Sometimes I am so arrested by a site or an object that I feel compelled to document it, adding another photograph to the endless crater of images on my phone. I'm not alone in this. This act of constant documentation has become almost instinctive for most of us. So much so, that the question of what we are documenting and why feels redundant. We are not sure what the purpose of that image is, or where it will go, yet the urge to document persists.

In this conversation, I speak to Maharashtra-based photographer, Indrajit Khambe, in an attempt to pause and reflect on the culture of images that surrounds us. As someone who does this for a living, I am curious about the guiding motivations that drive Indrajit’s practice. What compels him to document a place or its people? What were his motivations when he started, and how have they changed over the years? What about his practice continues to bring him joy? And how does he see the culture of photography evolving over time?

Indrajit indulged me in a relatively free-flowing, and refreshingly candid conversation about his practice. You can view his work on his website, or on his Instagram page.

The search for a creative voice

‍
Purvi: Tell us about your childhood. How did you perceive life and art around you?

Indrajit: I was born in 1981. We led a very simple life in a town named Kankavli, near the Maharashtra-Goa border. I was very fond of painting when I was around 10-15 years of age. I always thought that I would pursue an artistic career, but the environment at home wasn’t too suitable for that. My parents came from farming families, and so they didn’t have an exposure to art in the conventional sense. 

Then, when I was graduating from college in 2001, I somehow developed an interest in computers, and at that time, and started my own computer sales service out of my home. I was earning a decent amount of money.  

Parallelly, I also joined a theatre group in my village. I used to love doing theatre along with business. After being associated with this group for around 8-10 years, I realised two things. First, that it was not possible to continue being part of two fields at the same time. I could either do theatre, or manage my business full-time. I wouldn’t be able to progress a lot in theatre, if I don’t leave my comfort behind. And second, something like painting is a very lonely artform. You do it alone, and the work you make is all yours. So, I was searching for a similar kind of medium, where I work alone, unlike theatre where I was working with 10 other people. 

Purvi: Why were you searching for a lonely artform to work with?

Indrajit: In theatre, the first thing is, when you work with 10 other people, you have to work with 10 people’s mindsets. And most of the time, these mindsets don’t match. At that time, theatre was just a hobby for me, but I realised that I wouldn't be able to do something more with it even if I wanted to. I wouldn’t be able to do much in the field if I only dedicated an hour to it everyday. But at the same time, I was also running my business. 

So, somehow I felt that the photographic medium is a good medium, because if I have two days’ time, I can take photographs for two days, and if I have two hours free I can take photographs for two hours. I liked its flexibility. At that time, I hadn’t seen other people’s work much, and didn’t know much about photography as a medium either. But I loved the idea that I could just pick up a camera, roam around and take pictures. 

Purvi: So you didn’t develop an interest in the field over time? You just intentionally decided to take the medium up? 

Indrajit: Yes, I just intentionally decided. I kept running my business side-by-side. I directly purchased a camera, and made one promise to myself: for at-least 10 years, I would not give it up. Because, during my theatre practice, I realised that no artform is easy. You have to dedicate time to it. Because if it takes 10 years to become a doctor, or an engineer, art is not something you can just pick up in 1-2 years. You have to put in a similar kind of effort and dedication into that too.  

I directly purchased a camera, and made one promise to myself: for at-least 10 years, I would not give it up.

Purvi: Where do you think this impulse to pursue an artform was coming from? 

Indrajit: Basically, I have been interested in art since my childhood. But if I look back at it now, the honest answer would be that a lot of times, artists feel that art can give them a voice. If I pursued something, or said something through my work, I believed that people would listen to it. I wanted to break the barrier of being from a small-town, and say something to a larger audience.

Purvi: So you were searching for something that would give you a voice…but what is it that you wanted to say at the time, that you were not able to express otherwise? 

Indrajit: At that time, around my thirties, I was very disturbed by certain social and political events around me. Initially I thought I would highlight social issues through my art. For example, why is there such widespread poverty? If I heard about the death of a pregnant woman, it bothered me a lot. I wondered why she wasn’t she able to access medical facilities. I was also disturbed by the religious fervour we saw around us: why are people so aggressive with religion?

I feel the same today, however today I have a channel to express my frustrations. Also, as my work has progressed over the years, it has become a mix of things. Now I think my work has a social angle, as well as an artistic angle.  

Purvi: Can you talk more about this? What makes your work both “artistic” as well as “social”?  

Indrajit: When I bought a camera, I started by documenting these things. I went to Marathwada, which was hit by severe drought in around 2012 and documented that. In the initial years, I focused primarily on documenting the social issues around me. But, as I evolved as an artist, I realized that I have a stronger inclination towards artistic expression. Maybe because I come from a painting background…I wish to create a more selfish kind of art, as opposed to a more overtly social kind of work.

Now, if you look at my work from the last few days, you will find a selfish-touch in it. I am going out alone, and it is my world that you are seeing on social media, etc. So, instead of documenting many social subjects, my work started getting more and more selfish.

In the beginning, I carried a kind of…not guilt…but confusion about this. However, overtime I started getting feedback. For example, one day I received a long message from Danish Siddiqui, who lost his life to the Taliban, while shooting in Afghanistan. He wrote to me saying that whenever he returns from covering a very grief-struck environment, such as war, or Covid related deaths, he goes to my website, and he looks at my work…and that it helps him sleep. My work was a kind of therapy for him.  

That day, the sense of confusion subsided for me. I realised that whatever kind of work you are doing, there should be honesty to it. You don’t need to compare your work to other people’s work. The kind of environment I grew up in was a very calm, peaceful, and slow environment. If I go to shoot a war scene, or a riot or political rally…if I go to shoot journalistic stuff, I am unable to do it. Because I don’t have the courage or the mindset required to do that kind of work.

In the initial years, I focused primarily on documenting the social issues around me. But, as I evolved as an artist, I realized that I have a stronger inclination towards artistic expression. I wish to create a more selfish kind of art– where you see my world. 

‍

‍

‍

On Developing a Series of Work

Purvi: I have seen a lot of your photography series online. The one about wrestling, about Hampi, and Dashavatara theatre…can you tell me what the process of building a series like that is? What sparks your interest in a subject, and what are the steps you take to pursue this interest? 

Indrajit: So, I take a different approach in each series. My initial idea was that my business would fund my passion. But from 2014, when smartphones became popular, the computer business went into decline. I was suddenly faced with the challenge of continuing to generate an income and sustaining my family. I wanted to pursue photography parallelly, but now I didn’t have money to fund it. So, I started finding stories in my locality. I went and shot the Dashavatara theatre, or the akhada series nearby. Whenever I went to Kolhapur for work, I would take 2-3 hours of the day to shoot at the akhada. That’s how I started developing that work.‍

Purvi: I really love your Hampi series. I am curious: what sparked your interest in the place, and what drove you to keep going back to the place over and over again?

Indrajit: The Hampi series started in 2018, when I visited the place with my family for the first time. Before I went there, I had seen a lot of photographs of Hampi. They were all wide angle photos of a deserted place without any people. So I knew I didn’t want to take photos of that kind. 

Since I had gone with my family, I couldn’t shoot all day long. I shot for 6-8 hours total in the entire trip. And what emerged in my work was different from the Hampi that I had seen in other photos. This was a big learning for me. I realised that even if multiple people have shot a certain subject multiple times, you can still go to it with your unique point of view. After that, I kept revisiting Hampi place for my workshops or solo trips. 

Often one feels that they should be constantly exploring new locations. But that’s not true. I believe that one should go to the same location over and over again. It is only once you start finding a place boring that you get a deeper sense of the place. I say, go to a place so frequently that you start getting bored of it. And then wait for a good moment. 

That was my experience with Hampi. If you want to build a strong body of work, you need to get used to that space. You will start getting interesting pictures only once the primary excitement dies down. 

Often one feels that they should be constantly exploring new locations. But that’s not true. I believe that one should go to the same location over and over again. It is only once you start finding a place boring that you get a deeper sense of the place.

Purvi: What did you start noticing in Hampi that you hadn’t seen in the first few times?

Indrajit: I started finding the landscape in Hampi– which is basically rock-sculptures– very interesting. I was intrigued by people’s relationship with that landscape. In one place I saw a huge rock that was balanced on a very small base. And a 6-7 year old girl was standing under that rock. I didn’t have the courage to go and stand under it, but people from that area were sleeping under that rock, some were cooking under it. I found it very interesting that people had so much trust in the fact that the rock would not fall on them. Because that rock had never fallen in their lives, or in their ancestors’ lives, even though it was resting on a very small base.

Purvi: When I see those pictures, I feel like visually you are very interested in contrasts: a tiny human being against a massive rock. 

Indrajit: Exactly, exactly.

‍

Purvi: And when you are shooting a place over and over again, how do you approach the people there? Do you attempt to develop a relationship with them first?  

Indrajit: Relationships develop over time. As a photographer you have to approach this from two directions. While you have to develop a relationship with people, you also have to maintain some distance with them, so that you are able to see your subject objectively. If you develop a very close relationship with the subjects, then maybe when it's time to take photos, you won’t be able to visualise the whole picture.

Most of the time, you have to communicate with people through your eyes and your body. It’s not necessary that you go and have a verbal dialogue with them. Because, in Hampi, for example, people speak Kannada, and so, I am not able to talk to the locals there. But I still make a connection with them through my body language. It is through body language that they understand whether a person is safe and sensitive. Your body language shows how you carry yourself, how calm or relaxed you are…when I go somewhere in the interiors, people are not used to an outsider suddenly coming in with a camera. So you have to observe those things from a distance, you have to smile at them, you have to communicate with them through your eyes. You have to communicate comfort and honesty through your body language. 

Most of the time, you have to communicate with people through your eyes and your body... It is through body language that they understand whether a person is safe and sensitive.

But at the same time, you shouldn’t get so involved that you don’t have time for photography. Here, if people start liking you, they invite you to their homes, and want to spend a lot of time with you. But in photography, the thing is that you don’t get a second chance. If I have two hours, then I have to utilise those two hours for taking pictures. Even if I am having a conversation with them, I am observing them at the same time. Do they have a tattoo, or is there a kind of metaphor I can use to take pictures? Even if I am talking to them, there is a line of detachment. I am listening to them, but at the same time, I am thinking about the kind of image I create with the present scene. 

In the beginning I wasn’t like this. In the beginning, sometimes I got so involved with a new place and its people, that I forgot about photography altogether.

Purvi: With the Pehelwan (wrestling) series for example, did you make your intentions clear from the start? Did you tell the wrestlers that you were there to photograph them?

Indrajit: See, you can’t just go somewhere and point your camera at people. My strategy is that I go to a place first and sit there for half an hour. I observe them, and try to get to know them with genuine curiosity. What does their diet consist of? How much does sustaining this diet cost every month? If a 20 year old boy from a farming background spends Rs 15,000 on his food every month, then how does he manage? What are their motivations? What are the needs of their family? Once you build this rapport, once they start recognising your face, you don’t have to do this every time. 

But consistency matters a lot. If I go today, and then go back after a year, they are not going to remember me. But if I go every week, they will just say hi, and get on with their work. And I can get on with mine. So ultimately you develop that kind of relationship where they are comfortable around you and I am comfortable taking pictures as well. At the same time, we don’t have to be overly friendly with each other each time.

Purvi: What about places? Do you go to a place with the intention of photographing it, or are you more spontaneous in your approach? 

Indrajit: In the beginning, I used to decide what I wanted to shoot somewhere, and go to a place with that intention. But overtime, I realised that it’s all about  responding to accidents. If you go to a place with a blank mind, you might encounter something unexpected. And there is joy in capturing this unexpected moment. So now, I don’t go to a place with a fixed mindset. There are 3-4 villages around my house, those are my fixed locations, and I  go there frequently. 

Purvi: And the people in these neighbouring villages– are they curious about your work?

Indrajit: Sometimes I go back and show them the photo, or if it’s a good photo, I take a print and give it to them. But otherwise, I don’t have that much of a connection with them. Here, people don’t really know I’m a photographer. We don’t really have a typical photography culture, or a culture of reflection on the arts. But people are artistic, only their art is in a different format. Creativity expresses itself in the way people decorate their homes and their yards. There’s a strong influence of Dashavatara theatre, but we don’t have a conventional “arts culture”. And I haven’t made any deliberate attempts to “educate” them. Because I like the people here as they are.