Man and his income, a photo from Uttar Pradesh, North

Photographer's Note

Another for my India 1972 series.
In Agra I saw this man walking along with a cobra hanging calmly around his neck and a mongoose trying to get down from his arm. I assume that he would do a performance with one or both to earn a little money. We saw several snake charmers in 1972 and I would suspect that they are still about today.
I am corrected by Chris - it is a python. I have seen pythons during my time in New Guinea and should have recognized it.

Scanned from a slide.

ChrisJ, Royaldevon has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

ChrisJ (171822) 2019-01-16 16:11

Hi Ian

That's not a cobra around the man's neck, it's a python. We have them here in SEQ. There are no cobras in south east Queensland though, but we have a close relative, the tiger snake, which also rears up and flattens its head when alarmed. It lives in isolated pockets of SEQ, mostly rainforest and cooler, elevated areas. The mongoose would attack a cobra. Perhaps the man is carrying a wicker basket with a cobra as part of the show. Good sharpness and tonal range. Tfs!

emka (158172) 2019-01-16 23:49

Hello Ian, Of course, it is a python. And I find it strange because indeed, usually they have cobras in the basket and charm them with the music. Mongoose is used if the snake would like to go away. Nice oldie. In South America I had a small boa on my neck. And maybe even a small python in Australia.

Kind regards MAlgo

holmertz (102708) 2019-01-17 0:57

Hello Ian,
In the 70's I saw lots of snake charmers in northern India, but not on more recent visits, like since the 90's. It could have been coincidences, but I have a feeling they're largely gone, at least from the central areas of the major cities. Maybe even India now has laws against cruelty to animals. It's a nice snap-shot and the B&W conversion was a good choice.
Regards,
Gert

rychem (72187) 2019-01-17 8:13

Nice archive photo, we cant imagine today to live so close to such wild animals, nice presentation of this scene from the past
regards Ryszard

BennyV (34748) 2019-01-17 9:07

Hello Ian

Terrific picture from the archives, well worth sharing here. This one just oozes ambience. Thanks.

Benny

Royaldevon (85932) 2019-01-20 1:54

Hello Ian,

Oh, I am just so enamoured by this shot!
Where else would you see a man calmly walking down the road with a huge snake around his neck and a mongoose (a sworn enemy of snakes) in his hand! I've read Rudyard Kipling!! Maybe, because this is a snake that kills by constriction, the mongoose is not afraid of it!
I love the composition of your photograph, too. The two figures create the sense of depth whilst the curve in the road is a very satisfying guide. I loved reading the signs on the shops. What a fine step back in time!!

Have a lovely day,
Bev :-)

GyurMaster (24830) 2019-02-03 3:00

Hello again,

I see you had a very productive route to India back then. This one is an excellent one from that series.

Best Wishes,
GY.