Neelavva, Banjara woman. Karnataka, November 2013.
This month is the official release for Textiles of the Banjara: Cloth and Culture of a Wandering Tribe. A book I co-authored with Charllotte Kwon.
Charllotte had been seeking embroiderers from this community since she first started visiting India. I joined her on her search and was able to apply my love of portraiture to the project. We photographed Neelavva in the fields where she and a small group of other women were working. It was the corn harvest. I carried a large piece of black cloth with me. Two assistants held the cloth behind her and I made the picture.
This photo, along with Banjara embroidery, will be included in an exhibition to take place at the Monte Clarke Gallery, September 22 - October 1, 2016.
Here is link to the Banjara promotional PDF.