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In the heart of India, where emotional connections can either save or ruin a person's life, photographer Rishi Raj explores the intricacies of human emotions in his riveting new series, 'THE BEGINNING AND THE END for Schön! Switzerland magazine. With a keen eye for the rural-urban divide he grew up observing between his childhood home by the banks of the Ganga river and Bengaluru, the city where he pursued higher studies, Raj's work reflects the diversity that makes up our country's cultural landscape. Underscoring the profound connection and protectiveness towards loved ones, a sentiment perhaps more pronounced in us than in Western cultures, his latest work translates our deeply grounded love language into a medley of surreal vignettes captured at the gloaming hour.
As the world hurtles forward at a rapid pace, the descriptions and expressions of emotions are changing alongside. Raj poses a thought-provoking question: have Indians evolved under the influence of dominant Western societies and thought processes, or do we still hold onto our emotional sensibilities? The tension between adapting to global changes and preserving our sense of community is at the core of his imagery.
Raj's lens captures the dichotomy faced by Indians—an internal struggle between adapting to Western influences that encourage openness about feelings and returning to the natural expression of emotions inherent in our culture. The crux of 'THE BEGINNING AND THE END' lies in unraveling what draws us together and what pulls us apart.
With regards to his creative influences, Raj abiding reverence for calligraphy and Urdu poetry has seeped into the sublime beauty that characterises his work. He also emphasises the importance of a human element in his photographs, establishing a non-verbal parlance with the viewer. The state-of-flow he wades in, like the river he grew up near, pervades all his portraits. Raj has assiduously pivoted away from the formulaic, clinging to a raw and unfiltered incarnation of beauty, his subjects longing for spiritual communion that is increasingly under threat in a tech-driven era. Raj's work becomes a poignant commentary on the timeless struggle between tradition and modernity, beautifully posterised in each frame of this evocative photo series.
