Mountain stories

My Photo scholarship 2010 entry

India | Saturday, October 16, 2010 | 3 photos

A place is as much about the people as the people are about the place. Through my photographs, I have chosen to highlight the lives of the people of Agunda. Agunda is a remote village in the Indian state of Uttarakhand, in the higher regions of the Himaalays. I spent a year there working on an alternative energy and community mobilization project. Through my experience I learnt about community living. The selected photographs highlight the interdependence of the community and show different scenarios in which they come together to support each other. In the first photograph something as small as hair lice brings girls and women of different age groups together. In the second photograph the process of ropai (sowing of rice), an essential part of life, brings families together. In the third photograph, the entire village comes together to chip-in in the celebration of building a house for a family. Each of these represent the spirit of cooperation and love.

My experience in Agunda has instilled in me a passion of telling stories through photographs. I believe that photography has the potential to touch lives, shape opinions and preserve cultures. This opportunity will give me a chance to further explore and develop my philosophy of using photography as a powerful tool to tell stories under the tutelage of a great photographer. The mentorship I get through this experience will be crucial in shaping my future, not only in terms of my skills, but also in terms of my personal vision of photography. I believe that I would be a good candidate for this scholarship because not only do I have the eagerness to learn, I also have a sensitivity towards communities and a desire to develop a deeper understanding of them, not only photograph them.