countries. Every person is spoken with prior to the portrait, and the process is explained fully. Most of my work is on film, and the countries are revisited year after year in order to continue the documentation of the same families, of the same communities.
This young girl attends a religious school six days a week, and endures a most conservative society day to day. We have worked with her school for the past eight years and hope to support her headmaster with his vision to bring a more rounded curriculum to his school. Their headmaster is a wonderful man and hopes to expand the curriculum past the existing one based on religion only. Her village is quite a ways from the main road, tiny and incredibly serene. This is the only world she knows.
The purpose of selling these portraits on Etsy is to support the social work being accomplished through my photography. Presently we have six sewing centers in two states of India, serving both the Hindu and the Muslim communities. In these sewing centers, young women learn a trade while also making clothing for their families. The centers are located in the rural areas, where young women have only one option normally, marriage and a family. At this moment, due to COVID-19, the work is on hold. However, we plan to restart the centers in 2022 and the funds from the sale of these portraits will be applied to the work in India.
As a side note, my belief is that you will be very pleased with the print in person, as the tones of a silver gelatin print are difficult to represent through the screen. One may sense the surface of the print by looking at the gloss in certain areas of the print's surface. In the end, the print you will receive will be slightly different than the one represented on the screen, both in tone and in emotional impact... different in the best sense of the word. Every print is an original, and my hope is that it finds a good space in your home.
Each print will be signed and dated by me, the photographer, and numbered to a maximum of 50 prints (11x14) per negative.
They’re fully aware of the hardships facing them and yet they persevere and endure through it all. In this classroom they could be themselves and act out their creative thoughts. It’s been an honor to be at their side all of these years.
This village specifically, and this very school, are dear to me. The school itself is very small, has perhaps 24 girls and 20 boys. This is the scenery just behind the school, and all around it as well. The children are so curious and deserve our best in order to help improve their circumstances. We hope to do better in 2022.
This young girl attends a religious school six days a week, and endures a most conservative society day to day. We have worked with this school for the past eight years and hope to support their headmaster with his vision to bring a more rounded curriculum to his school. She and her sister are identical twins, with the exception of the pattern on her right cheek. They both love to be photographed and their eyes open wide when we ask them to come over. Their headmaster is a wonderful man and hopes to expand the curriculum past the existing one based on religion only.
The purpose of selling these portraits on Etsy is to support the social work being accomplished through my photography. Presently we have six sewing centers in two states of India, serving both the Hindu and the Muslim communities. In these sewing centers, young women learn a trade while also making clothing for their families. The centers are located in the rural areas, where young women have only one option normally, marriage and a family. At this moment, due to COVID-19, the work is on hold. However, we plan to restart the centers in 2022 and the funds from the sale of these portraits will be applied to the work in India.
This is a silver gelatin print of a young student made by me, the photographer, in my darkroom. It is printed on Ilford MGIVWT glossy fiber 11x14 paper, and toned in selenium for permanence. It is processed in a Zone VI washer to archival standards, and allowed to dry overnight on a screen. The camera/lens combination was a Hasselblad 501CM/100mm, and the frame was exposed onto Kodak's fabulous Tri-X film.
As a side note, my belief is that you will be very pleased with the print in person, as the tones of a silver gelatin print are difficult to represent through the screen. One may sense the surface of the print by looking at the gloss in certain areas of the print's surface. In the end, the print you will receive will be slightly different than the one represented on the screen, both in tone and in emotional impact... different in the best sense of the word. Every print is an original, and my hope is that it finds a good space in your home.
Each print will be signed and dated by me, the photographer, and numbered to a maximum of 50 prints (11x14) per negative.
