barren, a photo from Bihar, East

Photographer's Note

Dihuri Atary Village...

Kari Devi, a dalit landless labourer who migrates to Assam, Delhi and other parts of Bihar 8 months a year to work at brick kilns as there is no employment available -especially for women- in her village..

she lost all her 4 children to diseases and malnutrition while working at the brick kilns....

migration is a big problem in india today..
workers from gujarat migrate to maharashtra
workers from maharashtra migrate to madhya pradesh
workers from madhya pradesh migrate to rajasthan
and so on....

contractors/middlemen bring in cheap labour from other states whom they can exploit, thus forcing the regional labour to look for work elsewhere..

in most places, workers are paid just a fraction of the minimum wage, with women getting paid even less...

children are most vulnerable to dieases and malnutrition at the time of migration...

scanned from a contact sheet as i'm kind of broke at the moment (as always :))

edit (17 june 2005) : am a little lazy..(won't be reposting) so please check the final choice of the photograph here itself.... (also scanned from a contact sheet)

in august 2005 i read in the papers that kari devi along with 9 other dalit villagers died because they ate a rotten goat carcass out of desperation because of starvation.. ironically in the monsoon parliamentary session of the same month, the new rural employment guarantee bill was passed..

Paolo, CliffW, maciekda, jcandeli, Homerhomer, Quentin, joso, bnallama, bboss, KevRyan, bfly, eleparc, bip-bip, hispic, kajspice, ewasting, schekerli, ciec, dareco has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

Paolo (41258) 2005-06-27 8:53

It's a very beautiful image Sohrab.
you use a great noise effect for that wonderful image.
and as many times the beautiful image have a terrible story.
thanks, ciao

CliffW (2381) 2005-06-27 8:54

How nice to see you posting again. The technical difficulties of scanning aside, the dual expressions, so different on each of their faces, are wonderful. One so direct, the other understandably lost in thought. A difficult topic well handled. And as always, I remain a fan of this style of yours.

maciekda (19895) 2005-06-27 8:57

good to see you back Sohrab, nice scratchy photo, i really like the way it looks like - rough, like her life. nice compo, i like the expression of the woman, not sure about the girl staring at your camera though ;) nice photo

jcandeli (40) 2005-06-27 9:18

Powerful note and powerful photo. Looks VERY old. Amazing eyes on the little girl. Really great. JP

sandip (3492) 2005-06-27 9:22

a great B/W indeed Sohrab.it just looked like a 70's photograph kept without any attention..
nice dual portrait.. i like the grain.

prince (158) 2005-06-27 9:47

Love your pict. it got a story, a very powerfull story, love the angle, and the bw perfecto!!!!

mrbialy (2568) 2005-06-27 10:10

This is so cool image. Very good and mistery atmosphere. Composition is really good. What can I say more.... just great. good luck

Homerhomer (4080) 2005-06-27 10:11

Well my friend, glad to see you uploading again, this place is much better with you then without you!! And what a photo, some poeple really do have a difficult life. I agree with Francis with HCB/Koudelka comparison, both images uploaded are powerfull, but the ws is just out of this world.
Change the clothes slithtly and this could be native north americans from the turn of the century.
Very powerfull, timeless photo.
Peter

Quentin (5280) 2005-06-27 10:19

Hi Sohrab Very nice and very sensitive picture. Thanks for the note too. Bye Quentin

Vagabond (5848) 2005-06-27 10:45

Very good record added by impressive notes

joso (2417) 2005-06-27 11:02 [Comment]

Show Comment

bnallama (3763) 2005-06-27 12:41

Sohrab I shall agree with, Francis that this looks timeless. Both shot are very impressive and convey different messages I beleive.
In the original upload it is very hard to interepet the look of the girl, the mother is seems to give an 'hidden' smile while the girl looks intrigued by ur absence.. Seems that she is more worried than the mother.

Your WS on the other hand, potraits the mother as being in worry while she is out of this world in her dreamland.....

Two very constrasting shots.... Nice to see you back.

Bala

KevRyan (22956) 2005-06-27 14:51

Welcome back! This reminds me of so many historical photographs from different times and places that show a look that is borne from hardship and labour - I was so surprised by the way landless labourers were moving and living around Gujarat - almost 'out of state - out of mind' - a very strong (meaningful) documentary photograph and a very informative note.

How was your journey?

take care - best wishes Kev

alimo3 (6854) 2005-06-27 15:36

Hi Sohrab,
Nice to see that you are back and with a great one,
a sad story that we could read and those faces,
good effect of your contact sheet scan.
Friendly.

Tom

pridel (233) 2005-06-27 15:41

Hi Sohrab
it is a very beautiful image which you offers us.
this photograph is sad, as stopped by time, by the glance of the girl.
tfs
Pascal

clarita (654) 2005-06-27 15:53

you captured this shot nicely...thx for sharing.

bfly (5775) 2005-06-27 15:53

welcome back sohrab...
weird again, as if the two worlds are totally apart..girl's piercing eyes and mom's lost and dreamy eyes..
I hope it was a good experience for you..sorry we could not meet again..well next time :)

eleparc (24063) 2005-06-27 15:55

Hi sohrab nice to see you back. where have you been all this long? nice shot and great note too, but did you have to go as far as scratch your film to give it an old aspect? isn't it going overboard a bit???
In any case, it is pure joy to see you back with this beautiful shot!

bip-bip (1837) 2005-06-27 16:44

Hello Sohrab,
Nice to see you back with this master piece
This composition and the post processing are really strong and very sensitive
Thanks for your very informative note which helps us to discover this reality
Take care
V廨o
PS What's about your examens ?

michel_r (1118) 2005-06-27 18:10

i have been missing your pictures sohrab. You are back with an excellent one, timeless as peter said. Simply very very good. Thanks for that.
amicalemetn, michel.

tongapup (0) 2005-06-27 22:45

Hi Sohrab,

Been missing you. I hope you are well and enjoying (if that is the right word) your cross-country journey.

Beautiful shot. I forgot how excellent your pictures are. This one is a real example for me of the connection that is so important to you. I prefer the WS though, more sense (for me) of connection there. Also the girl's pose in the WS is kind of lyrical and natural. her stare is very captivating here but makes me too aware of your role as photographer (and therefore mine as viewer).

Come back. I miss your links!

AnimeshRay (9089) 2005-06-27 23:56

Hi Sohrab,
Excellent image! An old time effect and of course a great framing and fantastic mood. Good to see you are back.
Animesh

clodreno (0) 2005-06-28 1:10

a nice image Sohrab. in a way that's what the new EC constitution want to do with the Bolkenstein directive..Bring cheap labor elswhere..
Very good to see your image , i will be away for a while though.. Going to france in 2 days..
A nice way to frame those 2 personns.

Luko (14000) 2005-06-28 2:39

Great composition going ascending from the bottom corner to the upper part from burning eye contact to another burning eye contact that's why I like better this one than your Ws, which is perhaps more in your "freaky" style but for a time less efficient IMO than this one.

The other attarctive feature is the gorgeous light that is reflected from the wall, something darker would have been depressing, but there is in here some kind of heavenly Salgado light.

And ooooh yes, the crappy look of the scan does add anything to this one. I can imagaine you're too broke to get a nice print, but the cloning tool of your photo editor software is for free...lazy guy ;-) ...

Furachan (0) 2005-06-28 3:30

Timeless feel to this, Sohrab, the grain making this hard to "date". Echoes of Koudelka, early HCB. Beautiful compo, and strong looks from both subjects, Kari Devi's eyes are haunting.
This is photography of the highest caliber. Kind regards, Francis in Tokyo

flydragon (0) 2005-06-28 4:20

Hi Sohrab
this is nice to see you
and also with a great and beautifull photograph
i do love your post-process ;o)
this is really a great one
congrat
hope to see more
regards
�simon�

sorry green later

markgong (2840) 2005-06-28 12:57

Welcome back Sohrab. It's good to see your first piece back is such an interesting one. Everyonce in a while I see a new composition from you that breaks certain rules and still manages to capture the scene. This is one of them. Exellent lighting on both faces and how it bring out their cheek bones and wrinkle. The soft focus works extremely well on the child with the haunting eyes and the wild hair. Well done. I like the WS as well, but I prefer this one.

keribar (43841) 2005-06-30 0:39

Hello Sohrab !

Where have you been for such long time ?
Welcome again with this striking-" Made in India " picture.. Nice diagonal and powerful expressions !
Izzet

BAKO (1691) 2005-07-03 17:04

Hello Sohrab,
impressive note and superb photo.

welcome back

BAKO

joseelias (0) 2005-07-15 7:41

In this one I think I𠍿 with Maciej. Although I find the image superb, by the mood, their expressions, the roughness, the tones, etc, I think that you𠐔e got two photos in one. I like the inclusion of the girl but her eyes are too magnetic and compete in attention with the woman, which by her position in the frame tends to be the main element of the composition.

Also, the contrasts and sharpness are better in the girl which makes the eyes to focus on her. But as I said my eyes wish to fall in the woman and thus jump from one to the other.

If you wish to show the woman, than the WS photo is nicer. Regarding this one I would advise to crop it into a vertical frame excluding the woman. The girl could stand on her own to make an excellent image.

Regarding your note, the same happened in Portugal for many years during the dictatorship. The Land-Lords would use cheaper, but less qualified workers from other regions as a weapon to justify lower salaries in their own.

schekerli (234) 2007-01-17 13:54

Hallo Sohrab, this is a very said story indeed.
This scan from a contact sheet convyes it maybe better than a brilliant print.It looks also somehow broken like its actors.
Don't give up to tell!
All the best"

dareco (17136) 2007-07-28 8:05

So much is said in their faces. Great capture. So so sad.