Photographers Who Find Magic In The Mundane: Sankar Sridhar

(Click on any image to read Sridhar’s perceptive anecdotes about its origin)

Six-year-old Changpa Tsering tries to hide the embarrassment that follows a scolding by pretending to untangle the knotty hair of her family’s herd of goats

When it comes to adjectives that describe his art, Sankar Sridhar likes to be associated with the word ‘slow’. For that’s the kind of photographer he is, taking a fortnight or longer getting to know his subjects before he photographs them. He usually clicks people whose lives are far removed from his own because of the unique perspective it provides for his lens.

For a Rabari elder, walking barefoot is more comfortable than wearing shoes. “You feel the earth without shoes and only grit and thorns with them”, he explains.

What usually brings the subject to your attention?
“Books and serendipity during my travels.”

Creased, calloused and flaking, the hands of a Rabari woman reveal the toll that work and weather takes on the life of a nomad.

Describe your experience shooting with the subject
“I like spending as much time as I can with my subjects so that I don’t only capture candid moments but also understand aspects of their lifestyle that need to be documented. I also make it a point to return to them from time to time so that I don’t miss out on a single facet of their lives.”

Changpa children are sometimes left in front of open fires while their mothers go to fetch water. Younger children are kept in the corrals with the goats, where they are warmed by the animals’ body heat.

Which subject has left a lasting impact on you?
“It would have to be pastoral communities like the Changpas, the Rabaris and the Gaddis whom I have observed very closely for weeks on end. They are survivalists who always wear a smile and share a symbiotic relationship with nature. I believe their lives are like a book we should definitely take a leaf out of.”

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