Tripura is one of the lesser known destinations in the North East. It is home to many indigenous tribes, ancient rock cravings and the spectacle monkeys to name a few.
Shalini Siva Prasad, accompanied me on the Febuary tour of Tripura. A very talented photographer, I asked her to share with us a few of her lovely images from the trip and her reason for choosing them. Her portraits are par excellence and I love the way in minutes she manages to put her subjects at ease. The images themselves tell a wonderful tale of myth, laughter among strangers and the reason to visit this state bordered by a large part of Bangladesh on the the west, north and south.
We were on our way to Unakoti from Agartala and were driving along the river when we spotted the rafts of bamboo floating on the river. We pulled the car to a stop, went down to the edge of the river and shot this picture. The human element gives the image an added depth.
Unakoti, it was truly fascinating to see the giant bas relief sculptures of Unakoti. What really struck was how the cultural/ geographical influence was so apparent and our guide Rahul also pointed out that all the sculptures has the tribal art influence. It really felt like these sculptures just appeared out of no where, in the middle of a jungle!
A family portrait of the gracious people who hosted our lunch in their home.This family hosted us for lunch. You will see 3 generations of this family in this portrait with 2 of their reared chickens (which I am sure will make a delicious meal in the future). This was shot in the backyard of their home, Darlong Tribe Village
For the women in this village, weaving is the story of their life. It’s more than just a life skill. They identify themselves through their weave, Darlong Tribe Village
The Reang Tribe Lady.
It was a really long hike from the motor-able road. I was scared that by the time we get there I would miss out on the golden hour light. But we speeded up our hike, got to the village and met this Lady. She had obliged to wear their traditional attire. She was initially quite shy and did not know what to expect. In about 10 – 15mins she had warmed up in front of the camera and light from the setting sun was just perfect for this capture!
The children from the village. Its sheer joy for a photographer to capture this kind of energy, good vibe and excitement.
At the Shankhala Handloom cluster. She was such a happy weaver. I asked her to smile for the camera, and she burst out laughing.
The Bamboo Factory, I just loved the colour of these semi finished bamboo fishing rods. It was a sunny day and these Bomboo sticked were glistening under the sun. It was a quick shot just before we left the place.
It was almost sunset, the colour of the sky was just phenomenal. There was a certain glow on Neer Mahal. We took the boat, I was seated right in the front and I took this picture as we approached Near Mahal.
Gear: Canon 5D Mark III
Lenses: 100mm, 50mm, 24-105mm
Shalini is a professional photographer and her website is https://orka.photography
All story images are courtesy Shalini Siva Prasad.
