Last week I was on assignment for a magazine in Pondicherry, Tamil Nadu photographing the French influence on the place.
As you can see, my presence didn’t go unnoticed… The local newspaper decided that me laying on the floor to get a better angle on a military band was front page news… as was the arrest of the poor chap who, slightly worse for wear on the local hooch, chose that moment to have a little dance in front of me and then squared up to the band leader – presumably for not playing his favourite tune…
In any case, I made a frame and clearly gave the local newsroom a laugh.
Here’s a recent tearsheet for the German Magazine, Effilee of an article that I wrote and photographed about a particular response to non-native invasive (alien) species – Muntjac Deer, Grey Squirrel and American Crayfish… the German headline has it best – something like, “Who is a stranger here is eaten”. Less sensationally, the piece explores the environmental fallout of introduced species and a discussion about both ‘speciesism’ and, the realization that we now live in an age that may come to be known as the Anthrocene.
Appropriately on Valentine’s Day, the New York Times carries a piece today about the changing landscape of romance and especially kissing in Indian society. During my project about documenting Delhi’s green spaces, I photographed many couples seeking intimacy in public places unable to do so at home. Here are a couple of images from the series Public Spaces, Private Lives. A fuller set ran on the Camera Obscura blogin 2009 with a little interview about the work.
Happy Valentine’s Day.
India – New Delhi – A couple hold hands in the park at India Gate. Public displays of affection are rare in a conservative city like Delhi. The parks and open spaces however are often full of romantic couples away from the prying eyes of traditional families
India – New Delhi – A couple in the grounds of the Purana Qila share an intimate moment
Amazing what you find walking the streets of Cairo (my new favourite city I think)…
Egypt – Cairo – A young man smokes a shisha pipe outside an ahwa (coffeehouse) whilst wearing a facepack to look his best for his wedding later that evening
It’s deeply saddening to discover that in Mali, militants seem to have systematically destroyed much of West Africa’s Islamic heritage by ransacking and torching the libraries that hold priceless Korans and Hadiths.
Some years ago I made a story in nearby Mauritania about the wind destroying the desert cities of Chinguetti and Oudane, both significant repositories of similar ancient manuscripts. I wrote:
“Once upon a time, the Wind grew jealous of the prosperous cities and resolved to bury them beneath the sands so that the only traces were old men and dusty books. So it was that the wind crashed against the purple stone mass of the Adrar, the mountain range that crosses Mauritania in West Africa. It blew until the rocks were carved into sculptures of fearful complexity. It blew until the dunes advanced and Chinguetti and Ouadane, two once mighty cities of scholars and traders of the Sahara, began to choke under the ocean of sand. Today they are almost gone…”
Mauritania – Chinguetti – A librarian reads an ancient Koran outside the Chinguetti Mosque
Mauritania – Chinguetti – Ancient books, Korans and lahs inside a traditional library
Mauritania – Chinguetti – A man hold a wooden lah covered in Koranic inscriptions
Mauritania – Chinguetti – A pile of priceless manuscripts in a desert library
