Fountains are places of gathering. Of everyday life.
And of life itself as well.
Places where women meet, talk, laugh, reflect, or rest—while they linger or wait to fill their pots with water, which they then carry on their heads to their homes or elsewhere. A familiar back-and-forth, repeated day after day.
So it was when I was in Ajmer, in Rajasthan, India.
It is often said that images “speak” for themselves. Is that truly the case?
These photographs were taken nearly 30 years ago. I was returning from Pushkar, on my way to Ahmedabad.
There always remains a certain bitterness at the brevity of one’s stay. And even more so for not being able to converse, not even to know their names.
In some way, in those moments, I find myself appropriating these people while knowing little or nothing about them. It did not leave me indifferent, and it still does not.
Perhaps for that reason, from a distance, some of these photographs end up focusing on the colors of the veil rather than on the face in shadow.
It gives one pause for thought.
These images were taken as part of a photographic project I carried out in India for the Comissão dos Descobrimentos, following on from the one I had undertaken the previous year for the Cultures of the Indian Ocean.
The exhibition, held as part of the commemorations of the 500th anniversary of Vasco da Gama’s voyage to India, was shown at the Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga between June and September 1998, and was curated by Rosa Maria Perez.