Sunday, July 13, 2008

Looking back...

Photographer: Anole
Location: Nagaland, Date: 04 July, 2008

2 July 2008: FoE team lands in Dimapur. A team of 8 people with a baggage of 220 kgs. Rain was hammering down and the first thing that came to my mind was “what made us visit Nagaland is the weather". But we knew that our heart was in the right place and we were all on a journey full of ambition. And a journey once begun has no end.

It was a 2 hour drive to Kohima. One could see several species of ferns bushy on the roadside, filled with raindrops. Hundreds of invisible spiderwebs in the bushes lined in silver were now visible. Between rains a grub of white sun appeared and there would be a smile on all our faces. And suddenly an unending rain would break out.

We started the workshop in Viswema village, which is just an hours drive from Kohima. Here we trained women from the Angami tribe. I must admit that women from the hills are really fashionable. It was really nice to see the participants in their traditional outfits on the second day.

From day two onwards participants were in full swing. It just took them a day to get used to the digital camera. It was pouring, but none of us gave up.

Rainy season beetles flew by in many colours. Participants would run behind insects and butterflies to shoot the unmistakable silhouette bold against the wall. They would fight to get a picture of it before it vanished into the crack between the bottom of the wall and the floor.

Ramesh, assisting one of the participants

And last but not the least, Mr Shaw's team rocked. No amount of downpour stopped them. They would run behind the participants and hold umbrellas for them, cover cameras with shower caps and do everything possible to make their students experts in photography. And right behind them one would find the video team running, trying to capture every possible thing on the video camera.



Author: Charitha Reddy

No comments: