india: Chaos and Religion

My Photo scholarship 2010 entry

India | Wednesday, September 1, 2010 | 5 photos

These photos are dealing with the two basic features that you may discover when you exploring India:
Chaos and Religion.
Chaos is considered as the unique way that Indians live their everyday life.
Simplicity and inventiveness are mixed together just to give the necessary ease
to Indians to accomplish basic everyday functions.
For their point of view this is not a chaos at all.
For western people is something that they will not forget for their rest of their lives.

Religion is everywhere.
You may think that this country is devoted completely to religion and its manifestations.
Families travel for thousands of miles by train just to wet their feet to Ganges river or to
cremate their passed away relatives at the burning ghats.
Others, travel to Varanasi to have the opportunity to die there after an illness or because
they feel that the natural causes end is near. "If you die and be cremated there your soul goes
directly to paradise".
Every city in India has thousands of ancient religious temples where people gather everyday.
Religion in India is not a typical, Sunday procedure, is a cause for existence.

The reason I believe that I need to be chosen for the trip in Bhutan refers to a realization of me,
that a cooperation with a well known photographer as Jason Edwards is going to be an extremely
useful experience and a significant step to my professional career.
I could never afford such a trip or/and workshop, while at the same time I feel, somehow, that I
deserve one.
I work hard to document everyday life from an artistic point of view and although my work has some
recognition from the photographic community, I had never the opportunity to go a step further.
This trip could be this step.

J.J.