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Photographer: Olivier
Föllmi; foreword: Ravi Shankar
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The world's most densely populated
country, and the tiger's last remaining
natural habitat, India is a land of
contradictions. In this book, with nearly
half of the images never before published,
Föllmi captures a place where tradition
and modernity coexist—the India
of the cell phone and the sacred cow.
He looks beyond the commotion and sensory
overload of the Indian street to examine
deeper truths about the people and their
culture. His photographs convey serenity
and stillness, expressing a philosophy
and an approach to life radically different
from the West's.
This work includes portraits of people
of all classes—farmers and potters,
dancers and musicians, parents and children—and
probes human interactions with animals,
including cows, monkeys, and elephants.
Never does he portray his subjects as
exotic objects; rather, his realistic,
moving images pay tribute to his subjects'
dignity and humanity.
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From Publishers Weekly:
In her introduction to this exquisite collection of photographs, novelist
Jha (Smell) writes, "To be in India is to be assaulted by sensations,
smells, colors, emotions, questions; to struggle to find answers; and
to face your innermost desires and fears." Photographer Föllmi's
beautiful images of India's people deftly convey this headiness while
focusing on the micro: a young woman leading her herd of goats down a
shady path; four wanderers in Pushkar sitting together on a decrepit wall;
a man practicing yoga at dusk; two Brahman pilgrims wading into the waters
of the Ganges. Föllmi, who first traveled to India in the 1970s and
led tourists on Himalayan treks, submits 200 full-color photographs and
illustrations that are overwhelmingly upbeat in their depiction of the
vast country's inhabitants. Religion features prominently, as do cultural
and social rituals. Captions at the back of the book explain the images,
defining words like kalarippayat (a predecessor of all martial arts that
also includes healing techniques) and explaining such traditions as facial
ornamentation. Even potentially clichéd images—such as that
of a man riding an elephant alongside a grouping of palm trees, seen in
silhouette—are compelling, thanks to the photographs' brilliant
hues and the illuminating accompanying text.
© 2005 Reed Business Information, Inc. |
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$55.00 (hardcover)
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