Lives at a Crossroads
India is a grand tapestry of identities that give it its unique character. With more than a hundred languages spoken and a great number of ethnic subgroups making up its population profile, diversity, for certain, is the most glistening strand in India’s social fabric. Every community, even within a state, has its own claim to novelty and originality, seen in manners of dress, beliefs, and customs that are unique to them.
However, the years after independence and the rapid pace of development that followed have begun to put a strain on many small indigenous communities. It is forcing them out of traditional occupations and ways of life that have long defined who they were as a people. Native Roots is an attempt to record these unique identities as they stand at the crossroads of an inevitable transition.
The Photographer: Aman Chotani
Based in New Delhi, India, Aman is a professional photographer who explores the world of travel, culture and life for subjects. He began as an assistant to renowned wildlife and travel photographer Louis Kleynhans in South Africa before setting out on his own.A self-confessed “wanderer” Aman’s images immerse the viewer in the subject's culture, bringing a visual authenticity to his photographs. His work features landscapes and arresting portraits of indigenous people from across the world. “I take photographs to define my experiences, to capture these moments and share the earth’s most extraordinary places” he says summing up his personal vision.Aman exhibits his work regularly in India and abroad and is the recipient of many prestigious awards. His exhibition, titled “Portraits”, a collection of work shot in Nepal, was received very well. His pictures have been published in the National Geographic, Life Force magazine, India Today, Outlook Traveler, Creatives Gaga and others dedicated to travel and photography.
Aman Chotani is the author of ‘The Last Avatar Project’ a book on Indian Tribes & Culture,
The Writer: Tejas Joseph
Tejas Joseph is a freelance writer whose subjects of interest are self organising societies, artisanal technologies and social enterprises, conservation and sustainable living. Lately, he has started to think of how the perennial values of Indic civilisational thought can be reimagined to obtain a new understanding of these for a digital age.
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