Early Times is the first part of a long project by Vasantha Yogananthan, entitled A Myth of Two Souls, which offers a contemporary reinterpretation of the Ramayana, a fundamental mythological text of the Hindu religion. This epic consists of seven chapters and is attributed to the poet Valmiki who composed it more than two thousand years ago.
Since 2013, Vasantha Yogananthan travelled in India, from the North to the South, retracing the route taken by the heroes of this epic. Between fiction and reality, he deliberately blurs the lines by multiplying approaches: color photographs and black and white, painted photographs, illustrated vernacular photographs and pictures make up the layers of a timeless story.
This first book is that from the beginning: he tells the youth and education of Rama, son of King Dasaratha and Sita, daughter of King Janaka – who do not yet know each other but will be destined to meet and love.
In the tradition of the picture book, Vasantha Yogananthan invited Mahalaxmi and Shantanu Das, two Indian artists in the tradition of Madhubani painting, to create original illustrations that come into dialogue with his photographic work. The writing of the first chapter of this epic – constantly reinterpreted through the ages – was given to the writer Anjali Raghbeer.
A Myth of Two Souls will be published in 7 books at the rate of two per year until 2019 by Chose Commune Publishing.
Vasantha Yogananthan, Early Times
Published by Chose Commune
€ 55
http://www.vasantha.fr/
http://www.chosecommune.com/
