New Delhi-based photographer Sanjay Austa has always been fascinated by people who have faith, because he has none. Last year, Austa visited Vaishno Devi in Katra, Jammu and Kashmir, to document the pilgrims and their progress up the Trikuta mountain to visit the Hindu shrine situated at 5,200ft.
Aug 24, 2013 | Categories: Media/ Books, Photo Essays | Tags: beasts of burden, hindu muslim harmony, hindu pilgrims, hindu shrine, jammu, kashmiri muslims, katra jammu, palanquin bearers, palanquin riders, pony riders, religious co-existence india, vaishno devi, vaishno devi shrine | 3 Comments »
(In 2004 I went on a two month Kanchenjunga expedition with the Indian army to document their climb in my journal and my camera. The following is one of the travelogues I wrote for magazines. The galleries have photographs from the expedition.)
Apr 22, 2013 | Categories: Photo Essays | Tags: adventure in Himalayas, Himalayan mountain photographs, Indian army climbers, Indian army mountain expedition, Indian army mountaineers, Indian Himalayas, kanchendzonga, Kanchenjunga, Kanchenjunga mountain, mountain climbers, mountain expedition, mountaineers, mountains, nepali sherpas, photographs himalayas, photographs of Kanchenjunga, photos himalayas, photos kanchanjunga, Sherpa mountaineers, third highest mountain, travel photographer india | 5 Comments »
Wherever he went in India, photojournalist Sanjay Austa, found people in rural and urban areas devouring the daily newspaper. Even in metros, where a large number of people use public transport. It was a stark contrast to what he had found abroad, in countries like the US, where people preffered reading books.
Mar 26, 2013 | Categories: Media/ Books, Photo Essays | Tags: documentary photographer india, indian photographers, Indian photojournalist, photographer in India, photographers in delhi, photojournalist india, photojournalist new delhi, sanjay austa photography, top 10 photographers in India, top photographers in India, travel photographer in India, travel photographer india, travel photojournalist | Leave A Comment »
I visited the kothas several times over the years and realized that the moment the sex-workers cross forty they are virtually done for. The clients don’t come to them, their families don’t want them and even the media doesn’t care for their sound bytes anymore. In the red-light districts of India the elderly are relegated to the lowest hierarchy. With no livelihood they are expected to clean, wash and run errands for the younger women in the kothas if they want food and shelter. Most of them suffer from many venereal diseases but they have hardly any money for treatment or medicines.
Mar 03, 2012 | Categories: Photo Essays | Tags: ageing prostitutes in India, commercial sex-workers, diseased prostitutes, documentary photographer india, flesh trade in india, g . b road, hapless prostitutes, illegal flesh trade, Indian girls, indian photographers, Indian prostitutes, legalise prostitution, neglected prostitutes, old age and prostitutes, photographer in India, photographers in delhi, photojournalist india, pimps and prostitutes, prostitution in India, red-light area, red-light area india, sex workers in delhi, sex-workers in India, sex-workers India, travel photographer india | 5 Comments »
People where playing cricket everywhere. I found young boys play at the spacious backyard of St Peter’s Church in Kanyakumari as I saw them play in a small glade in Kinnaur. I saw fishermen’s children play on the sands of the Coromandal Coast as I saw scull-capped boys bat it out at a madrasa in Bhopal
Apr 03, 2011 | Categories: Photo Essays | Tags: cricket fans in india, cricket frenzy in india, cricket in india, cricket obsession in india, cricket on the streets, cricket played in india, documentary photographer india, gully cricket, gully cricket india, indian cricket, indian photographers, photographer in India, photographers in delhi, photographs of people playing cricket, photojournalist india, play cricket on streets, sport, street cricket, street cricket in india, travel photographer in India, travel photographer india | Leave A Comment »
(Click on photos to go to gallery) Pictures of the Gay Community in India. Also pictures of the Gay Pride Parades. Not all people in these pictures are homosexuals. Some of them are gay rights activists and friends and family of gays and lesbians.
Mar 07, 2011 | Categories: Photo Essays | Tags: article 377 of indian constitution, decriminalize homosexuality, documentary photographer india, gay in india, gay pride parade in india, gay pride parade in new delhi, gays and lesbains in india, homosexuality, homosexuals in india, indian photographers, lesbian girls, lesbians and gays in india, lesbians in india, life of a gay in india, middle-class homosexuals in india, photographer in India, photographers in delhi, photographs of gays and lesbians in india, photographs of lesbians, photojournalist india, queer in india, queer pride parade in india, queer pride parade in new delhi | 32 Comments »
They were in their mother’s wombs, few days old , or school going toddlers in 1984 when their fathers, uncles or siblings were butchered in the Delhi anti-Sikh riots which left almost 3000 Sikhs dead. These children were suddenly wrenched out from their snug family setup and hurled into the world of neglect, apathy and abuse.
Jan 09, 2011 | Categories: Photo Essays | Tags: 1984 anti sikh carnage, 1984 anti-sikh riots, 1984 anti-sikh riots delhi, anti-sikh pogrom, anti-sikh riots, carnage in delhi, communal riots 1984, communal riots delhi, communal riots India, documentary photographer india, ethnic riots in India, history of riots in India, indian photographers, justice for victims of 1984 riot-victims, killings in delhi, photographer in India, photographers in delhi, photojournalist india, pogrom, religious fanatics India, religious minority in India, riot-victims 1984, riot-victims India, riot-victims second generation, sikh population in India, sikhs in delhi, sikhs in India, travel photographer in India, widows colony tilak vihar | 3 Comments »