Language of Time: A Photo-Essay

A sister and brother record the passage of time on their cameras

Hazrat Bal

This is from Hazrat Bal in Srinagar, a space of two very distinct energies. Through the chaos and crowds that lead up to the mosque and inside the structure is where people come to pray. I sat here for a long time as people came and went. Many would sit for a few minutes and recite from the quran and others would weep for what felt like many hours. However, this space still brought peace as I was left alone with my own thoughts. I walked back outside and was a part of the same activities again. I sat here again and watched the vendors sell corn as people fed the pigeons. And this was taken at the time when a child waited for the pigeons to return, ran towards them and watched them fly only to repeat it again. Perhaps it reminded me of the mosque itself.

Photographer: Anandi Mehra

2018

Rajon ki Baoli

This image was taken during the autumn season, on an excursion to the Mehrauli Archaeological Park. It is from one of the Archaeological sites called ‘Rajon ki Baoli’, a rare space where an individual could find himself all alone in a place like Delhi. The water reservoir or ‘Baoli’ had not dried up and was rather contaminated. I was walking around the site when I found myself amidst these arches. I don’t know what struck me about them, but they seemed to me like a physical manifestation of time itself. They depicted the gradual decay of life in their gradients.

Photographer: Udayan Mehra

2017

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