From The Ethnographic Series: Native Women of South India: Manners & Customs 2004

This photograph, "From The Ethnographic Series: Native Women of South India: Manners & Customs" by Pushpamala N, feels like it's been pulled from another time, one of these old anthropological studies. I wonder what it was like for Pushpamala N to set up this shot? I imagine her arranging each prop and plant, carefully considering how they would interact with the figure of the seated woman. The backdrop is a curious painting – a kind of imagined Indian landscape. It's interesting how painting can play this role, creating a sense of place, a feeling of atmosphere, through its tones. The woman's gaze is so direct and self-assured, it reminds me of certain portraits by Alice Neel. The sepia tones are like a conversation with historical photography, while the composition makes it clear that it is a contemporary work. It's this tension between past and present that makes Pushpamala N's project so interesting to me.