Reflecting life in water

Water forms the basis for all life. It also forms the basis for beautiful photographs! Since the time the camera was invented, photographers have been exploring this liquid gem to take some truly memorable shots. The fact that water assumes so many different forms – seas, rivers, streams, waterfalls, morning dew and even rain – is an added benefit.

So now, another Delhi-based lensman Justin Rabindra has gone to the depths of Water Photography and come out with an impressive exhibition ‘Seeking Water.’ He has ventured to some of the most picturesque waterscapes in the world and captured not just the beauty of water there but also the culture and traditions associated with it. His work was on exhibition at India Habitat Centre.

Surprisingly, Justin was a full-time advertising professional till last year. He took up photography for a living only in mid 2012. “I don’t know if it was playing with my father’s 120 mm Agfa bellows camera as a kid or coming in contact with several fine photographers during my advertising days but I always loved photography. Some time back, I realised that I am financially secure enough to plunge into my first passion full-time.”

All these years, though, he had been travelling extensively. In fact, he’s covered almost half-the-world on tours with family and friends. “Just going through my work, I noticed that I have a lot of photographs on water. These originate from various places and each, if you look carefully, have a story to tell. I thought why not share it with fellow travel enthusiasts?”

So we have a picture-postcard like perfect shot of the beach at Bentota, Sri Lanka. The setting sun lends a beautiful bronze colour to the scenery; there is the sea below, swaying palm trees on the side and fishermen clinging onto stilts. Then there are the backwaters of Kerala dotted by boats. Justin says, “Just as in cities we have cars parked outside homes, in Kerala, boats are parked next to huts. When people need to go to nearby shops, they just hop on to a boat.”

Pictures of luxury yachts in Naples and Palemo, Italy are a story in contrast. Justin says, “The beaches here are the playground of the rich. While in Kerala, people use boats to earn a living, tourists come here from the world over to splurge and holiday on a yacht.” Then there is also a shot of the large floating village on Sonlap Lake,
Cambodia. The occupants never get off their boats. In fact, there are schools, hospitals and even churches on the boats here.

Justin’s favourite pics, though, are closer home. He landed in Srinagar in 2012 in the middle of a curfew and, in the absence of mills of tourists, took some really peaceful pictures of the Dal lake. Pointing to a picture of a Kashmiri nomadic couple on a boat, he says, “Their faces betray their poverty, that their vocation of boat-ferrying is not exactly profitable. And yet, water is life for some people. For others like me, it means angelic photographs.”