13 May 2010

Woman and child, near Bhuj

Generations
Parbat took us to visit some of the villagers near Bhuj (Gujarat). This woman showed us various items she'd been making, including camel rugs and other intricate handcrafts. I don't know if the child was hers or whether she was looking after him during the day.
[8 February 2007; Canon 20D, 24–105 mm f4 L at 47 mm, ISO 800, 1/6 at f4]
All content © 2010 Pete McGregor
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7 comments:

  1. Relatively Retiring13 May 2010 at 22:15

    What a wealthy woman - just look at the amount of gold weighing down her ears!

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  2. Chapa14 May 2010 at 03:47

    Great shot!

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  3. pohanginapete14 May 2010 at 09:11

    RR, this was in the area devastated by a huge earthquake in 2001. Although she might be wealthy in some respects, her circumstances in others are far from opulent. I wonder, too, about the value of that gold in practical terms — is it a kind of insurance? An indicator of status? A kind of religious or cultural comfort? Maybe it plays a similar role to cars in our societies (without the purely utilitarian function)?

    Chapa, thanks. As you can see from the technical info, I pushed this to the limits — the room was much darker than it appears.

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  4. Relatively Retiring14 May 2010 at 19:05

    My Middle Eastern experiences were a long time ago, but, from what I learned, gold fulfilled many of those functions - insurance, decoration, status indicators. It was generally considered safer to wear the gold rather than convert it into anything else, and this seemed to apply to men and women living in town, Much more significant for nomadic people, of course.

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  5. pohanginapete15 May 2010 at 08:50

    Thanks, RR. It's difficult for me to grasp the idea that wearing large amounts of visible gold is safe, but clearly the advantages outweigh the risks, at least in societies like these. I wonder how long that will remain true?

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  6. Me from Cali15 May 2010 at 18:05

    Puts to rest the saying, "You can't take it with you." She takes it everywhere she goes!

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  7. pohanginapete16 May 2010 at 21:11

    That's an interesting take on it, Paul!

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