INDIA, water and smoke

My Photo scholarship 2011 entry

India | Saturday, September 24, 2011 | 5 photos

I am Adric Watson, 22, and I grew up in the Australian bush. I have been practicing and studying Cinematography for over 5 years now. Photography is not just an extension of this, but a passion of equal measure. I am compelled by the framed image, moving or still. It is my deepest method of communication.

In early 2011 I left Australia for the first time in my life. I left with no more than a small pack and an old Minolta. I went to India, alone, with no plan, no friends, and overcome with the kind of terror only absolute alienation can bring upon a person.

I landed in the dark of Mumbai to be whisked away on the back of a motorbike by a stranger I'd met on the internet. I let go of my fear and soon found myself being swept about the strange, dirty, colourful, country like in a dream. Two months flew by, though it felt like a lifetime, and I'd travelled up and down the West coast, North to South.

I returned to Australia and upon developing and reviewing my photos I found a theme that seemed to span throughout the series. There was a distinct loneliness, or solace, in the images. Mirroring my own feelings of alienation, I had captured individuals, alone, and adrift amongst a billion others. It is something India does to a person, it makes you feel very, very small. I believe that there is a beauty in that. You lose your sense of self-importance, but not your significance. You become a drop in the Ganges, the sands of Rajasthan, or the smoke in Pune. I feel that this sense exists in these images. The truth of my India.