India, part 1, Introduction

Notes and observations

It's a cliche of course, but I have to repeat it anyway. India is a land of extreme contrasts: rich and poor; ugly and beautiful, often in the closest proximity. One billion people in an area smaller than the lower 48 states in the US. The poverty is shocking, but not unexpected. The road from the Mumbai airport to downtown is lined with slums and shacks. Thousands of people living in the poorest conditions with no sanitation.

Ahmedabad, which is a relatively prosperous city, has a great many beautiful new office and apartment buildings and shopping malls. Nathan was amazed by the change in only three years. Signs of India's new prosperity are everywhere. Many of the buildings are architecturally world class: Le Corbusier and Louis Kahn built several buildings there, and the tradition has been passed through Balkrishna Doshi to a generation of new architects. The streets are well paved.

But the zone between the streets and the buildings or apartment complex walls is utter chaos: 5 to 10 meters of dusty unpaved land filled with squatter's sheds, merchants, vendors, hawkers, parked vehicles, cows, goats, dogs, and trash. Few sidewalks. Trash is dumped here. The poor scavange it for anything of value; the animals eat any vegetable matter. What's left is burned, adding to the already severe pollution. Not a pretty picture. It's not easy to walk in most Indian cities. You get pushed out to the street, which is filled with bicycles, motorcycles, motor scooters, autorickshaws, motorcycle-rickshaws, cars, busses, trucks, cows, goats, and carts drawn by camels, bullocks, or horses, all traveling at different speeds and all honking wildly. Even boars occasionally. The Honda scooters sound like ducks. Crossing the street is an adventure every time.

Yet there is a curious calm midst all the chaos. There is a spirit to the people: stoic, positive, and cheerful. I saw no sign of the road rage you might experience in Los Angeles when traffic is a fraction as stressful.

This chaos is not without interest but it's not easy to photograph because you attract too much attention, the light is often harsh, and the extreme visual clutter makes fine composition difficult. I mostly saw it while driving.

The other side of India is a middle class society that resembles Europe and the US, though not quite as affluent. Only the poorest of the poor lack cell phones. TV ads feature all the familiar consumer products as well as mutual funds and consumer credit. They present the Indian version of the American dream— pure fantasy for most. A Blackberry ad shows a savvy businessman next to his private helicopter. An extreme rarity, even in the US.

India has an excellent education system, although it doesn't seem to be universal. People care a great deal about education. I was struck by the number of schools at all levels, particularly the universities. It bodes well for India's future. But the vast impoverished underclass— a remnant of the caste system— remains a profound problem.

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	Ranakpur
	My favorite image of the trip was taken inside the Ranakpur Jain temple, between Udaipur and Jodhpur. It was taken with the the 10-22mm lens zoomed all the way out (10mm) to capture the feel of the architecture and the life of this magnificent temple. View more images of Ranakpur's remarkable sculptures here. There are several difficulties in photographing India. 1. Unwanted attention. A white guy with a huge camera stands out like a very sore thumb. No escape. Merchants and rickshaw drivers clamor persistently for your business; they haven't learned the art of "soft sell." Poor people (and India has many) ask to be photographed— for rupees, of course. If you look rich, and anybody with a large camera is rich by their standards, they ask for exhorbitant fees. I can't blame them, but I spent a lot of effort dodging them. However I paid to photograph a photographer (below) who wanted to take my picture. 2. Harsh light. In semi-arid western India there is hardly a cloud in the sky except during monsoon season (usually June-September). As always, the "golden hour," within two hours of sunrise and sunset, is the best time. India is extremely polluted. Don't expect any clear sweeping vistas. Smog can be used to photographic advantage. It doesn't please me to do so, but there's no choice.