A R A G H U R A I P U B L I C AT I O N

FAITH IS A STATE OF MIND

THAT KEEPS OUR MOORINGS
IN EQUILIBRIUM.
COVER IMAGE: ABBAS
January - February 2017
 INDIA . ASIA . AND THE WORLD

VOLUME 02 ISSUE 02
JANUARY–FEBRUARY 2017

Editorial Director Raghu Rai

Consulting Editor Geoffrey C. Ward
Copy Editor Amardeep Banerjee
Guest Writers Chandan Gomes,
Abhishek Madhukar
Content Manager Sunakshi Gupta
Design Purvai Rai
Editorial Board Jatin Das, Nitin Rai
Marketing & Advertising Firoz Merchant, Vickram Bawa
Social Media & Outreach Tarun Verma, Avani Rai
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 IN THIS ISSUE
6
INSIGHT
Raghu Rai

8 56
THE FIRST IMAGE PHOTOSERIES
Pilgrimage Faith and Religion
Abbas Various Photographers

10 68
PHOTO ESSAY PORTRAITS
Yang Yankang The Sikh Project
Chandan Gomes Amit and Naroop

16 70
THE MASTERS: ASIA GALLERY WALK
Abbas ‘Art Zone’–Pullman
Abbas Abhishek Madhukar

26 72
PHOTOBOOKS SOCIAL MEDIA
Melisa Teo #creativeimagemagazine
Melisa Teo Raghu Rai

34 78
PORTFOLIO SHOWCASE

Natan Dvir Creative Image & Camarena

Natan Dvir Various Photographers

40 82
GALLERY WALK ARTISTS ON ART
PHOTO ‘OK’ PLEASE Neil Chowdhury
Anurag Banerjee Neil Chowdhury

42 86
PHOTOSTORY COLLABORATIONS

Maciej Dakowicz Creative Image & India Pictures

Maciej Dakowicz #IP_Meet

48 90
SPECIAL FEATURE THE ARCHIVES
Glimpse of Faith Maxim Petrovich Dmitriev
Various Photographers Cheryl Mukherji

96
THE LAST IMAGE
Congregational Prayer
Noor Ahmed Gelal
Insight

Faith is a state of mind that keeps our moorings in equilibrium. Faith also happens in very private
and personal space and at times it can’t be debated because that space is precious. Faith largely
comes from religious beliefs, rights and rituals, at times evolves and other times gets distorted for the
convenience of not only religious leaders but also political masters.

In moments of fear and hope, man invented God for himself to sustain his faith in himself and the
world around him. Take for example Lord Rama, Lord Krishna, the Buddha, Christ, Guru Nanak or
Prophet Muhammad. They were saintly souls and godheads in human form who served mankind.
Because of their purity and spiritual strength they were connected with the supreme power/energy.
This supreme energy worked through these saints and godheads to heal and help the suffering ones.
They have come and gone and are not coming back again. And now it is completely up to us to help
and heal in faith.

The rights and rituals in different religions can be very fascinating and provides a great opportunity for
for photographers to capture these powerful moments that impact the lives of so many of us. There is
also the other side to faith, that gets reflected in our spirits through our eyes and body language, when
the faith is transformed into a meditative experience.

Here we have two photographers, Abbas and Melisa Teo, with two very different styles, bringing us
their own perspectives of faith. He shoots in black and white; she shoots in colour. His photography is
rational; hers is emotional. His photographs are suspended moments; hers flow like a stream. As they
travel side by side among the Hindu devout, they show, by pointing their cameras at similar subjects,
how his relationship with God is somewhat professional and hers, deeply personal.

Another photographer featured here, Joydeep Mukherjee, says, “Weave in faith and God will find the
thread.” Probably this belief is the latent force that motivates the hundreds of people who observe
the Hindu ritual of Dondi and perform Shitala Puja to appeal to the deity to protect them from deadly
diseases and hurdles in life.

Then we have Yang Yankang, a Chinese photographer who reminds one of a visual poet who has
captured the ethereal spirit of Tibetan Buddhism with the simplicity and surrealism of what faith
and religion can mean. Yang has also authored four books. We managed to contact him after
great difficulty, but the superlative quality of his photography has made it absolutely worth our
time and effort!

Special to this issue are our new initiatives with Camarena Academy, India Pictures, and our own
Instagram handle, Creative Image Magazine where thousands of young aspiring lensmen upload
millions of photographs. So the idea is to sift in the special ones captured by upcoming enthusiasts
and encourage them by publishing in our magazine as an assurance–yes, you have it in you!

In the early years of my career, as a young photographer, we used to wait for some of the best
photography magazines—like Camera (Switzerland), Popular Photography (New York) and the British
Journal of Photography (London)—to arrive so that we could buy a copy to update and educate
ourselves about what was going on in the world of photography. That hunger inspired us to do
photography in a personal way. Similarly here we hope Creative Image creates a hunger in you, so that
you can educate yourself visually by gaining exposure to high levels of creativity through these pages
that will inspire you to produce better photographs. These inspirations shall nudge you through your
early stages so that you may find your creative potential in your journey.
RAGHU RAI Varanasi, 1975
 8
CREATIVE IMAGE

ABBAS
Mount Rahma, in the plains of
Arafat (where Muslims believe
Adam met Eve). Pilgrims dressed
in the Ihram (two pieces of
unstitched white cloth) gather to
show their respect for all forms of
life. Drops of water cool pilgrims
in the intense heat. Mecca, Saudi
Arabia, 1992
 THE FIRST IMAGE
9
 10
CREATIVE IMAGE

YANG YANKANG

Little monk reciting sutra under his master, Sichuan, 2007

PHOTOGRAPHS & TEXT BY YANG YANKANG

The Tibetan horizon is divine in nature. I have been documenting the life of Tibetan
Buddhists—the monks and the temples, their family life and nature, how they stick to their
own, and how faith is an integral part of their life.

In 2003, I began a decade of travelling to photograph the Tibetan people in the Tibetan
plateau as well as Qinghai, Gansu, Sichuan and Yunnan. In these places I witnessed first
hand the Tibetan way of living and understood the sheer power of faith which the Tibetans
cling on to protect them and sustain themselves in a challenging geographic environment.
For these people, Tibetan Buddhism is a source of spiritual strength and nourishment.

Over the course of my ten-year-long association with them, I have grown to keenly
understand and identify with these simple and hardy people. In my photographs I have
tried to capture their indomitable spirit as well as their love, wisdom and nobility of heart.

I hope that through my photographs, viewers are able to get a glimpse of the faith that
is so integral to Tibetan living. And through it, further their own understanding of life by
recognising the unity in diversity of different world cultures.
 11

PHOTO ESSAY

A monk collecting rain water, Sichuan, 2007

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CREATIVE IMAGE
Holy deer, flying bird and a monk beating the gong, Qinghai, 2012
TEXT BY CHANDAN GOMES
Where does faith reside—In our hearts or in our minds?
In the skies or the depths of the ocean?
In stones or in locked altars?
In hope or in fear?
T
his question is perhaps as old as civilisation itself! For
thousands of years, philosophers, poets and artists
have tried to seek an answer to it, only to realise
that some questions do not have absolute answers but
should nonetheless be asked and ruminated upon. Though
the history of photography is less than two centuries old,
exploration of faith has been an important theme in the works
of many photographers. One such photographer, whose
lifelong obsession has been reflecting on the nature of faith, is
Yang Yankang.
Born in 1954 in Anshun, China, Yang Yankang has been
a member of Agency VU since 2009. He has been widely
exhibited and his illustrious list of awards include the Xu
Xiobing Prize (2012), the Henri Nannen Prize (2009) and
the first Shefei Photography Award (2007). Till date he has
authored four books—Reflections of Soul (2014), Buddhism in
Tibet (2008), Catholic in the Countryside (2004) and Northern
Shaanxi (1988).
Where does his photographic vision come from? What made
him pursue this determined study of faith across his three-
decade-long career? The answer perhaps lies in religious
beliefs that are both Buddhist and Catholic. Born into a
Buddhist family, Yang converted to Catholicism in 1993 after
documenting the lives of (Chinese) Catholics in rural China.
He believes, “A photographer should have the courage to
believe in faith, and to trust it. As artists, if we have faith, and
live a life of faith, see how people face challenges in nature,
then photographing faith becomes real. You see their mind
through their eyes; you see how they face difficulties in nature
through their mind.” It is Yang’s faith in religion and spirituality
which endows his photographs with a magical quality that

A monk feeding a pheasant, Tibet, 2012
embraces reality and simultaneously transcends it. His work is
allegorical in nature; his approach is that of a monk, who does
not reject the everyday, but rather welcomes it like spring in
the photographs he makes. Thus he creates a world through
his work, where faith does not merely reside in rituals or
festivities, but in the very act of being. The everyday becomes
an act of faith, with its highs and lows, joys and sorrows.
There are no beginnings or endings in Yang’s photographs,
but a sense of closure that comes when you acknowledge the
hidden alongside the visible.
Yang’s iconic photograph of a Tibetan woman holding a dove
borrows its form from the image of Mother Mary clasping
her hands in the shape of a dove, with its wings spread. This
image of Mary can be found across the globe – in Catholic
homes, churches and educational institutions. But what
makes Yang’s rendition of it distinct is the melancholy that
lies behind the woman’s closed eyes. She has surrendered to
her faith; such surrender lies in the lair of pain, but is beyond
13
PHOTO ESSAY
suffering. Another photograph that keeps coming back
to me is that of a young lama, sitting on the floor, reading
a scripture. Standing opposite him, is an elder monk,
silently looking at the lama. A translucent cloth separates
them, thus dividing the frame into two distinct parts—the
young lama is in focus, while the monk appears soft,
diffused; like an apparition, a ghost like figure, blessing
the young lama with a gently raised left hand. Who is this
man? Is he a glimpse into the boy’s future; the monk he
will eventually grow into? Or is he a memory from a past
life? In Yang’s photograph, time does not feel linear, but
continuous, like a running stream.
There is much beauty in Yang’s work, because it is
an honest expression of his innermost beliefs. It is an
exposition of his faith, in nature, in things that are hidden,
but most importantly the everydayness of our lives,
that seems banal to most, but for Yang is a blessing in
disguise, who seeks it like a revelation in his work.
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CREATIVE IMAGE

Kid monks relaxing after whitewashing their house, Yunnan, 2006

 15

PHOTO ESSAY

Kid monks practicing the Dharma dance, Sichuan, 2006

 16
CREATIVE IMAGE

GODS I’VE SEEN

ABBAS

Abbas, a member of Magnum Photos, is an Iranian transplanted to Paris since

childhood. After covering the Revolution for two years in 1978-1980, he returned in
1997 after a 17-year voluntary exile. His book Iran Diary: 1971-2002 (Autrement, 2002)
is a critical interpretation of its history, photographed and written as a personal diary.

Troubled by the internal tensions within Muslim societies, torn between a mythical past
and a desire for modernisation, his second book was Allah O Akbar, a journey through
militant Islam. He continued to explore the same thematic in his book In Whose Name?
The Islamic World after 9/11.

From Islam he moved to Christianity and polytheism, then to the world of Buddhism,
photographing with the same sceptical eye for his book Les Enfants du Lotus, Voyage
Chez Les Bouddhistes. In 2011 he began a similar long-term project on Hinduism
which he concluded in 2013. Here, we share with you some of the charged and potent
moments he has managed to capture, mostly in India. Abbas is currently finishing a
long-term project on Judaism.
 17

THE MASTERS: ASIA

A priest blesses pilgrims. The young boy touches the

priest’s feet as a sign of respect. Ranganatha Swamy Temple, Tamil Nadu
 18
CREATIVE IMAGE
“My photography is a reflection,
which comes to life in action and
leads to meditation. Spontaneity—
the suspended moment—intervenes
during action, in the viewfinder. A
reflection on the subject precedes
it. A meditation on finality follows
it, and it is here, during this exalting
and fragile moment, that the real
photographic writing develops,
sequencing the images. For this
reason a writer’s spirit is necessary
to this enterprise. For isn’t
photography ‘writing with light’?
But with the difference that while
the writer possesses his word, the
photographer is himself possessed
by his photo, by the limit of the real
which he must transcend so as not
to become its prisoner.”
PHOTOGRAPHS & TEXT BY ABBAS/MAGNUM PHOTOS
I am not the first, nor, I suspect, the last traveller, to
have been enthralled by India—and irritated, if not
exasperated by the Indians.
My encounter with Hinduism began long before I set foot in
India, during the second year of my journey among Buddhists.
The Polonnaruwa Museum in Sri Lanka holds endless rows of
Buddha figures with stone features forever frozen in beatitude.
After I passed statue number ten I no longer paid much
attention to the succeeding ones.
Buddhist art—which seems to have only ever reproduced the
head and body of its founder—is indisputably a sublime art,
but little more than an eternal repetition. Hinduism may be the
least egalitarian of the great religions, but what diversity exists
in its artistic expression!
My reading induced in me a certain feeling of goodwill towards
Hinduism, this religion of 330 million gods and goddesses
who change name, nature and sex, who marry, divorce and
ask for alimony, who are strangely familiar to us in their doubts
and weaknesses and so are, all in all, very human gods.
These gods do not have the loftiness or the arrogance of the
monotheistic gods; like us, they are capable of the best and
the worst.
1 January 2011, New Delhi
The first place I visit is the Hanuman Temple. There I discover
a monkey deity 15 metres tall—the capital’s aerial Metro runs
past at the level of its waist—which devotees enter through a
wide opening between its feet. I am seized with laughter: they
are nuts, these Hindus! I can tell I’m going to like this religion,
I who for more than 35 years travelled among the Sons of
Abraham, accustomed to a concept of god that does not
lend itself to being photographed; I who have had to content
myself with capturing great actions committed in its name…
as well as the dumb and violent ones.
5 January, Varanasi
Should I perhaps have brought with me Henri Michaux’s
A Barbarian in Asia to feed my growing antipathy towards
this country? I reread An Area of Darkness by V. S. Naipaul,
a work that is just as ferocious towards the Indians. Why
did the first of these authors feel the need to excuse himself
in a preface written 35 years later, the second to soften his
observations in two subsequent publications? Is one’s first
impression of a country wrong? Will I adopt a less harsh
view of this country in the course of my journey? The India
I capture is inevitably my India, a subjective view. Why then
persevere with representing beauty, when everything around
me appears squalid? Why photograph the splendid saris
that pilgrims dry along the banks of the Ganges, when I am
surrounded by filth?
24 September, Tarapith
In Bamakhepa, one of the centres for tantric Hinduism,
terracotta skulls adorn the tombs erected by the sanyasis,
but of bone there are none. I therefore decide to tickle chance
and attract the attention of a young sadhu whom I have
noticed because he does not beg and keeps himself away
from the other babas under a tent of plastic sheets. He shows
Melisa and me a skull, a real one; it is the skull of his own
guru, which helps him heighten his spiritual powers during his
tantric meditation.

The sadhu is taciturn, his tent dark and gloomy, but I cannot
linger over allegorical considerations: the setting sun appears
from behind the clouds for a brief moment, and I take
advantage of the light to capture the scene. We leave, but the
story doesn’t end there. Melisa is unwell for several days after,
with an illness for which she instinctively blames this place
haunted by death. On her return to Singapore she consults
her clairvoyant, who tells her that indeed, this sadhu is very
dangerous, because he manipulates the forces of evil. “But
then why didn’t Abbas fall ill?” she asks. The reply: “Abbas?
He’s immune, for he doesn’t believe in these clandestine
forces.” Of course!
3 October, Kolkata
Having worshipped Durga for several days, the Bengalis then
immerse her in the river Hooghly. Merry processions bring
her to the riverside to bid her farewell and throw her into
the sacred waters. The same holds true for other divinities:
the celebration of Vishwakarma, the divine architect and
god of labour, precedes that of Durga, after which comes
the festival of Lakshmi, the goddess of prosperity. An entire
neighbourhood of the city, Kumartuli, is consecrated to the
creation of idols. Twelve divinities are created from straw,
dried mud and painted plaster, decorated with ribbons
and sequins and then thrown in the river. An exercise in
wastefulness, repeated every year.
I ask a Bengali professor why the authorities do not decree a
puja (prayer ritual) for cleanliness, to clean the city of its all-
pervasive filth using just a portion of what is spent on statues.
“It is because Kolkata is the city of joy, and we must celebrate
our gods and goddesses,” she retorts. Obviously!
I revise my numbers: India has more than a billion gods, for
to the 330 million documented Hindu deities must be added
the 850 million Hindus, each of whom sees him or herself as
a god. The farmer with his buffalo cart, could he perhaps not
drive along the perfectly flat verge, to leave the asphalt road to
the cars that stretch into a long line behind him? No! Because
he himself is a god! Could the young people invading the hotel
in the middle of the night perhaps refrain from screaming in
the corridors so as not to disturb the sleep of other guests?
No! Because they are all gods! Do the motorists waiting at
a level crossing really have to block the entire width of the
road on both sides of the barrier, thus holding up the traffic at
their own expense when the train has passed? Yes! Each and
every one is a god!
18 August 2012, Chennai
I would have liked to stay longer in this city, but the air
pollution drives me out—come evening, my eyes are stinging.
Before leaving, I visit the magnificent bronzes in the museum,
one of them another Shiva Nataraja. Contemplating it elevates
me to the highest spheres of spirituality, as would a painting
by Cézanne or a Beethoven symphony.
I also discover Shri Devi and Bhu Devi, Vishnu’s two
companions, one of whom displays an aristocratic gentleness
while the other has the look of a voluptuous country girl. I am
amused by my own sensual and spiritual communion with
these two goddesses, ever so carnal in their bronze bodies.
Who were the great artists who brought them to life? Why
have they remained anonymous?
15 September, Kochi
How can the Hindu, obsessed with ritual purity (on waking,
19
THE MASTERS: ASIA
he must bathe before doing his first puja), tolerate the
omnipresent dirt and squalor? Does he simply not see it?
Can a people that does not see squalor, see beauty?
Celebrate beauty in religious rituals? I have asked that
question of many friends, mostly intellectuals and artists. No
one has given me a satisfying answer, except that an Indian is
only concerned with what touches him or her personally.
Ah, right! So do all these places destined to become
dumps, open-air sewers, sources of pollution and disease,
and perhaps tomorrow’s epidemic, not concern the Indian
personally?
Is this lack of civic-mindedness perhaps a consequence of
the caste system, which, although it is diminishing today,
continues profoundly to affect the psyche of the individual
Indian? Why take the trouble to clean since this function is
entrusted to a specific caste? Why not go on littering if too
much cleanliness risks putting an entire caste out of work?
13 January 2013, Deshnok
I had absolutely no intention of stopping over in this small
town on my way from Jodhpur to Bikaner, but someone
mentioned the temple of rats, and I recalled having made a
mental note to visit the place. So, off on a detour to the Karni
Mata temple.
As soon as I arrive, a little rat comes to sniff me, probably a
scout sent ahead to see if I am rat-compatible. Clearly I am,
for immediately afterwards another rat, fat and no doubt holy
too, climbs up my leg. I let him know, this fat, sacred rat, that
despite having immersed myself in Hinduism for more than
two years, it has not made me a rat-lover, and that I see in
him neither a god nor the reincarnation of a maharaja, but
a simple fat rat, and that I would prefer us to keep our own
counsel—me, a bipedal Homo sapien, and him, a four-legged
Rattus norvegicus. I ask him firmly but politely—for we are
being observed—to get off my leg. He complies.
16 January, Bikaner
At five o’clock in the morning I wake up with a start to
the yelling of a pandit reciting the sacred texts through a
loudspeaker at full volume. I am surprised by this blunt
intrusion into my room and my sleep, for Hindu temples only
rarely employ the human voice. The puja bells at dawn are
much more of a nuisance—the gods must be well and truly
deaf! At six o’clock, when the muezzin calls the pious to
prayer, I understand the reason for this use of technology: the
two priests are evidently in vocal competition, each making
sure that the other may not monopolize the airwaves. I would
no doubt have enjoyed this sacred spar had it been in the
afternoon, for one voice proclaims the uniqueness of god, the
other praises multitudes. But at dawn, with a long day’s work
ahead of me? What to do, other than clear out of this city?
14 October, Ahmedabad
This is where my journey to explore Hinduism ends. My final
photograph is that of a woman sitting in the street. Behind
her is a dilapidated wall and the handlebars of a bicycle,
and—an immemorial India coexisting with Emerging India—a
brand new scooter. She is decorticating small sticks, which
she sells as toothbrushes, a good example of the Indians’
determination to survive and homage to their resilience. But
she is sitting on the pavement, surrounded by litter. I am not
the first, nor, I suspect, the last traveller, to have been irritated,
if not exasperated by the Indians and enthralled by India.
 20
CREATIVE IMAGE

The Hindu temple Shiva Subramaniya celebrates its annual festival. A devotee, suspended from hooks inserted in his flesh,
follows the Golden Chariot, housing the resident deity, which is paraded on the streets of the neighbourhood. Colombo, Sri Lanka
 21

THE MASTERS: ASIA

Outside the Mariaman temple, women in trance holding a basket of fire or a

bouquet of leaves, while celebrating the Ativila festival. Upaduwa village, Sri Lanka
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CREATIVE IMAGE

School for Hindu priests in the Tiruparan Kundram Temple. Students

perform the afternoon ‘face wash’ ritual in a farm nearby. Madurai, Tamil Nadu
 23

THE MASTERS: ASIA

A day after its puja, devotees immerse an idol of Vishwakarma,

the Hindu God of workers, in the Hooghly river. Kolkata, West Bengal
 24
CREATIVE IMAGE

Women pilgrims dry their saris after a dip in the Ganges. Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh
 THE MASTERS: ASIA
25
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CREATIVE IMAGE

LET THERE BE LIGHT

MELISA TEO

The darker the night, the brighter the stars,

the deeper the grief, the closer is God.
- Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Wings of Fire, Tibet, 2009

PHOTOGRAPHS & TEXT BY MELISA TEO

To say that photography brings everything into true focus is an understatement. The camera
was my Pandora’s Box. Since the day I clicked open its shutter, it has continued to unleash
feelings of discontent, boredom, restlessness, doubt and fear from deep within me. The more
I shot, the more I wanted to escape the familiar. The more I saw, the more curious I became.
The more I clicked, the more desperately I wanted to leave my life behind. Photography was my
escape into a world that I once barely noticed. Ever since I surrendered to the whims of light—
allowing its rays to cast fresh insights on familiar subjects and reveal others that had previously
slipped past my eyes—I began to embrace life. Instead of running from it now I regard the
camera as my ‘third eye’—the eye of intuition. It sees what my heart feels. All traces of agitation
are erased when I shoot. It feels as if I’m being sucked by the vortex of my viewfinder into a
‘void’ where nothing seems to matter. It is this peaceful place that I seek refuge in.
 27

PHOTOBOOKS

Sadhu, India, 2011

 28
CREATIVE IMAGE

“Photography was my escape into

Har Ki Pauri, 2011

 29

PHOTOBOOKS

a world that I once barely noticed.”

Har Ki Pauri, 2011

 Lotus, 2015
30 CREATIVE IMAGE
 31

PHOTOBOOKS

Zen, 2015
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CREATIVE IMAGE

Tu Hieu, 2015

Melisa Teo (melisateo.com) is a Singaporean photographer who brings a spiritual dimension to her work that seeks to throw light on the very nature of
existence. She is represented by Marc de Puechredon (puechredon.com) and Chan Hampe Galleries (chanhampegalleries.com).
 34
CREATIVE IMAGE

NATAN DVIR

PHOTOGRAPHS & TEXT BY NATAN DVIR

In this rapidly changing world, in which career and financial successes are revered, perhaps even
idolized. Communities, as well as the concept of personal identities, and how they are presented within
society, are greatly evolving. The information revolution shortened distances between people, enabling
interactions that were never possible before. Yet, in these exciting times, belief and faith continue to be
one of the basic, most significant, and profound factors that shape the individual and societies alike.

Baptism, 2007
 35

CREATIVE IMAGE
Purim, 2006

This series focuses on

religious ceremonies, political
events and situations of
conflict throughout Israel. The
photographs in this project
are direct examinations of
the public as a whole yet
focus on individuals and
H
aving been raised in Israel, I was regularly

their experiences as well. By

exposed to strong religious, sociopolitical beliefs
and ideas from an early age. Holy sites situated
throughout Israel make the (geographically) small country
religiously important for Jews, Christians, Muslims,
displaying multiple images in
among other religions. The region’s history, combined this series, I aim to show the
with the volatile political situation today, result in a
complex and intense reality in which people emphatically multifaceted nature of faith and
belief and the various ways it
and publicly express themselves.

I am fascinated and sometimes frightened by the

extreme situations people reach in pursuit and defense
impacts the lives of individuals
of their beliefs. I explore the various sides of how people and communities. Faith can
practice their faith and beliefs, the places it brings them
to and the scenes in which they take part. Regardless often shape people’s behaviour
of specific religious or political affinities, faith and belief
can provide a sense of community, belonging, safety, and and personal interactions but
understanding, yet might also provoke hatred, separation
and aggressiveness.
this is typically unnoticed by
those who are most deeply
Tranquility vs. anger, ecstasy vs. rage, understanding
vs. fanaticism. influenced by it.
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CREATIVE IMAGE

Pilgrims Resting, 2008

“I am fascinated and sometimes frightened by the extreme

situations people reach in the pursuit and defence of their beliefs.”

Pilgrim and Soldier, 2008

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PORTFOLIO

Taken Down, 2005

 Amona, 2006
38 CREATIVE IMAGE
 PORTFOLIO
39
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CREATIVE IMAGE

PHOTO
‘OK’ PLEASE LALIT KALA AKADEMI, DELHI
14-20 NOVEMBER 2016

SUMIT DAYAL

TEXT BY ANURAG BANERJEE

I
f there has been one major shift in photography over the
past few years, it is the advent of the cellphone camera.
Even the cheapest of smartphones today pay extra attention
to the quality of images that their devices can produce. Never
has a camera been so portable and so affordable. Never has
an entire generation been so vocal. In every sense of the
term, photography has never been so democratic in its entire
history. More photographs are made today on a daily basis
than ever before.
Over the past few years, cellphone photography has become
somewhat of a movement. Along with devices that fit into
one’s pocket, we now also have a medium like Instagram that
helps us reach our audience. What this has done is that along
with photography, it has also made critique more democratic.
How does this affect the serious practitioners of the medium,
though? With everyone making photographs, where does the
photographer stand in this sea of images?
When we look back at our history, it is defined by some iconic
images. We think of Bresson’s image of the man jumping
over a puddle, or Dorothea Lange’s compelling portrait of
the family during a famine, or Neil Leifer’s immortal frame of
Mohammad Ali. Will such singular photographs define our
history too, or will it just be a blur due to the sheer abundance

CHANDAN KHANNA
of photographs? With so many voices speaking at once,
which ones will stand and which ones will drown?
Photo ‘OK’ Please brings together seven photographers
working in various genres of photography. The one common
thread that binds the works of these image-makers together is
that they have all been made using a cellphone. These works
contain all kinds of stories from all parts of the world. Every
photograph in this exhibition explores the limits to which the
mobile phone can be pushed in telling a story.
On the one hand we have Prashanth Vishwanathan using the
cellphone to bring us stories from the remotest parts of the
41
GALLERY WALK
country, and with his large following on Instagram, showing a
very different India to the world. On the other hand, Sumit Dayal’s
‘Excess’ attempts to take a step back and make a statement on
the sheer number of images that are being produced today. In
this regard, Photo ‘Ok’ Please becomes a show not just about
an instrument but also about the medium at large.
This show attempts to make the viewer pause for a while and
reflect. What meets us when we zoom out may very well be the
writing of a certain history. Photo ‘Ok’ Please takes a moment
to peek into the making of this history, while also highlighting the
fact that no matter how far technology reaches, the creator and
not the device will always define the work.
 42
CREATIVE IMAGE

MACIEJ DAKOWICZ

Chhath puja, Ganges, Varanasi

Maciej is an experienced Polish photographer,

traveller and photography teacher based in
Asia. He holds a PhD in computer science, but
abandoned a career in the field to focus on
photography. He is one of the founders of the
Third Floor Gallery in Cardiff and a member of
the international street photography collective
In-Public. His interests are in documentary,
travel and street photography.
PHOTOGRAPHS & TEXT BY MACIEJ DAKOWICZ

I came to India for the first time in 2004. A month later I was
back in India with a new passport and new camera. India
is one of my favourite countries to visit and almost like my
second home. I understand the people here, I connect well
with them, even without knowing Hindi. My head shake is
very natural. I am not a spiritual person but I follow my instinct
which takes me into the depths of the lives of Indians where
the motivation is very alive and the faith they live in comes
across very strongly in their everyday life, whether you are in
the Sonepur Mela or Varanasi, where I am currently shooting.
 43

PHOTOSTORY
Puja bridge, Sonepur Mela, Bihar

Women at a temple, Sonepur Mela, Bihar

 44
CREATIVE IMAGE

Sonepur Mela, Bihar

Religious ritual, Sonepur Mela, Bihar

 45

PHOTOSTORY
Women in religious trance on Kartik Purnima, Gandak river, Sonepur Mela, Bihar

Religious ritual, Sonepur Mela, Bihar

When we watch a child trying to walk, we see its countless
failures; its successes are but few. If we had to limit our
observation within a narrow space of time, the sight would be cruel.
But we find that in spite of its repeated failures there is an
impetus of joy in the child which sustains it in its seemingly
impossible task. We see it does not think of its falls so much
as of its power to keep its balance though for only a moment.

Like these accidents in a child’s attempt to walk, we meet with

sufferings in various forms in our life every day, showing the
imperfections in our knowledge and our available power, and
in the application of our will. But if these only revealed our
weakness to us, we would die of utter depression. When we
select for observation a limited area of our activities, our individual
failures and miseries loom large in our minds; but our life leads
us instinctively to take a wider view. It gives us an ideal
of perfection which ever carries us beyond our present
limitations. Within us we have a hope which always walks in
front of our present narrow experience; it is the undying faith
in the infinite in us; it will never accept our disabilities as a
permanent fact; it sets no limit to its own scope; it dares to
assert that man has oneness with God; and its wild dreams
become true everyday.

We see truth when we set our mind towards the infinite. The
ideal of truth is not in the narrow present, not in our immediate
sensations, but in the consciousness of the whole which gives
us a taste of what we ‘should’ have in what we ‘do’ have.

-Rabindranath Tagore in Sadhana

 CREATIVE IMAGE 48

SWAPNIL JEDHE

The flag of faith always flies

high. Pune, 2015
KAZI MUSHFIQ HOSSAIN

Asar prayer at the national

mosque of Bangladesh
49

SPECIAL FEATURE
 CREATIVE IMAGE 50

ARKA DATTA
A woman from the shaman
community (holy people) offers
prayers at the confluence
of river Ganga and the Bay
of Bengal. She is a spiritual
healer and is considered a
saint in her village. 2014
 ARKA DATTA
Naga Sadhus assemble to
take the holy bath. Kumbh
Mela, Allahabad, 2013
51

SPECIAL FEATURE
 52
CREATIVE IMAGE

ARNAB ADAK
Men dress up as Gods while people fall at their
feet to receive blessings. Jayanagar, 2015
 SPECIAL FEATURE
53
 54
CREATIVE IMAGE

ROHIT GAUTAM
New Delhi, 2016
 55

CREATIVE IMAGE
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 56
CREATIVE IMAGE

AVISHEK DAS

PHOTOGRAPHS & TEXT BY AVISHEK DAS

A different dimension to religious faith can be witnessed in the celebration of two unique
festivals in West Bengal, Charak and Gajan, involving dead bodies, skulls and face piercings.
Fearsome they may be for the common man, but these traditions are an integral part of the
religious beliefs of many villagers in the state. In these photos I share my visual experiences
from a remote village in West Bengal where these rituals are observed. According to the
villagers, this practice has been prevalent for more than a hundred years.

Burdwan District, West Bengal, 2015

 57

PHOTOSERIES

Burdwan District, West Bengal, 2016

 58
CREATIVE IMAGE

Burdwan District, West Bengal, 2015

 PHOTOSERIES
59
 60
CREATIVE IMAGE

JOYDEEP MUKHERJEE

They say, ‘Weave in faith and God will find the

thread.’ Probably this belief is the latent force that
works behind the action of the hundreds of people
who observe the Hindu ritual of Dondi.

PHOTOGRAPHS & TEXT BY JOYDEEP MUKHERJEE

Though observed all over West Bengal, Kalighat, considered one of the most sacred
Hindu pilgrimages, is the epicentre of this ritual where thousands of people, after taking a
dip in the Aadi Ganga, unite in prayer on the auspicious day of Shitala Puja. People, mostly
women, begin their journey from the banks, lying face-down on the road at every couple
of steps until they reach the Shitala Temple, with the belief that offering prayer in such a
rigorous way will please the Goddess and she will save them from unforeseen diseases and
hurdles in life. To make it easier for them, gallons of water are poured on the roads on a hot
summer day. The most unique sight is when infants are laid in the way of those performing
the ritual, and the devotees simply walk over the babies or carry them on their backs while
prostrating repeatedly on the roads. Some of them even go into a trance while performing
and it is believed that they are possessed by the Goddess herself for that span of time.
Finally, they get themselves purified by fire in front of the Goddess.

While people may debate the lack of humaneness in the whole affair where Faith is
the protagonist, the eyes of a photographer cannot but find perfect frames at every step.
With my eye on the viewfinder, I lived to capture the expressions of these believers who,
otherwise, ‘Live life to express, not to impress’, but on this day were definitely trying to
impress the Goddess. It took a long seven years to complete this visual story.
 61

PHOTOSERIES
Lady rolling on the street. Kalighat, Kolkata, 2015

A mother, along with her child, observes the Dondi ritual. Kalighat, Kolkata, 2009
62 CREATIVE IMAGE
 63

PHOTOSERIES

A child laid on the street by her mother

to be crossed by devotees. They believe
that it would save the child from deadly
diseases. Kalighat, Kolkata, 2013
 64
CREATIVE IMAGE

SCREAMS
SILENT

FRANCIS MESLET
OF OBLIVION

Separate family album/ Abandoned Chapel, France, 2016

Located in the communal cemetery, this chapel, which was declared dangerous since it was prone to collapse, was
closed several decades ago. It was replaced by a newer, more beautiful structure not far away. On an adjoining altar,
a family portrait fallen from the decrepit walls testifies to the last moments of Christ. An imaginary museum which has
fallen into oblivion and become scarcely worthy of the pigeons.

PHOTOGRAPHS BY FRANCIS MESLET

Francis Meslet is a designer, art director and renowned photographer who
roams the world in his spare time with his camera, searching for abandoned
sites, mostly churches, where time seems to have stopped after humans
abandoned them.

Like time capsules, testifying to a parallel world and perfect for enabling the
mind to wander and ponder, Meslet’s melancholic images brave the passage
of time, making way for silence after the memories left behind by human
inhabitation. In these deserted churches, where God appears no more, only
the rustling of the wind can be heard through a broken window or the sound of
water dripping from a destroyed ceiling.
 65

PHOTOSERIES

Heaven’s doors were closed from inside/ Lost Chapel, Italy, 2014
Small mountain chapel overlooking the city. A quiet and serene place bathed in a celestial light.
 66
CREATIVE IMAGE

Dark Requiem/ Belgium, 2014

Closed for more than 40 years for safety reasons, this church is particularly dark and
impressive. This once splendid organ has now become a perch for pigeons.

Prison addictions/ France, 2015

A very impressive church located in the heart of a big city. Fragile due to cracks in its structure,
it was closed to the public many years ago. A rich, high and beautifully flooded church of light. The shored parts alternate with the healthy parts.
Behind these gates, protected from the passage of time, the baptismal fonts await new baptisms which will no doubt come again.
 67

PHOTOSERIES
The missing believers/ Private Funeral Chapel, France, 2015
This Romanesque Revival style chapel is situated on the estate of a wealthy industrial family near
the castle and family factories. It houses the tombs of the family.

Sweet hug under morning light/ Franciscan Church, Italy, 2015

Franciscan church of the 14th century. This church was the basis for the construction of a Neo-Gothic castle which hosted the
queens of Italy. This building is closed to the public and difficult to access because of its isolation. The surroundings are full of snakes.
The church is plunged into almost total darkness. This image is the result of a very long exposure.
 68
CREATIVE IMAGE
THE WARRIORS OF FAITH
AMIT AND NAROOP
Satpal Singh
Amit and Naroop are two British
photographers of Indian origin, based in
London, who have been working together for
14 years. They began the Sikh Project in 2013.
PHOTOGRAPHS & TEXT BY AMIT AND NAROOP
T
he idea came about when we started to notice
that men of different ages were growing really long
beards. Through this personal project we wanted to
represent our roots. So, this project began based on the
identity of modern Sikh men, focusing on the turban and
the beard reflecting their belief in their religion and faith. We
photographed dozens of Sikh men from different walks of life.
The project means a lot us. We see it as an embodiment of
who we are—photographers, British in style and look, but
Indian in content. At its core, the project is about identity
more than anything. We want people to look at the images
and feel empowered. Here is a collection of individuals who,
regardless of the views of others, still continue to hold true
to their values and identity. We hope that people, no matter
who they are, will see these images and feel empowered, be
they Sikhs or non-Sikhs.
 69

PORTRAITS
Kanwar Singh

Jasdeep Singh
 70
CREATIVE IMAGE

ART ZONE
PULLMAN
PHOTO-EXHIBITION PRESENTED BY ART AND AESTHETIC

PULLMAN, DELHI
26 OCTOBER-15 DECEMBER 2016

“Curatorially it
promises to be a
challenge to see
what the city of
Delhi means to
different people.
From early times
to the present
day, the city has
tolerated individual
patterns of life,
eccentricities,
passions, NITIN RAI

obsessions and
expressions
of love. We
have asked
photographers
to share their
personal vision and
ideas of the capital
city and what it
means to them. To
claim ownership of
a city that belongs
to all and none.”
- Ina Puri
CLAUDIA SANCHEZ DE LA BARQUERA
 71

GALLERY WALK
TEXT BY ABHISHEK MADHUKAR

A
rt curator Ina Puri takes
up the task of collating the
works of three generations of
photographers and artists to translate
and express “What Delhi means to
different people”.

The show, featuring 17 photographers

and artists, is on exhibit at Pullman
Hotel’s ArtZone. The idea of the
“city that belongs to none and all” is
accentuated in the exhibition. The
images cover perspectives of Delhi
spanning the last five decades.

The participants include renowned

photographers and artists like Raghu
Rai, Nemai Ghosh, Gopi Ganjwani,
PARESH MAITY Paresh Maity, Amit Mehra and Nitin
Rai. It also includes the works of
nine young photographers who have
recently graduated from the Raghu Rai
Centre for Photography. Raghu Rai’s
son Nitin Rai, who taught this talented
bunch, is proud to see their work put
up alongside the masters. “I feel a
sense of achievement seeing my
students share the walls of the
same exhibition space,” he says.

As a distant reviewer, being unavailable

to review it physically, walking through
the gallery or interacting face to face
with the photographers, sets me free
from the regular filters I would otherwise
observe these images through. The
mix is eclectic to say the least. While
some images have been shot as
recently as this year, Mr. Rai’s black and
white iconic image of the President’s
Bodyguards go back to the 1970s.

Ina Puri adds in her curatorial

commentary: “Raghu Rai, Nemai
Ghosh are legends in their lifetime
and alongside there is Paresh Maity,
who is otherwise known as a painter.
Nitin Rai and the younger
photographers offer a point of
view that reflects attitudes of
the present generation. Cool
and edgy, the portraits and still
lifes will present plural views of
Delhi that have never been seen
before.”

NABARUN MOOKERJEE
NURTURING YOUNG MINDS
#CREATIVEIMAGEMAGAZINE

In order to enrich and

refresh your understanding
of photography, we shall
be featuring six pages of
#creativeimagemagazine,
linked to our Instagram
handle, in every issue. The
idea is to pick the finest
entries and share them
with our readers, thereby
also providing a platform
for photographers to
display their work which
may otherwise get lost
in the visual overdose of
social media platforms.
BRIHAT RAI

I
t is strange but true: even otherwise educated people can
be visually illiterate. To appreciate classical or folk music
you need to train your ears; similarly, to understand and
admire the world of visual arts one needs a constant training
of the eyes. Off course photography is the easiest of the art
forms because most of us take pictures from physical realities
around us. This can be understood and experienced fairly
easily. But then again we always fall into the trap of taking
pretty and predictable photographs, we don’t allow our mind
and spirit to explore, and the creative aspect is ignored. The
trap to avoid is that of looking for pretty and predictable
situations that we have seen before that makes us into happy
snappy clickers.

If we look at ourselves and people around us, do we resemble

each other? No. But strangely, our ideas and concepts of
photo-making do, and we end up producing photographs
which look like each other’s work.

The experience also tells us that each one of us, if we

connect with the world, with alert mind and spirit, and say no
to the predictable, has the ability to produce work which has

MANU YADAV
not been seen before. There are two ways of educating or
training yourself. First, try not to photograph from memory
and look at the world with eyes that are connected to your
feelings, to your soul—difficult but doable after certain
practice and experience.
The other is, you look at the works of great masters from
a historical perspective and the works of many important
photographers who are explorers photographing the
world with an experience never seen before. That is why
we have decided to create a world class photography
magazine Creative Image to educate and nurture
our young minds and take them to higher levels of
creativity. We research the the works of great masters,
spend weeks, studying classical and contemporary
photographers, and pick up the best from all over the
world. We try to select a greater number of Indian and
Asian photographers but the Western influence is too
important to be ignored. Hence, in each issue of Creative
Image, we feature the most precious, creative and
refreshingly powerful images from all over the world.
73
SOCIAL MEDIA
It is then that you begin to understand the works by
studying these great images and reading about them–
how they started, what it took for them to create the
original photograph, etc. We also analyse and explain
the creative process of image making.
In order to enrich and refresh your understanding
of photography, we shall be featuring six pages of
#creativeimagemagazine, our Instagram handle, in
every issue. The idea is to pick up the finest entries
and share them with our readers thereby providing
a platform for photographers for works which may
otherwise get lost in the visual overdose of social
media platforms.
We want to share with multitudes of our readers, a
possibility and experience of another kind which is
waiting to be captured. Here is a world class magazine
to make your journey simpler and meaningful. We wish
you the best of image making, new energy and new
strength through our collaboration.
 74
CREATIVE IMAGE

SUNAKSHI GUPTA
 75

SOCIAL MEDIA

MARIA AKESH
 JAYANTA ROY
76 CREATIVE IMAGE
 78
CREATIVE IMAGE

CREATIVE ARENA

CHARAN REDDY
CAMARENA Academy and Creative Image magazine are
getting together to help young minds develop higher levels
of creativity to promote photography. Our editorial team,
under the able guidance of Raghu Rai, will select four to
six of the best photographs from CAMARENA Academy’s
“Mentor’s Choice” selections every two months and publish
them in the bi-monthly Creative Image magazine.

Criteria for selection will include original creative

imagination and emotional connect. This will promote
both the photograph and the photographer to a world
class audience. The purpose is to separate the pretty and
predictable from the extraordinary and refreshing images
being created by dynamic and sensitive young minds.

CAMARENA Academy is a platform where photographers can exhibit and

discuss their work. Today more than 90,000 photographers from different
genres participate by posting their one best image every day. Most deserving
images are nominated as “Mentor’s Choice” and the photographer’s image
is featured on the group’s cover photo, each day. These Mentor’s Choice
selections are also nominated to participate in the CAMARENA Academy
Photography Awards (CAPA) held in the last week of January every year.
 79

SHOWCASE
SABINA AKTER

RAJIB MITRA
 PRAKASH.K
80 CREATIVE IMAGE
 81

SHOWCASE
AMIT VAKIL

SYED MOHD AFDHAL BIN SYED HASSAN

 82
CREATIVE IMAGE
WAKING
FROM DREAMS
OF INDIA
Neil Chowdhury was born in England
to an Indian father and British mother.
After earning his MFA from the University
of Washington in Seattle, he was able
to amass the funds needed for a plane
ticket to pursue his explorations of his
father’s homeland.
“Photography for me is the perfect
instrument of social observation. The
reasons I began photographing have to
do with the medium’s ability to record,
describe, and provide a reference for
the analysis of what has been seen. I
used this at first as a way of finding and
understanding social interaction, and
then as a way of continued investigation
of other societies, and as a creative
strategy of art making,” he says.
NEIL CHOWDHURY
PHOTOGRAPHS & TEXT BY NEIL CHOWDHURY
T
his work tells the story of my lifelong dream of exploring India,
the land of my father’s birth. He died without telling me much
about the culture in which he grew up or the story of his early
life there. As a child of mixed British and Indian heritage, I witnessed
and took part in post-colonial battles playing themselves out on
a domestic scale. Growing up in the United States, isolated from
Indian culture fostered the cultivation of imaginative fantasy about
my father’s country that ripened from a steady diet of exoticised
Western media accounts. None of this prepared me for the discovery
of the circumstances that drove my father away from his family as
a teenager, or the masala mix of complexity, misery and beauty
of contemporary India that I finally had the opportunity to see for
myself. Having now made several trips, and collected a wealth of
photographic images, videotape, and journal writings, I am shaping
this material into a body of work that connects and contrasts my
youthful fantasies of India with my adult experience building a
relationship with the land of my ancestry.
Drawing from documentary, illustrative, advertising, sacred, and
secular imaging traditions, I juxtapose images from different times
and places, mythical and real, to create a visual narrative both
imagined and lived. By collaging appropriated popular Indian
‘calendar art’ imagery of Hindu deities into my photographs, I am
referencing contemporary clashes of values and cultures that are
occurring on the subcontinent. By removing these printed gods from
spiritual contemplation in sylvan glades and temples, and bringing
them into the chaotic capitalist hurly burly that is contemporary
India, I want to show how the Hindu pantheon, representing an
imperturbable and entirely non-western view of reality, really do
walk the streets of postmodern India. Their presence is palpable
in the integration of spirituality into the country’s daily life. India
also worships newer deities with as much fervour as the old. The
loosening of government control on foreign investment in the early
90s led to a continuing economic boom in India and the meteoric
rise of a huge new middle class. Western materialism and the
mass appeal of flavour-of-the-month Bollywood icons have added
another vibrant layer to India’s visual culture. The iconography of
consumerism and media celebrity often borrows from that of the
ancient gods. These recent manifestations of India’s striving for an
earthly paradise have also found a place in my art. As I was dreaming
of India, it turns out that India has been dreaming of the USA.
For me, the complex history of these images signifies the emergence
of my own identity, a slow process of assimilating influences from
East and West.
 83

ARTISTS ON ART
God pictures, 2004

Young people in India are not caught between the expectations of tradition, and a rapidly Westernising
economic scene, culture, and values. They are driving the change. 2004
 84
CREATIVE IMAGE

‘Laundry Puja’: Kali, or Durga in her gentler incarnation, is popular in

Kolkata, promising to defeat the demons of her devotees. 2004
 ARTISTS ON ART
85
 86
CREATIVE IMAGE

#IP_MEET

SAYALI SURYAWANSHI Mumbai, 2016

IP Meet (Indiapictures Meet) is an annual event for photographers and

photography enthusiasts to come together from all over the world and do
what they do best—click photographs. This year, the organisers were looking
to rediscover and reclaim the streets. Hence, the theme for the meet: Street
Photography. Our streets are ingrained in our very souls and hence become
invisible to us. With an ambition to change this naive perception of our streets, the
objective was to capture the chaotic and beautiful streets of our subcontinent. This
year, the IP Meet was sponsored by brands like Creative Image, Zostel and Uber.

Indiapictures started over four years ago as an online platform to promote fine
art photography by featuring professional and amateur photographers alike.
The intention is to change the very perception of photography as an art form in
the country and globally. The meet provides a platform to not only collaborate
with photographers all over the world, but also learn and promote new trends in
photography through the exchange of culture and ideas.

Creative Image magazine and Indiapictures have come together for IP Meet 2 to
encourage upcoming photographers from different parts of the country. Both are
photography-centric platforms, with a similar motive of promoting outstanding
photography all across the globe trying to bring together professional and amateur,
unusual and classic, photographers to change the way the art of photography is
perceived.

As the print partner of this event, Creative Image Magazine is featuring the top four
entries from the Meet, hand-picked by Raghu Rai after going through almost 10000
images from 25 cities from across the country. The winner of IP MEET 2, Sushant
Chougule, has been given the opportunity to meet and interact with Raghu Rai.
 87

COLLABORATIONS
SUSHANT CHOUGULE Mumbai, 2016
 88
CREATIVE IMAGE

SACHIN MISHRA
Bangalore, 2016
 89

COLLABORATIONS

AMBARISH SIVASUBRAMANIAM
Chennai, 2016
 90
CREATIVE IMAGE

RUSSIAN
RELIGIOUS
PILGRIMAGE
EARLY 1900s
MAXIM PETROVICH DMITRIEV
PHOTOGRAPHS BY MAXIM PETROVICH DMITRIEV
TEXT BY CHERYL MUKHERJI

Throughout revolutions that made history and the ones that

continue to shape today’s world, photography has provided
understanding of the dynamic nuances that make a nation.
Similarly, to the transmutation of the political, industrial, and
religious scenario in 19th century Russia, photography acted
as an important medium in documenting the unrest. This
phase in the history of Russia was extensively catalogued
by photographer Maxim Petrovich Dmitriev. He founded the
concept of Russian photo-reporting, a genre that came to
be popularised as photojournalism. The remarkable photos
from the late 19th and early 20th centuries form part of
a collection showing the many faces of Russia. Dmitriev
made photos of everyday scenes of city life—gatherings at
marketplaces, tramps, political upheaval, Bolsheviks, Old
Believers, and the Russian Revolution.

Born into a family of house servants, Dmitriev grew up to

move to Moscow, where he found work as a labourer. In
1873, he became a photographer’s apprentice. He honed
his skills into the 1880s, observing society at all levels,
under the guidance of renowned Russian photographer
Karelin. Eventually, not only did his work gain attention and
appreciation but played a significant role in increasing public
awareness on socio-political and religious issues where
prayers and faith made a lot of difference to the well being
of society, which in turn influenced government policies.
 91

THE ARCHIVES
At the Annunciation Monastery, Kerzhensky Edinoverie, 1897

Sacred source in Sarov monastery

 92
CREATIVE IMAGE
Olenevsky hermitage, Ustavschitsy, 1897
In 1873, Dmitriev became a bound apprentice to a well
known Moscow photographer, M. Nastjukov. At the same
time, he attended drawing classes at Stroganov Art College,
among the best of art colleges in Russia. Not only did
Dmitriev learn a technical mastery from Nastjukov, he also
learned how to view his surroundings with an artistic eye.
From a very young age, Dmitriev dove into the turbulent life of
the country where he had the opportunity to watch all classes
of society, from paupers and hobos to recently established
tycoons. From his personal experiences, he knew quite well
what the life of the poor was like. It was this knowledge
that influenced his range of interest regarding the choice
of subject matters in his photographs. In the period when
Russian painting and literature was influenced by problems
within the society, the commonplace citizen became the main
and the favourite character of art. The works illustrating the
hardships of the peasants and labours also became the focus
of Dmitriev’s creative photography.
One of the most important works of Dmitriev was
Volga Collections. The series consisted of large-format
photographs with beautiful Volga landscapes, monasteries
and fairs, typical characters of the place as well as scenes of
city life. He worked for ten years, making photographs of the
region from the mouth of the Volga all the way to Astrakhan,
gathering over 4000 negatives in the process.
In a Russian society, driven by religious propaganda, a
majority of people were influenced. Photographs of a massive
crowd of pilgrims in religious procession with numerous
church domes in the background depicts the strengthened
grip of the Orthodox Church, yet the ignorance about
the roots of real Christianity in Russia. In this religiously
mushrooming nation, Bibles were kissed and decorated
with elaborate covers, but never studied or followed. There
was an abundance of witchcraft, astrology, sorcery, spiritual
blindness, and confusion. As seen in one of the photographs
made by Dmitriev, a stern looking group of monks from a

Laying Saviour Church in Nizhny Novgorod, 1899
fundamentalist Russian orthodox sect, the Old Believers, pose
with abbot Filaret at the Annunciation Monastery, Kerzhensky
Edinoverie, in 1987. Among other subjects, the members
of religious sects—priests, monks, and pilgrims—featured
predominantly in Dmitriev’s work. This was reflective of an
important phase in Russia’s religious history.
One of Dmitriv’s important photographs shows the Old
Believers deep in prayer. When the Bolsheviks swept into
power, many Old Believer communities fled to Siberia to
escape religious persecution. Dmitriev’s photographs played
a significant role in depicting the hardships of their life when
Christianity and other religions were outlawed.
In his works, he was able to show the new potential of
photography, which stuck to the purity and the reality of
scenes. Dmitriev’s disapproving opinion of pictorialism could
be found in his exact and realistic photography. His aspiration
to capture realism in photography in the absence of studio
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THE ARCHIVES
arrangements was considered as a revolutionary step
forward in the development of Russian photography.
Dmitriev’s photographs not only recorded the events
but evoked sympathy as well. Dmitriev was the first
photographer in Russia to make an attempt to influence
public opinion by means of photography, and as a result,
eventually made the government more active in helping the
aggrieved. His work inspired other Russian photographers
to depict folk life.
Works of such themes started to appear on the pages of
magazines and newspapers, ultimately creating the basic
principles of the Russian photo-report. In Russian critics’
and public figures’ opinion, Maxim Dmitriev’s works would
undoubtedly be earmarked as socially significant, and be
considered a new step in the development of photography.
These photographs still make the same impression upon us
today as they did back then.
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CREATIVE IMAGE

Group of monks with the abbot Filaret at Annunciation Monastery, Kerzhensky Edinoverie
 95

THE ARCHIVES

Laying vocational school in the village of Pavlovo, Nizhniy Novgorod province, 1895
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CREATIVE IMAGE

CONGREGATIONAL
PRAYER
NOOR AHMED GELAL
Breaking the fast in congregation.
A section of the Hindu community
is preparing to break their daylong
fast in one of the local temples
at Swamibag. They believe their
fasting will redeem their sins.
Dhaka, Bangladesh, 2012
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97
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CREATIVE IMAGE

TO BE THE BEST YOU HAVE TO KNOW THE BEST

As creative beings, it becomes very

important for us to know what is
happening in and around the world of
photography. Education becomes the
take-off point of doing something new.

As a young photographer, I remember

waiting eagerly for the arrival of
world class photography journals
like Camera (Switzerland), Popular
Photography (New York) and the British
Journal of Photography (London) so
that we could update ourselves on
the latest developments in the world
Creative Inspiration 1:

of photography. The exposure to the

latest and the best influenced our own
photography for the better. Similarly,
By Raghu Rai

an appreciation and understanding

of the global scenario in the world of
photography will help you break the
mould of predictability and produce
images that are novel and refreshing in
their approach.
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CREATIVE IMAGE
When you begin to work in
any form of creative expression,
be it painting, photography,
writing, or music, it becomes
your responsibility to know
what has already been done and
where the creative world is going
today. So you study the works
of all the great photographers
analytically and critically, try to
feel and understand it. Understand
the specific points and magic
being captured.

But when you go to shoot, forget

about what you have seen before.
This exercise can be achieved by
looking at the world with feeling—
feelings come from your heart and
not from your memory.
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