Age: 36
Nationality: USA
Place of Residence: Johannesburg, South Africa (since Dec 2011, before that I was based in New Delhi, India for 2.5 years).
Equipment: Hasselblad, 120mm color film
TEXT
This body of work was made in September 2011 on the south Indian coast in Tamil Nadu.
In India, where personal space is often limited, being close to the sea promotes a different set of relationships as people often gather to use this public space – both in groups and by themselves.
This work explores the loneliness and isolation that can be the result of the constant stimulation of the world around us, the noise and heat, the demands of family, friends and work – and that isolation in the face of the sea.
I watched as people gathered by the seafront and surrounding them there was a constant buzz of vendors, cotton candy sellers, fortune tellers – all of which gave it a feeling of a frenzied carnival.
The relationships were layered, there were solitary cotton candy sellers and groups of families running into the surf while others looked on, a cart with peanuts for sale which were being carried off by crows – all of which were existing in the same place, occasionally overlapping.
Through these photos I try to explore the idea that while things in these environments are loud and dirty, almost never tidy – that it is still possible to find moments of peace. And as an extension, in these moments of peace there is often a sense separateness or solitude. Using the moments of stillness I find in each of these scenes, I try to bring order to the often overwhelming surroundings.
Candace Feit
