We also have the opportunity in Panaji to see the wonderful work of photographer Gauri Gill, Balika Mela. In 2013, Gill was invited by an NGO to shoot a series of black-and-white portraits to take part in “mela,” the fairs that are still held throughout the Indian countryside. Seven years later, she returned to a mela in Lunkaransar, 300 kilometers from Jaipur, to photograph , only this time in color. In the tent that serves as a studio, the girls pose staring straight into the lens. Alone, in groups, they wear “salwar kameez,” baggy pants and a tunic, or jeans and colorful t-shirts, despite living in poverty. They drive motorcycles and wear sneakers like men, or identify themselves with Bollywood stars. They are there, facing us, as if to say that we have no choice but to reckon with them.
The work of Max Pinckers, 26, a talented young Belgian photographer, was exhibited a few weeks ago in Chobi Mela, the famous Dacca photography biennial. Pinckers has one of the most exciting project’s about India today: The Fourth Wall. In 2012, he roamed Bomba asking people to act out scenes from films or television shows of their choice, which he then photographed. He added his own creation to these stages photographs, visual commentaries on stories from local newspapers and archive images from popular Indian films and magazines. The result plunges the viewer into a space between fiction and reality, a strange halfway point between reenactment and documentary photography. It’s as if the actors from a film noir emerged from the screen to play out their stories in the city.
Finally, we finish our walk in front of the marine offices of Dabolim, the Goa naval base. These colorful images exude a sense of order, but also a sense of what drives each of these soldiers, aware of their worth and proud of their mission.
This intelligent and demanding first edition was enchanting. Here’s to a long life for Goa Photo, and we’ll see what we can discover next year.
FESTIVAL
Goa Photo Panaji
Goa, India
From February 25th to March 7th 2015
