January 10, 2021

The Pind, Photography and Our Own Narratives | Hark1karan

1 hour 9 minutes

In this episode of The Sooch podcast I get to talk to Hark1karan, we get to know more about him and his latest photo book - Pind: Portrait of a Village in Rural Punjab.

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We first start off by getting to know the meaning behind his name, the influence of photography and art in his household whilst growing up and the impact of the environment and energy of growing up in working class neighbourhood of south London.

We go on to discuss photography, the photographer and the responsibility of constructing a narrative of the subject matter. We move on to discuss the Pind and it’s connection with Punjabi culture and Sikhi.

We discuss why Hark1karan decided to publish a book in the age of Instagram, Pinterest and Flickr and why he’s decided not to post the images on social media. We also learn about the process taken to get the book from concept to a published book and the responsibility of showcasing the community from the inside and not erasing the story.

We move on to find out about the importance of language in constructing this photo book and get to know more about the process involved. Can you believe that these photos were taken on an old-school roll film camera?

The rest of the discussion moves on to representation and how quite often if people don't see it, for them it's not a reality. We move on to how Hark1karan was able to take some of the more honest photos, the idea that we're not the same person but we're different people in different scenarios.

We move on to discuss the current and on going Kissan-Majdoor protests in India & its connection to the Pind, the responsibility of artists and how women have been excluded from certain narratives regarding the protests.

We round the podcast off with Hark1karan’s own personal journey in putting his book together and the importance of collaboration and fostering a constructive environment within our community to help change outdated narratives and tell our own story.

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By Ramblings of a Sikh

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