as i travelled back and forth between india and north america several times between 2007 and 2009, i began to notice through my conversations that each culture held some major misconceptions about the other. as a photographer, i thought extensively about how the images that we shared of each other seemed to dictate the terms of that misconception: for north americans who watched the news, travel advertisements, and slumdog millionaire, india was exotic, poor, dirty, spiritual, or booming; for indians innundated with ‘study in canada’ billboards and cyber cafes admonishing users to avoid certain websites, north america was rich, hedonistic, free, or a mythical land of opportunity. in some ways, each of those descriptors are true, but, as those of us who wade in and out of both cultures know too well, they aren’t the whole story.
in sikkim, i met a man who was voting for the opposition party in last summer’s elections. when i asked him about his views, he pulled a ratty postcard out of his wallet and said “i want my village to be like switzerland!”. in ahmedabad, i chatted with a man who wondered “are the women that i see in pornography real or computer generated?” we are well past the time when we can hope to insulate ourselves from pervasive imagery. but it remains in our power to take the reins of the story and tell it a little bit differently. this is what i’m working on: i’m calling it an experiment in cross-cultural storytelling.
this past spring, i purchased all of the interior ad space on a streetcar in downtown toronto. if you’ve taken public transit in your city, you probably know the space that i mean: a series of panels that runs along the inside of the vehicle, just above the windows. my idea was to temporarily transform the space into a gallery-on-rails and see what would happen. to do so, i shared a series of 34 intimate portraits from india, presented without any type of written description. would this type of art provoke people out of their daily routines? would they seek a different kind of connection with their fellow commuters? would it change the way they viewed india? you can view the series of photos that i chose here: www.whatdoesitmeantobeahumanbeing.ca
truthfully, most people didn’t look. they were caught in their own head, or in their blackberries or iphones, and had allowed themselves to tune out of the space around them. but those who did seemed significantly affected. over hours of riding the streetcar, i engaged dozens of strangers in provocative conversation about the role of art and advertising in public space, and also about how much there was to love about india. one girl i met told me that she had been in a really bad headspace, but that seeing the photos “made her day”. nearly 30,000 commuters were exposed to the photos over the month; i received some significant positive press in the toronto star and on local blog blogTO.
this experiment totally convinced me of the value of this type of inspirational storytelling.
so now i’m on to the next phase in the experiment. instead of showing photos of india in north america, i am planning to travel to india and show photos of us. and to shoot those photos, i’m going to walk, as a pilgrim, 1,800 miles down the pacific coast of the u.s. by slowing myself down to walking pace, i think i’ll be better suited to capture intimate, honest portraits of americans. with those photos, i’ll return to india and find a public space – maybe a bus, a village square, the delhi metro, or something else i haven’t thought of yet – and hold a public exhibition. my idea is to present a different version of us from the one typically portrayed in hollywood, bollywood, news, and TV. maybe i can change some people’s ideas or touch them in a way that provokes greater understanding. and maybe i can bring photos of the exhibition back here and show people how much it is that we all have in common.
i’m on a quest, as you can see, and in order to succeed, i needed the help of my community. using a website called kickstarter.com, i reached out to friends, family and strangers with a request to raise 5,000 to fund the cost of my supplies and expenses for my walk. within 10 days, they had answered; as of today, i’ve raised nearly $6,000 from 100 generous people. in exchange for those donations, i offered several rewards, including prints of photos that i’ll shoot on the upcoming pilgrimage, as well as the actual prints that i displayed in the streetcar this past may. this is the beginning of my pilgrimage: asking for alms and collecting the companions who will make this journey with me.
i hope you can become one of those companions. you can find out more about the project (and watch an overview video) here:
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/904479314/walking-to-mexico-an-experiment-in-cross-cultural
there are other ways i could benefit from your support. please share the above link through your online social networks like facebook and twitter. if you have great ideas about other organizations that could benefit from the exposure that i’ll generate, please suggest them to me. if you have ideas for how and where i can present these photos in india next year, i’d love to hear them. and if you live somewhere on the west coast and have a bed or couch to spare, i’d love to meet you somewhere along the way. i think that this is the type of project that can resonate, and the only way that i can make it real is with your help.
i will be blogging along the way at walkingtomexico.com. i hope that you can follow along.
thank you so much for your time and your support.
