Rajasthan | Raphael Shevelev Ideas in Photography

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Desert Music of Rajasthan

Thakurani Rashmi Singh

Face in Ajmer

Herding Camels

Best Exotic Marigold Sitar

Sakar Khan Manganiyar

Bull and Veiled Woman

Internet Jaisalmer

Chittaugarh Sunset

Cow and Schoolgirls

Temple Chittaurgarh (detail)

Udaipur from Lake Palace

My Cow Friend

Indian cow in Rajasthan town of Eklingji photograph by Raphael Shevelev

Ancient and Modern Nagada

India Rajasthan columns at Nagada temple site photograph by Raphael Shevelev

Jai Mahal

City Palace Guard

City Palace Courtyard

City Palace Jaipur

Jaipur India City Palace photograph by Raphael Shevelev

Hawa Mahal

Palace of the Winds Jaipur Rajasthan India photograph by Raphael Shevelev

Wedding House Jodhpur

Jodhpur Rajasthan Brahmapuri wedding house photograph by Raphael Shevelev

Brahmapuri Jodhpur

Brahmapuri section of Jodhpur Rajasthan India photograph by Raphael Shevelev

Kamayacha Player

Indian folk musician in white turban in Rajasthan plays the kamayacha

Palace Guard Mehrangarh

Jodhpur India Rajput guard at Mehrangarh photograph by Raphael Shevelev

Praying for Good Husbands

Indian girls dressed up for Teej festival in Jaisalmer Rajasthan

Puppets Jaisalmer

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Gallery Statement

A largely harsh desert in the Northwest of India, Rajasthan has been, for most of its history, a land of ancient princely fiefdoms, chivalric traditions, and a hardy people surviving and practicing their customs in a hostile physical environment.

Under both Mughal rule and the British Raj, the kingdoms of Rajasthan maintained a high degree of independence. Much of this distinctive culture remains even as Rajasthan moves into the future as an integral part of modern, democratic India.

On my several journeys to Rajasthan, I have been drawn to documenting the interaction of people, animals and the omnipresent monuments of the region's feudal past.

I've been intrigued by how traditional and contemporary lives adapt and flourish in this semi-arid region under the weight of a turbulent history. Coming from California, the new world of the New World, I was impressed by the apparent ease with which farmers, camel-herders, children, students, business people and others relate to the symbols of the historic past.

Much of Rajasthan is a dun colored and level expanse, relieved by dramatic elevations such as the ancient Aravalli Range and the hilltop fortress city of Chittaurgarh, where so many historic battles were fought. As a striking congrast to the landscape, the people of Rajasthan costume themselves in brilliant colors.

To this powerful visual stimulus they add a warm receptiveness that encourages photography as an act of social connection.

Cameras often create social distance, even alienation, especially when the photographer appears as an anthropomorph with a piece of machinery stuck to its face. Willingness to engage, even sometimes without a common language, tends to diminish that distance.

The attitude of the people of Rajasthan helped to dissolve it altogether.

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"Raphael Shevelev's photographs of Rajasthan are sensuous and culturally informed. Their visual acuity lances sentiment, cutting through cliché to point at windows into deeper perceptions. All in all, a pleasure."

Michael W. Meister, Professor of South Asian Studies, Department of the History of Art, University of Pennsylvania

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Read Raphael Shevelev's article "Rajasthan: Photography as Connection" on this website.