A Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall

Though his charming British accent and the shock of white hair identify him as a white man in the Third World,Edwards is a world citizen. He has travelled with his camera to the corners of the earth to capture images that reflect the horror of the human condition — from localised climate disasters to displaced refugees of war atrocities. Now he brings Hard Rain,his project of photographs,a book and a documentary,to Delhi’s Religare Arts Initiative,in collaboration with The British Council,on January 11.

“The photographs were inspired by the hard-hitting lines of Bob Dylan’s 1962 song A hard rain’s a-gonna fall . They were not meant to be published,but a friend sent them out to Dylan’s secretary. They liked what they saw and now this project has been seen by 15 million people,thanks to Dylan,” says Edwards,also the founder of Still Pictures,a leading photo agency specialising in environmental issues.

Dylan,singer-songwriter-poet who has inspired generations,agreed to lend the lyrics for the book and the exhibition. He has also performed live for Edwards’ documentary. “The song has another special association,” says Edwards,“In 1969,I got lost in the Sahara and would have surely died had it not been for a nomad who rescued me— later he played me this song. That’s when I decided to conceive a photographic tribute to Dylan’s song.”

With a flair for shock therapy,Edwards says it is not his photos that are shocking,but the seriousness of our problems. A black-and-white photo shows two children watching their forest reservation being razed by a bulldozer. “This picture records the moment when indigenous wisdom is humiliated by modern world,” says Edwards. The children contracted tuberculosis because the trans-Amazonian highway BR 364 was built through their land. Ironically their parents had to sell their land in order to pay for their treatment.

“The images shock,but far from being desensitised,the 5,000 people who viewed this exhibition in Bangalore,returned with feelings of compassion. It is people who can put pressure on governments and lead to decisive action. It is harder to do that here,” says Edwards,who has spent three years in India .

A firm believer that the US,Europe and Japan should be the first to begin the process of reducing carbon footprint,Edwards says,“Africa and India are very vulnerable to climate change,poverty and displacement,but these problems affect everybody.” Edwards was disappointed by the Copenhagen Summit. “That was an example of a failure of leadership. Everyone had their own narrow interests at heart,” says the lensman.

The exhibition will be displayed on a plastic banner,outdoors and not inside the gallery; Edwards is emphatic,“I am not an artist and my images are not art,more like protest graffiti.”

The show is on January 11.

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