9:47 PM

#THEUSUALSUSPECTS: certain communities were codified as automatic criminals in law, meaning that they could be arrested without evidence or due process, harassed and subject to indignities on the whims of the authorities. Those statutes were overturned and removed - not very long ago - but it is harder to change attitudes and prejudices that have been reinforced for generations. #VSSM worked tirelessly to return these tribes their rights and it often began with voting cards, enshrining their rights to rations and work and legal standing. Appreciate your right to vote, politicians will respect you more if you can and do. #tribes #nomads #denotifiedtribes #gujarat #votercardpower #disenfranchised #india #vote #photojournalism

Posted 2021-04-02instagrama minute read (About 130 words)

TRIBES | Friday, April 2, 2021

9:57 PM

#TRIBES: several days after bulldozers arrived - at 4am - and demolished their village in #Vijaypur, the villagers were planning a tribe to visit the Ajay Badoo, the district collector - a magistrate - to complain and asked if I would meet them there. I was just a photographer but the actions of the authorities were outrageous, and I understood the power an external observer could have. A 350km trip from their village. I spoke with their chief about their plans, “Only a few of us will be able to, the women cannot come, who will look after the children?” Two days later… every able-bodied woman in the village is at the office, carrying the children in their arms. #india #gujarat #demolition #tribes #nomads #womenandchildrenfirst #mehsana

Posted 2021-04-02instagrama few seconds read (About 45 words)

SNAKEBITE | Friday, April 2, 2021

10:00 PM

#SNAKEBITE: the #cobra was still a #snake, even after its venom sac had been drained and used by the health services to make anti-venom, and taunting it still resulted in a bite. #snakecharming #india #tribes #nomads #vadi #gujarat #photojournalism

Posted 2021-04-02instagrama few seconds read (About 46 words)

TRIBES | Friday, April 2, 2021

10:08 PM

#TRIBES: it’s 2021 and there are 54 Million more male humans in India than female. Too much to unpack as always on Instagram. This picture is from 2008, these boys will all be of marrying age now. #malefemaleratio #india #gujarat #nomads #photojournalism

Posted 2021-04-02instagrama few seconds read (About 50 words)

TRIBES | Friday, April 2, 2021

10:11 PM

#TRIBES: a decent school, with actual classrooms and real teachers, is hard to organize. Even when it’s the best thing to do, prevailing attitudes, even parental envy and suspicion can ruin a child’s chances. #education #nomads #tribes #gujarat #india #children #photojournalism

Posted 2021-04-02instagrama few seconds read (About 44 words)

LIFE | Friday, April 2, 2021

10:15 PM

#LIFE: one last pic this evening that has no story and no wider significance. We simply stopped for food at a roadside dhaba and I made a picture of some of the staff feeding us. #india #gujarat #dhaba #photojournalism

Posted 2021-03-31instagrama few seconds read (About 78 words)

TRIBES | Wednesday, March 31, 2021

1:12 AM

#TRIBES: several decades ago I made the fairly trite observation to my cousin that #India would never get anywhere until it addressed equality between men and women. We could clearly see that the practice of female infanticide would only lead to a problematic male-female ratio. And here we are, with one single woman somehow wangling her way into the community meeting, kinda illustrating that point. And many other points. #nomads #sexism #photojournalism

Posted 2021-03-31instagrama few seconds read (About 21 words)

TRIBES | Wednesday, March 31, 2021

1:14 AM

#TRIBES: Musicians are popular everywhere, but this photo is just about the colour. #nomads #india #photojournalism

Posted 2021-03-31instagrama few seconds read (About 69 words)

CHILDLINE | Wednesday, March 31, 2021

1:17 AM

#CHILDLINE: this is the makeshift office of childline at #ahmedabad stations, staffed by runaways who are attuned to children on their own on the trains. This is from the documentary I couldn’t make, but there’s an amazing community of young people and kids with stories of abuse too harrowing to remember let alone retell right now. #childabuse #india #railways #runaway