Wednesday, 26 September 2007

Incredible India: Sohrab Hura

Image Copyright © Sohrab Hura-All Rights Reserved

As no emerging photographic talent from India is being promoted during the Incredible India @ 60 extravaganza in New York City, "Incredible India on TTP" is a week-long series of posts in a small effort to redress this oversight by showcasing unknown, under represented or emerging Indian photographers, as well as some of my own photographs of this amazing country.

Sohrab Hura was born in 1981 in India, and studies for a masters degree in economics at the Delhi School olf Economics. Although he has no formal training in photography, he's been photographing since 2001.

He takes inspiration from the work of many photographers...such as " James Nachtwey's endeavour to illustrate social injustice, the perfect moments captured by McCurry, the photos of kids by Fransesco Zizola, the contrast between Raghu Rai's works on "Mother Teresa" and "The Bhopal gas tragedy" and at the same time their similar deep impact; all of it has inspired me. I 've chosen to start my work with underprivileged children because they are closer to my age group and childhood is a phase that I've already been through; I hope to capture moments that tell us about their dreams, despairs, and joys. I intend to slowly extend the subject of my work in the future..."

I chose Sohrab's photograph of two brothers completing the last rites for their deceased father. "On asking them how they managed to remain so calm even after they had lost their father, they said that it was because they had fulfilled their dying father's last wish to be cremated in Benares. "

Sohrab's work was suggested to me by Claude Renault...a fellow Indiaphile and a talented photographer.

Call Me KIJU

Here are impromptu street portraits of Kiju on Crosby Street in Soho, NYC. Kiju is an alternative rock performer.