INDIA:

The reconciliation of differences

I have always been intimidated by India, maybe it's the sheer size of the world's largest emocracy, maybe the heterogeneity of its populations, maybe the religious and very conservative nature of its society, maybe also the well documented  horrendous poverty of the country or the medieval nature of its cast system with its sub-humans untouchables. For the same reasons, it is also a culture/civilization that I have always been most intrigued by. I was hoping for this opportunity, which allowed me to explore various facets of this society.

Growing up in France I never was in touch with India culture, this journey which has attracted occidentals since the days of Hannibal, was an "apnee" dive with hardly any points of reference,  The first part of my trip in rural areas of Rajasthan was very intimate in the sense that we had a strong connection with the people we came across and the situations we faced.

This journey in India as a whole lifted my spirit up as it was very comforting  to see a society where people from different ethnics, with different religious beliefs, are able to live Together in relative harmony.

It was very uplifting to see people from different communities interacting, mingling, curious and aware of each other.. Indian people I came across during this journey were all very proud of the cosmopolitanism of their society. It was fascinating to experience such cultural density. I was  touched to witness the same Week Aid El Fitr, the end of Ramadan in Kerala and the celebration of Diwalli in Orissa, it was inspiring to see the respect showed to their neighbors. In Kerala, I visited a Mosque, a synagogue, a church and countless Hindu temples.

The sight of all these muslin families celebrating Aid El Fitr, the end of Ramadan, converging to the waters of Fort Cochin was an unforgettable moment as it deepened my hope that understanding and respect of the other's culture  will prevail.
"L'Inde est magnetique."

Amazon diary… the Clouds Keeper

These images are part of a photo essay that documents the reunion of 200 chiefs from 21 communities belonging to the Kayapo tribe in the Amazon. The event took place in April 2006 in an indigenous village by the Xingu river in the heart of Brazil. This reunion was organized by Kayapo chiefs and coordinated by the FUNAI (Brazilian Administration in charge of the Indian territories). The purpose of this reunion was to find ways to fight the Brazilian Government’s project to build 5 dams in the Amazon basin.
 

While spending time with the Kayapo Indians it occurred to me that these native tribes from the Amazon are the keepers of a dream, the promise of a simpler life within a fecund protective nature. Those tribes have been able to survive the industrial revolution, the swarming of their land by garimperos, farmers and lately hordes of homeless people lured by the promise of a better life with lands promised by the Lula administration. In the western civilized world collective imagination, they are the incarnation of our ancestor’s original and mysterious freedom...the idea of an original paradise.

One of the most revealing photos that I took was of these kids bathing in a stream close to the village, their eyes express intrigue but also have a mysterious expression where innocence is revealed.