Timeline / September 24, 2020

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Album Published September 24, 2020

Extras (22 new items)

Content Published September 24, 2020

Album Published September 24, 2020

India is a country rich in fabulous history. Kings and kingdoms, mystics and followers, rebels and fighters, lovers and scandals have traversed the paths of its glorious past. Stories and legends bind her people and have shaped her culture and beliefs. View full story.

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Album Published September 24, 2020

A wave like no other (1 new item)

Like many people I watched the 2004 Tsunami unfold on the TV. Destruction and immeasurable suffering was served up blow by blow with every news bulletin throughout the day. In hours, life for many had swerved off course in an irrevocable direction of horror. I arrived four weeks later in a coastal region of Tamil Nadu, the area of south India hardest hit by the tsunami. It seemed absurd that just weeks earlier this had been a paradise destination, such was the extent of the damage. My first impression was a total lack of any sensation, a sort of blank space in my thoughts, as I tried to assimilate the unbelievable scale of the devastation. I had hired a small motorbike so I was able to go off road and explore the endless ruined coastline. The ‘wipeout’ extended to every horizon and went on for hours. I rode around in disbelief. The clear blue winter sky seemed to spread such profound sadness above the crushed landscape. I will never forget the quiet dignity, courage and kindness of all those displaced fishing people as they collected their lifetime belongings, often in a single plastic bag. I revisited this fishing community every three months for over a year and watched them rebuild their lives. Every story was truly inspiring and left a lasting impression of hope and the extraordinary resilience of the human spirit. * I would sincerely like to thank the late Gerard Arnhold and my friends for their generosity.

Album Published September 24, 2020

Blood Wedding (1 new item)

In January 2003, Nepal was in the midst of a long-running civil war that was making a poor nation poorer and seemed to have no end in sight. That didn’t stop the king of Nepal throwing a huge party for the wedding of his daughter Prerana to a wealthy businessman, Kumar Raj Bahadur Singh. Festivities were marked by traditional Nepalese pomp in the grounds of the Narayanhity Royal Palacein . Princess Prerana was the only daughter of Gyanendra, the last king of Nepal.Gyanendra had inherited his throne two years ealrier, after the murder of his older brother Birendra and much of the former king’s family at the hands of the crown prince Dipendra. Here was a chance to forget the sadness and horror and celebrate. Aristocrats and millionaires from across South Asia had converged on the gardens of the Narayanhiti Palace in Kathmandu. Generals and ambassadors came to pay their respects. Winking medals boastfully shimmered in the winter's sunshine. Their wives wore sumptuous silk saris and exchanged buttery smiles and jewelled appetisers. Most Hindu weddings have a brass band, but Gyanendra had three, collectively straining to grab periodic moments of musical harmonies. Politicians of every party were invited, obsequiously bowing to the king even as they plotted to subvert his power. Meanwhile, out in the grindingly poor middle hills and plains of western Nepal, the army continued to punish the weakest in society for the continuing insurgency being waged by Maoist guerillas, raping and murdering an innocent girl as they hunted for weapons and sympathisers. Far from tackling the problems that had created the insurrection, the authorities brutally reinforced centuries of division. Victims were caught in the crossfire of either fitting the police profile of a revolutionary or fitting the Maoist profile of being a traitor to the “people’s war”. Either way the result was the same.The human cost of the conflict was catastrophic. In 2005, Gyanendra swept aside any pretence of elected government and took absolute power. His period of rule was brief. He lost international support and in the face of huge public protests he and his dynasty were swept away, with Nepal’s monarchy formally abolished in 2008. Commissioned by The Observer,London. .

Album Published September 24, 2020

Karena (1 new item)

"I can get obsessed by anything if I look at it long enough. That's the curse of being a photographer." — Irving Penn

Album Published September 24, 2020

Album Published September 24, 2020

Docks (1 new item)

Whenever possible I try and visit fishing docks all over the world.I’m captivated by their natural rhythm. A sort of coalition between the sea, commerce, technology, chance and unrelenting human graft. The beauty of a working harbour is easily overlooked. Synchronised to perfection a working dock is like a pair of lungs inhaling and then exhaling over and over again. In the early hours of the morning the docks becomes a hive of activity. Swarms of workers hustle around the boats as they discharge their cargo.In seconds the catch of the day changes hands and direction like a fraught shoal of bait -fish. The choking odour of the dying sea is matched by the volume of hollering vendors and throbbing foghorns. Broadcasts from the tannoy system are twisted and reshaped by the atmospheric conditions and muffled by the vast buffer of human bodies. The essence of trade remains the same.The sale of perishable fish on a day to day basis. It’s an unforgettable experience. From the tea vendor to the skipper, every face tells a story of defiance, courage and relentless hard work.

Album Published September 24, 2020

Blessing (2 new items)

Varanasi is said to be the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world. A site of pilgrimage for thousands of years. It is believed by Hindus that bathing in the river Ganges here results in the remission of sin and facilitates the attainment of salvation... View full story.

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Album Published September 24, 2020

Karena Perronet-Miller

Extras (22 new items)

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Raj (2 new items)

A wave like no other (1 new item)

Blood Wedding (1 new item)

Karena (1 new item)

Organics (1 new item)

Docks (1 new item)

Blessing (2 new items)

Blessings (1 new item)