Where do I begin! A land so vast and diverse, teaming with so many different peoples, amazing food, abject poverty, untold wealth, the highest snowcapped peaks, scorching desserts, India has it all. I was born there and for the first few years of my life, it was my home and I have seen and experienced so very little of it.
Should you have read one or two of my previous posts, you’ll know that I have written a bit about a couple of my adventures there and also about some of my regrets for not haven made the most of my time there.
I have made many trips back to India, almost all of them from England and since coming to Canada sixteen years ago, just one. Likewise, the only times I really took advantage of my opportunities there to shoot, are just two and on both of those occasions, I didn’t maximize my time and the chances I had. Sadly, those times and opportunities are gone and I have missed plenty, I have written and mentioned this countless times I know – I hope I’m learning a lesson!
What I am going to tell you about today, are those times when I was out and about in India, the enjoyment I had and looking back now, so many years later what I would do should I have the chance again. Keep in mind, just like so many places around the world, India has changed drastically and though I know I have missed many chances in years gone by – they are gone – when I next have an opportunity to go and shoot, I’ll go there with an open mind making the most of how India is today.
Like so many, I enjoy documentary photography and as any photographer I am documenting what I see in the present, not the future or the past – it seems obvious, but it bears mentioning. This is why…we can imagine the future, however, it’s no good to dwell on the past and what could have been – the missed opportunities mentioned before – the time is now and one must make every attempt to take those images of those moments as they present themselves. Yes indeed, remember those past regrets, let them motivate you to not make the same mistakes over! So, if it seems in the following passages that I might be going back over some of those regrets – it’s not, I’m going over in my mind what I’m going to do on the next trip there – or anywhere for that matter!
Let me make a comparison here…I had made a couple of trips back to India, with my parents, in the 70’s and a couple to North America in the 80’s also with my parents. It was on the first trip to Canada in the summer of 1982 and the beginnings of my interest in photography, when travelling on a bus to Montreal, it struck me how we travelled for hours without seeing a soul (yes it was very different back then). The only thing I remember seeing was a lonely passenger train, parked on a siding somewhere, here was a stark difference with India, a country so different where you could not go anywhere without seeing hordes of people. Seriously, blink and you’ve missed the moment, there is so much going on, all around you, constantly, the ebb and flow of people, the vibrance of the environment. There are not enough words to describe India, nor can the many videos you can watch on the internet or television, do India justice, you need to be physically there to experience what can never be fully explained. India is incredible.
Another factor that struck me when I first started photographing in India, was that people would not object to being photographed, in fact it was quite the opposite! Where ever I went, people would stop to look at me or in fact pose within the scene I was shooting. When I say “pose”, I mean just stand there and look at me, half the time without any expression on their faces. A few times I have been asked for money, only on one occasion have I ever given over any money – even then it was very little.
Never have I ever felt threatened whilst photographing in India, people behave very differently all over the world, in India there’s a sense of calm, people seem unhurried, yet things get done and there is a purpose and it varies from place to place. As I have said India is vast and varied, I have seen very little of India, a fact I wish I could rectify. There is a tolerance here, with the land, with the people, they are both very welcoming and anyone travelling or photographing here will realize it very quickly.
When I first started taken photos in India, I have, on occasion been attempting to take photos of a scene, whilst people wantonly make their way into my frame, moving with my camera as I attempt to re-compose the image without them. It used to irk me, I learnt that by shooting a frame with them in it, would often solve the “problem”, later, as my experience grew, I learnt to incorporate them into my compositions.
On my first trip back to India - alone, twelve years after my last trip there with my parents, I was shooting for an exhibition I was to have in London. I had opportunities, that I regret I didn’t take advantage of. One of these was to go out with people working in orphanages photographing and documenting the children there – their lives and environment. Also, there was access for me to be on the street with these same people photographing “street kids”. It was a time, when I had reconnected with my family there – not that we were out-of-touch, far from it, but I hadn’t been back in twelve years, the last time I was there, I was still in school. It was a great time for me being with family I hadn’t seen much of and I was enjoying it so much, I passed up opportunities, that now, because society has changed (permission, exploitation), are very hard to photograph and document – unless you’re somewhat famous and turn-up with a film crew!
My last trip to India, ten years ago, I travelled with my own family and also some wonderful new gear I had only owned for two weeks! Travelling with my family was great, but also greatly limits your actions and movement as a photographer. As I written before, travelling with new gear, is not a great idea, as no matter how good you are, you haven’t given yourself enough time for the gear to become part of you – second nature!
India is over-whelming, and that does need to be taken into consideration when shooting there – when I was younger, I don’t think or feel that I had given it enough consideration. It’s easy to look back in hind-sight. Should I go back any time in the future now, I know I will find an India changed greatly from the time I was last there ten years ago and as we all know, everything changes so much faster now.
That first trip I made back to India, on my own, was in 1992 and I went for eight weeks, four of those I travelled and photographed constantly. Whilst I had the huge benefit of family there, it was still exhausting, but the rewards are enormous and so worthwhile. I can still feel the sense of excitement I had when I’m there photographing, even though I’m half way around the world now and it’s freezing here! As I have aged, I know my limitations and I am far less physically able now, but know this…I am far more determined now and I have the benefit of experience with me, I will be a force to be reckoned with on my next adventure!
I still have family there, though much fewer now, they have either passed away or moved away to other countries. It won’t be the same, but that’s fine, I will embrace the change and make the most of it. My outlook on life has changed, my photography has also evolved and matured, we’ll have to wait and see how my images reflect my vision of what I see and record. Perhaps there will be opportunities for me that I haven’t even thought about or considered! I hope so!! We will see. Till the next time…