Showing posts with label Rajasthan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Rajasthan. Show all posts

Monday, January 23, 2023

Young Girl, Banjara Community, Rajasthan, India


Between 2006 and 2010, this tribe was photographed in collaboration with the good people of Humana People to People India. In the beginning, this specific tribe was associated with a foundation school near Behror, Rajasthan. They then move further away in order to remove themselves from the urban chaos and in search of their more traditional way of life.

This resulted in their children losing access to the foundation's school, one in which they are enrolled for about three hours per day, outside of their daily chores and work duties. While outside of class, these children collect plastic and so forth in order to sell in bulk later. They also approach certain people for donations in the streets.

As noted in Wikipedia, 'women are known to wear colorful and beautiful costumes and have tattoos on their hands.The dress is considered fancy and attractive by Western cultures. They use mirror chips and often coins to decorate it. Women put on thick bangles on their arms Their ornaments are made up of silver rings, coins,chain and hair pleat are tied together at the end by Chotla.'

Note: canvas print 36” x 36”

Monday, January 16, 2023

Solar Project, Humana People to People India, Rajasthan, India


Going back to memories of my first few years in India, guided by the great people at @humanaindia in Rajasthan. These woman were taking part in a solar energy project, taking a torch home for the evening and bringing it back to charge the next morning. 

Sunday, January 8, 2023

Moon + 2 Birds, Virat Nagar, Rajasthan, 2020

During my quarantine in Rajasthan for the early part of 2020, the birds were my companions while walking in the fields. My host family welcomed me without question and gave me a room in which to stay for six weeks until my return home. So I would set up the camera on the tripod in the middle of the field and walk around and around. Once the moon was just right and birds started to fly, I would cross over to the center of the field to release the shutter. So this image has immense meaning for me, and I am thankful to have had such friends both on the ground and in the sky.

Thursday, December 29, 2022

Woman + Business Plan, Halim Ina, Humana People to People India, Rajasthan, India


This wonderful woman has used her small loan to purchase this animal, and has done well for herself. In collaboration with Humana People to People India she has been able to enhance her ability to provide for her family. 

Monday, December 26, 2022

Young Girl + Family Kitchen, Humana People to People, Rajasthan, India

In this village my collaboration with @humanaindia began in 2006, and the photography continues to the present. For this portrait we walked around the village with the teacher and visited the homes of the students. These experiences have enriched my life more than words can express. The girls just loved to role pay, and this young girl stood for her portrait in the family's open kitchen as the light came through the doorway.

Thursday, December 8, 2022

Teacher and Student, Sewing Center, Virat Nagar, Rajasthan, India, 2020


2020 was like another world, and I hope that this community is safe during these difficult days. Soon we hope that the centers can reopen and that they can make more beautiful clothing for their families and learn a valuable trade at the same time. In this picture stand the teacher and her student, on the rooftop which once did not exist when we first began our photography in 2006. Amazing how photography has documented the changes my eyes have witnessed over the years.

Monday, December 5, 2022

Young Woman + Kanjar Community, Rajasthan, India


Let’s imagine for one minute sitting on a bench on the side of the road, looking into a mirror making sure the presentation is just right. Then imagine one of the countless truck drivers passing by notices and stops. The man then walks over to inquire about certain services. Then let’s imagine that our uncle comes over to agree on the price before we are expected to perform those services in our own home.

This is the reality for this young women, her aunts, her nieces and neighbors. Her community trades in sex, and the women are the products which the men of the community trade. 

Our minute of our imagination is her reality for 1,440 minutes each day.

Wednesday, November 23, 2022

Banjara Elder + Tent, Rajasthan, India

Looking back at my experiences with the Banjara community in Rajasthan, and grateful for their permission to make their portraits. This picture really brings back fond memories of those early days, as we searched for a young girl named Sharda. She was photographed by me on my first visit to India, when I was documenting the great work by Humana People to People India. Ever since that year we looked for her, and found her at this camp when we photographed her yet again years later.

 

Monday, November 21, 2022

Day Laborers + Government Project, Virat Nagar, Rajasthan, India, 2020


I can’t imagine taking only monochrome film with me to India and am grateful to have taken the chance years ago and especially during last year’s quarantine in Rajasthan!

Thank you Nami Gujjar!

Baba + Children, Virat Nagar, Rajasthan, India, 2007


Looking back at my experiences with @humanaindia in Rajasthan, here with Baba holding court in one of the villages. His ability to connect with people amazes me to this day. He used to walk kilometers from his village to the office in town. This picture really brings back fond memories of those early days!

Wednesday, November 9, 2022

Banjara + I, Behror, Rajasthan, India


My friend Niranjan Rajput thankfully made this snapshot of the girls and I after the photography. The expressions say it all, especially that of the girl at the end!

In the beginning, this specific tribe is associated with a foundation school near Behror, Rajasthan. Later they move further away in order to remove themselves from the urban chaos and in search of their more traditional way of life.

This results in their children losing access to the foundation's school, one in which they are enrolled for about three hours per day, outside of their daily chores and work duties. While outside of class, these children collect plastic and so forth in order to sell in bulk later. They also approach certain people for donations in the streets.

As noted in Wikipedia, 'women are known to wear colorful and beautiful costumes and have tattoos on their hands.The dress is considered fancy and attractive by Western cultures. They use mirror chips and often coins to decorate it. Women put on thick bangles on their arms [Patli].Their ornaments are made up of silver rings, coins,chain and hair pleat are tied together at the end by Chotla.'

Wednesday, November 2, 2022

Young Banjara, Rajasthan, India, 2010


Another memory from over a dozen years ago... and proof!

This is her second portrait in as many years. The first time we met was during my first visit to India, during a special day arranged by Humana People to People India. On this day many activities were under way, including one contest between women walking very fast with containers balanced on their heads.

My first portrait of this young girl was made behind the main tent, with white fabric from the tent serving as the backdrop. This portrait was made the following year at her school, a basic open classroom on the roof of a building donated to the foundation. While she was absent when we first arrived, she showed up later because she heard that we were there to photograph her once again.

A previous entry described this incredible day; suffice it to put down at this moment that over ten dozen images were made of her, ranging from two clips in the hair to one clip to a roll or so without either clip.

The year following this portrait my documentation of her continued, this time in a village a bit distant from the school. By this time, she and her community had moved out of the town to a more remote location. The children had stopped attending the foundation's school and she was working as a house maid as well as tending to the family's livestock.

Two years after the portrait above our collaboration ended. Although we found her once again after asking around, by this time she had become so shy, so conscious of herself, that she refrained from even stepping out of the tent to exchange greetings. The younger girls were making fun of her, even teasing her about the attention she was receiving from this stranger.

So we of course respected her wishes and photographed the younger girls. One day they too will refrain from being photographed. Until that time however we will return.


Sunday, July 17, 2022

School Children + Badminton Rackets, Alwar, Rajasthan, India


This is what I miss about India, the spontaneity. You wake up in the morning with camera in hand and find yourself in the middle of a crowd of children. The Rajasthani landscape is sublime as is the sunshine. Having these images to view decades later is a gift beyond measure.

Sunday, March 27, 2022

Young Laborer + Shawl, 2020, India, Limited Edition (50), 11x14 Handmade Silver Gelatin Print Toned in Selenium


This young woman works during the day as a laborer in one of the Rajasthani government's construction jobs. My friend tells me that these jobs exist in order to subsidize the local economy and those without a skill set with respect to formal training. This young woman walks a few kilometers each way with her lunch container in hand. She is full covered for the work and does so under the grueling sun. Normally the men are supervising the work, but at times also join in. The work is tedious and never ends. Her work for example is to carry endless baskets of dirt from one place to another, all uphill since they are digging for a dam. Every year the project continues and it seems that there is no end in sight.

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 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/180mm, and the frame was exposed onto Ilford Delta 100. This frame 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. .

Each print will be signed and dated by me, the photographer, and numbered to a maximum of 50 prints (11x14) per negative.

Sunday, December 19, 2021

Young Woman + Lantern, Humana People to People India, Rajasthan, India, 2008


A young woman on her way home with the solar lantern in hand. It was turned on for the photograph, as the HPPI team liked to show its function.

THE Cook + Motorcycle, Virat Nagar, Rajasthan, India, 2008


Those hands fed me on countless evenings, as we would return from the villages. That smile was always there, his personality shined day in and day out!

Saturday, December 18, 2021

Mother + Entrepreneur, Humana People to People India, Rajasthan, India, 2013

Here is a portrait of another recipient of a micro-loan sponsored by Humana People to People India almost 8 years ago. At that time I was collaborating with this great team and helped to document this project in Virat Nagar, Rajasthan. This is one of my favorite places in India, since it also was the site of 16 beautiful schools for girls.

As an extension of the development programs in the region, micro-finance provided access to loans for certain portions of the population without such. This wonderful mother decided to use her funds to purchase this machine, and was able to feed her animals more efficiently. This in turn enabled her to purchase more animals, and have more milk for her family as well as for the market. 

Seeing real change as it happens is a marvel, and I cannot thank Humana People to People India enough for such an education!  

Wednesday, November 3, 2021

Woman + Humana People to People India, Rajasthan, India, 2010


These images are over 8 years old and from my time of innocence in this wonderful land. At that time I was following those around me and documenting the great work being done by Humana People to People India. They had asked me to photograph a micro-finance project in the Virat Nagar area of Rajasthan.

This was one of my favorite spots for many reasons, one of which was a group of girls schools in the villages. At the time there were 16 schools for girls, and Humana was doing its best to transition out-of-school girls smoothly back into school. In these same villages there were examples of women who had taken on small loans in order to help their families.

In this case, this young mother had used the small loan to purchase this animal... and had used the proceeds from her new endeavor to purchase the gold in her hands. She told us that she would accumulate more in order to pass it onto her daughter when he daughter gets married in the future. We were witnessing change at the grass-roots, as it was happening right before our eyes!



Thursday, August 26, 2021

Full Moon + Quarantine, Rajasthan, India, 2020



This image of the full moon during the lockdown last year marked the lowest point of my stay in the country. Having this print almost a year later gives me both pause and perspective. While I may have felt isolated like the moon in that dark space, the reality was that I had the support of the kind hosts as well as the prayers of my family back home. Far from alone I was, thanks to Nami and his kind family.

Note: negative exposed with a Hasselblad 501CM/180mm combination, printed in the darkroom onto Ilford 11x14 fiber paper, toned in selenium for permanence.

Friday, February 12, 2021

Shanu + Book Bag, Rajasthan, India, 2020


She is always so serious when in front of a camera, even when receiving a new book bag in front of her classmates. All of the sewing students attended and presented each student with a new uniform as well, hand-made by them. This is an incredible house, home to both the sewing instructor and the elementary school teacher... both sisters. I have visited this home since before this classroom was built, even before the second floor was made. The young woman next to me, now the teacher, used to be a student in the girls' school back then. One look at the smiles of the sewing students tells me that the sewing center needs to open soon, and open soon it will once the virus eases its grip on the world.