Timeline

Album Published August 13, 2020

Blessings (31 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. Whether you believe this or not the Ganges guards her mystery perfectly. She left me spell-bound years ago. On her banks, sunrise and sunset are such remarkable 'happenings'. Those magical hours of golden filtered light have the ability to touch so deeply. The mysterious twilight saturated with the dying perfume of the garland, fuses perfectly with devotional chanting and the heavy sigh of water lapping against her banks. Probing into the enigma of this life’s incarnation. These moments are digestive. * To my dear friend Ravi Seth. May your light shine brightly.

Content Published August 13, 2020

Album Published August 13, 2020

Blessing (9 new items)

Visit Travel

Content Published August 13, 2020

Album Published August 13, 2020

Station to Station (1 new item)

As a seasoned guest in this marvellous Indian continent, I still find India a baffling and glorious enigma. India is as vast as it is crowded, as luxurious as it is squalid. Nothing is ever quite the way you expect it to be. What seems an illusion is reality and curiously intoxicating and toxic at the same time. Suffocating bureaucracy thrives and seems to have been a legacy of bygone times and the British in India. Common sense seems to be deficient, on the other hand bountiful portions of buffoonery and chaos thrive and miraculously get processed, detangle and transformed into a sense of order. Perhaps the most triumphant legacy from those "Rule Britannia" days has to be the remarkable railway network. Railways were first introduced to India in 1853. Once established they became a lifeline for trade, economy and people. Approximately 40,000 miles plus of tracks connect millions of lives. The railways traverse the length and width of this vast country bringing near the far. Whole communities live, work and love between the tracks. I have spent weeks in Indian railway stations over the years, endlessly waiting on platforms, feeling filthy, grumpy, dehydrated. Never far from the all pervasive fog of body odour artfully blended with alluring spices from the tiffin boxes and incense. This gallery records everyday life on the tracks in one station over a period of 7 weeks. I grew to love and admire this amazing community of people that dwell in and around this railway station. Sadly, In the last 10 years Indian railways have been digitally transformed and that magical sense of bygone transportation is fading fast.

Album Published August 13, 2020

A wave like no other (19 new items)

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.

Content Published August 13, 2020

Content Published August 13, 2020

Album Published August 13, 2020

Los Barrios

Cuba is a truly exhilarating country.She is seductive, audacious and ruined to perfection.By this I mean a type of beauty similar to the face of a refined mature lady.A lifetime worth of accumulated beauty.The Cuban people are educated, independent, fun loving and sincerely mischievous. This distinctive amalgam of Latino spirit, relentless hardship and the need to escape from the obligation of their history has shaped the Cubans with a burning spirit. For the majority of Cubans on the lower end of the financial scale life is tough, the price of survival is measured in American dollars. They are constantly being reminded how happy they are under socialism. A growing feeling of discontent has lead to a questioning of the mandatory Marxist indoctrination, a frustrated dream for many.Various political factors have prevented Cuba from being sullied by mass consumer tourism. They are now at a unique tipping point in Cuba's history when everything is about to radically change. Thankfully the energy on the street is beaming with enthusiasm in spite of continually being crushed. La Lucha, is the perfect word in Spanish that describes the sweat and persistent scramble for everyday existence. This theme was vocalised by many on my visits around Cuba. A fifth of Cuban population live in and around Havana. Los Barrios, translated as 'the neighbourhood' is an underprivileged area of Havana where survival is an everyday challenge. In spite of a good education and the free health-care system it’s hard to reconcile these benefits if you can’t make end meet. In the new yet to be born Cuba it seems that daily life is a trial, caught between the old and a draft of the new. I look forward to a future where the creative spirit of the Cuban people will be unleashed to flourish.

Album Published August 6, 2020

Overview

Content Published August 5, 2020

Content Published August 5, 2020

Content Published August 5, 2020

Album Published August 5, 2020

The Colony (17 new items)

The age-old stigma surrounding leprosy in India means sufferers are banished to live in quarantined colonies or destined to roam the streets, resigned to a humiliating life of begging. Fear, ignorance and certain cultural beliefs fuel this outdated attitude towards leprosy.It’s a brutal existence. The sick are rejected by their families, ostracised from their communities and stripped of their worldly possessions, including their identity. My first visit was at night. I wanted to swerve the endless bureaucracy that the official channels of entry might flag in the daytime. Although I was curious to explore the modern reality of this biblical illness, I felt a creeping sense of unease as I approached the gated colony. Not for my own medical safety; on the contrary, I felt my visit might frighten the inmates. In the deep-scented shadows, I was overwhelmed by a smile so potent and magnetic, it transcended the crumbling architecture of a face stolen by the disease. What was lost in the flesh was reclaimed, amplified and deposited in the spirit. In a second I felt the magical human connection that, regardless of what the eye sees, is always visible to the heart.Since that first visit, I became a regular and privileged guest at the colony over many years. I have an overwhelming feeling of love when I think of this place and all its extraordinary inhabitants. * My undying gratitude to the late Mr Gerard Arnhold and the late Doctor Mabel Fonseca, my unspoken hero. She dedicated her life and love to so many.

Content Published August 5, 2020

Album Published August 5, 2020

Travel

Album Published July 17, 2020

Raj

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. In 1947 the territories of her princely states were politically integrated into the modern India we know today. Contemporary India represents a vibrant population consisting of thousands of ethnic groups, languages and regional dialects. Her people are shaped by regional history, geographic position and religious divides. What unequivocally binds them together is a love for family, music, food, art and an enthralling uninhibited use of colour. Colours sings under her extreme sunlight, blistering heat, torrential monsoon rains to create a vivid sensory experience like no other. "With colour one obtains an energy that seems to stem from witchcraft."Henri Matisse.

Album Published July 17, 2020

Station to Station (28 new items)

As a seasoned guest in this marvellous Indian continent, I still find India a baffling and glorious enigma. India is as vast as it is crowded, as luxurious as it is squalid. Nothing is ever quite the way you expect it to be. What seems an illusion is reality and curiously intoxicating and toxic at the same time. Suffocating bureaucracy thrives and seems to have been a legacy of bygone times and the British in India. Common sense seems to be deficient, on the other hand bountiful portions of buffoonery and chaos thrive and miraculously get processed, detangle and transformed into a sense of order. Perhaps the most triumphant legacy from those "Rule Britannia" days has to be the remarkable railway network. Railways were first introduced to India in 1853. Once established they became a lifeline for trade, economy and people. Approximately 40,000 miles plus of tracks connect millions of lives. The railways traverse the length and width of this vast country bringing near the far. Whole communities live, work and love between the tracks. I have spent weeks in Indian railway stations over the years, endlessly waiting on platforms, feeling filthy, grumpy, dehydrated. Never far from the all pervasive fog of body odour artfully blended with alluring spices from the tiffin boxes and incense. This gallery records everyday life on the tracks in one station over a period of 7 weeks. I grew to love and admire this amazing community of people that dwell in and around this railway station. Sadly, In the last 10 years Indian railways have been digitally transformed and that magical sense of bygone transportation is fading fast.

Album Published July 17, 2020

Raj (1 new item)

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.
Visit Travel

Album Published July 17, 2020

Karena (2 new items)

"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 July 17, 2020

Organics (8 new items)

A quiet eye.

Content Published July 17, 2020

Content Published July 17, 2020

Content Published July 17, 2020

Album Published July 17, 2020

A wave like no other

Content Published July 17, 2020

Album Published July 17, 2020

Docks (10 new items)

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.

Content Published July 17, 2020

Content Published July 17, 2020

Content Published July 17, 2020

Content Published July 17, 2020

Content Published July 17, 2020

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© Karena Perronet-Millar 2005. All rights reserved. Moral rights asserted.

travel tsunami

Content Published July 17, 2020

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© Karena Perronet-Millar 2005. All rights reserved. Moral rights asserted.

Content Published July 17, 2020

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© Karena Perronet-Millar 2005. All rights reserved. Moral rights asserted.

Album Published July 16, 2020

Organics

A quiet eye.

Album Published July 16, 2020

In praise of the Himalayas

I have been in love with this part of the globe before I was able to comprehend any world beyond that of my family. My then infant brain was uninterested in her name, I knew she was far away by her creatures and costumes. While my brothers were captivated by Everest I was enchanted by her curious cows called yaks. The Himalayas smiled at me way back then and waited restlessly to become an important part of my future life. The mountain range stretch for 1,500 miles and spread in an arc over five countries. Bhutan, China, India, Nepal and Pakistan. Himalaya is her own space with its own people, squeezed uncomfortably between two global heavyweights itching to expand. Her people are independent, resourceful, devoted and totally enchanting. The passage of time in those ancient layers are a source of sheer joy. Silent prayers dissolve and are dispersed by the wind to fill all spaces. Her thin air takes a little time to adjust to, her roads can be terrifying, her weather extreme. This high altitude world evokes a bygone era of beaming smiles and genuine courtesy. Time expands to accommodate the gentle breeze of Buddhism as it permeates all spaces. A modest request to honour all life while accepting the wheel of karma as it filters through the universe. Ancient rituals and magnificent temples navigate her people to a smooth way of living. Devotion is a daily practice. Colour are saturated in an aura of fizzy light. Greasy reds, marigolds, saffrons and deep lacquer surfaces silently resting in prayer, adding credibility to the layers of shamanic stories of gods and demons. Traditional folkloric stories and high altitude dreams have a profound echo that ooze me back perennially.