Visual documents of culture

Myths,clichés and cultures have always had their own peculiar dynamics of finding ways back to each other.

Myths,clichés and cultures have always had their own peculiar dynamics of finding ways back to each other. While it is important to tell one from the other for the sake of clarity,at times it is equally rewarding to lie back and let them condense into a shimmery cloud of sights,sounds and fantasy – one that is as potent to imagination as a cup of strong coffee is to a Monday morning.

New York-based travel photographer Tewfic El-Sawy did just that. And let the spectacle that is the Durga Pujas in Bengal overwhelm his senses with explosion of colours. Tewfic camped in Kolkata for about two weeks to witness the festival unfold – from the last moment angst at Kumartuli to the ceremonial conclusion of the festival at the ghats. While for an outsider,the ebullient manifestation of religious sentiments might border on being ridiculous,Tewfic saw human nature – in its most vulnerable – during the course of the festival. The photographer who has visited and documented India in his photographs over 20-25 trips across several years,refuses to look at festivals in India as ones steeped in superstition. I am particularly drawn to religious festivities,not only because these are usually colorful and magnetic,but because the participants in such events are at their most human – vulnerable and transparent. Consequently,the photographs I make during these events are of human beings who are totally transparent,with no artifice, he says.

From photo shoots in Kumartuli where the artisans were mounting the effigies of the deities on to the frame before putting clay on them to the chaotic process of hauling the deities on to trucks,Tewfic and the participants of his workshop documented it all. We also shot at Sealdah with a selection of dhakis. We went on to shoot at the Kolay market and the flower market. This was followed by pandal hopping where we shot big Pujas to modest homely ones. One of the last and most memorable photo shoots was in a north Kolkata house,where we were invited to witness the vermillion ceremony, he adds.

A travel photographer,who skirted past several temptations of his genre to document endangered cultures and traditions in Africa,South Asia and Asia,Tewfic is naturally drawn to the intricacies of community living in India. Also,he sees a thread of similarity through community practices of different religious and ethnic groups in India. Ive led photo expeditions to document the Theyyam in north Kerala,the Sufi dargahs in Gujarat,the Durga Puja in West Bengal,the ritual bathing in Baneshwar – religious traditions that are totally disparate but have a common flavour of inclusion uniting them all. I also documented equally compelling religious events in Bali,in Bhutan and in Morocco. If we look deep into the ideal behind the practices,we will see that in spirit they are hardly any different from say the tribals of the Kutch region, the adivasis of Chhattisgarh or the Tsechus in Sikkim, he explains.

His method of pictorial storytelling merges still photographs and sound to create compelling visual documents of cultures. Adding relevant audio to still photographs to tell a story is fundamental to the success of that story. Imagine a horror movie with no sound effects..as in a silent movie. It would leave you unmoved. Thats why I like multimedia. It gives tactility,a sense of place and being to the stories, he signs off.

Stay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram