Chinese Fishing Nets,Kochi, India ,2002
These cantilevered nets are fixed land installations with an outstretched net suspended over the sea and large stones suspended from ropes at the other end. It is an ingenious system of counterweights operated by a team of up to six fishermen. Some say these nets were introduced to Kochi (formerly Cochin) by court traders of Kubai Khan. Others suggest it was the Chinese eunuch admiral, Zheng He.
Kutia Kondh Village, Kotagarh Area, Orissa, India 2005
I drove over gutted dirt roads through a forest of tropical saal trees for four hours to reach this Kutia Kondh community. The villagers support themselves by collecting products from the forest and growing maize and mustard seed. All of the women wear long rows of small circular silver earrings along the outer rim of each ear and have tattooed faces with geometric designs related to nature. They believe these patterns will enable them to locate their relatives in the afterlife.
all images & original text © audrey stein photography
AUDREY STEIN PHOTOGRAPHY
Ganges Ghats at Varanasi, India, 2003
In the pre-dawn hours I sat in a small boat on the Ganges facing the shore waiting for the sun to rise. The early morning light dramatically lit the ghats and the colorful morning rituals that were taking place there. The Ganges, or “Mother Ganga”, India’s holiest river, flows past Varanasi in the course of a 2,600-mile journey from the Himalayas, across the northern plains of India, to the Bay of Bengal. Many regard Varanasi as the cultural and religious heart of India and thousands of Hindu pilgrims come here daily to bathe and to drink the waters of “Mother Ganga” like a libation.
Tuareg Boy, Libyan Sahara, 2005
I sat in the Sahara sand across from this Tuareg boy … in Tuareg culture it’s the males who cover their faces. He had just finished preparing “taajeelah” or desert bread baked in the hot sand that lay beneath a campfire … a tasty and gritty desert treat.