I have spent the last three weeks volunteering in the rural Terai region of Nepal.  I was based in Narti, a very small village in the Dang district.  Dang is home to a large population of the Tharu people, an ethnic group that was immune to malaria and enjoyed their way of the region for many years undisturbed.  When malaria was eradicated, hill people from the north began to move in and seize the land of the Tharu.  Today, over 70% of the population of the Terai is landless and live in extreme poverty.  In the face of their difficult lives, all of the people I met during my time in Narti were warm and welcoming, happily offering a smile, which is often all that they had to give.

These are some of their faces.

I’ve been feeling a bit homesick around this holiday season, so I’m glad to be able to share with all of you a taste of what my home has been like for the past month.

Much love

klc

Goats, Monkeys, Camels, Crocs, Birds, Elephants, and Snakes – OH MY!

I took this photo about half-way up the walk to the Monkey Temple in Jaipur, India.  The walk to the top takes about 20 minutes and there is a myriad of animals along the way.  I have no idea how this big guy got up there, it had to have taken hours.  Since cows are considered living Goddesses and this photo was snapped in a temple I suppose I witnessed an extra holy event.  Extra odd if you ask me.

Smile Monkey!

Love this big guy

The least exciting animal in the bunch, but the sheer number of them makes up for it…and there’s an appearance by the author

And one more monkey for good luck.

Hope you enjoyed all my little friends!

xoxo,

klc

I’ll try to keep this as neutral as possible as to not offend anyone’s beliefs, but I’ll start by saying that I myself am not a follower of any organized religion.  I think that religion does an amazing amount of good in this world and more often than not makes for better people and better communities.  However I cannot ignore the wars, exclusion, and crimes that are committed in the name of some god.

While in India I assisted my cousin, who is also a photographer, in shooting a Christian campaign in Agra.  The campaign involved on average 400 Indians gathering 4 evenings a row to listen to a minister from America preach through a translator about Jesus.  Missionary work has been going on all over the world for hundreds of years.  I get it, and I’m not offended by it.  But the manner in which this particular campaign was presented was troublesome to me.

The people who came to listen to the preaching are most likely practicing Hindus.  They came not for Jesus but because they heard a promise of healing.  These people are inflicted with polio, blindness, leprosy, and worse.  They may simply be poor and struggling to feed their families or cannot conceive children.  They will try anything in order for their fortune to turn around, so this night, they’ll try Jesus.  The preacher, who if he really is a Christian and attempts to have a personal relationship with Jesus that takes dedication and years of work, seemingly goes against this own discipline and encourages these cheap flash-and-dash “healings.”  He calls people on the stage, puts his hands on their heads and claims to be curing their ills through the power of God.  I found the whole experience to be exploitive of these people, their visceral problems and pains, and the importance and power of commitment to a faith.

Regardless of my feelings of the event, I was able to capture what I think are some powerful photos.  I hope you’re able to feel through the images the desperate longing of these people for a better life.

Thanks for reading, I’d love to hear any thoughts you may have.

xoxo,

klc

I mentioned before that one of the most jarring things for me during my time in Asia has been the transportation.   There is absolutely no order to any of it, or at least that is how it seems.  Lane markers, if there are any, are completely ignored, and driving down the street is like playing an insane game of chicken.  Most of the vehicles are 10 – 20 years old and held together with what may be twine, and the drivers  have absolutely no fear.  But, somehow, it all works.  There are a lot of accidents, but I believe fewer casualties because the crashes are at slower speeds….I have yet to see an American-style superhighway in India or Nepal.

So, here are a few photos from our many forms of transportation.  Tuk-tuks, trains, and buses…just a few of the ways we have traveled around.

I could have lived without the 18+ hour train ride from Delhi to Gorakphur…I took barely any photos because to be honest I was too busy trying to block out the whole experience.

We had to travel in 3rd class, where there are 6 beds to a berth and at least 3 Indians who try to cram onto each bed…when stubborn Americans like us won’t let them, they sleep on the floor and in the aisles….when that space is used up they lay in front of the toilets. It was….trying….to say the least.

After the train we had the pleasure of a harrowing bus ride to the Nepali border.  The bus wouldn’t leave until it was full, and when I say full, I mean full.  There were about 10 men standing in the aisles and another 8 or so on the roof for the entire 5 hour ride.  The photo below was taken on another ride to Pokhara in Nepal, not as bad as the aforementioned trip, but at one point the bus stopped and let on at least 25 women and their children who were crammed in the aisles and at the front.  The bus however had a mirrored ceiling, fancy tin cut-outs and colored tassles….so we were riding in style.

Now experience a fast and furious evening tuk-tuk ride through the streets of Agra…

And finally, a lost in translation moment that did indeed make me laugh and reach for my camera…what can I say?

xoxo and a smile,

klc

I have been in Nepal for over a week now, but while traveling my access to a good wireless signal has been sketchy at best. So now that I’ll be in one place for a few days expect the blog posts to come fast and furious while I catch up.

No visit to India is complete with a trip to the Taj Mahal, and rightly so.  The building is a spectacle to behold, and the sheer enormity of it is staggering.  That being said, the whole experience was quite stressful.  A generalization, but I’ve found that the majority of Indians have a different concept of personal space than Americans, and it can be trying.  I actually preferred The Red Fort, which is located near the Taj and is where the builder of the Taj was actually imprisoned by his son.  One of the most memorable moments of the trip so far happened at the end of the day at the Fort.  When we were leaving the building at the end of the day, we got to the front gate and turned around to see at least 100 monkeys streaming out the doors towards us.  They have been trained to recognize when the fort is closing and the humans who give them food to eat are leaving.  Monkeys are not friendly animals, and being surrounded by that many was quite unnerving.  Anyhow, on to the photos.

First, a few from the Fort

And these next photos don’t need any introduction

And finally I leave you with a camel…..and a goat on a roof.

xoxo,

klc

I spent the afternoon at Mother Teresa’s Home of the Missionaries of Charity.  The Home is a place where the sisters care for orphaned children as well as the elderly, sick, and infirm.  There really isn’t much that I can say that wouldn’t feel trite, so I’ll just let the photos be.

My heart feels different.  It feels better.

xoxo

klc

Talk about culture shock.  I really can’t even begin to explain how intense this place is.  So full of life, energy, movement, and NOISE. So much noise.  Oh, and dirt. India isn’t exactly the cleanest place I’ve seen.

After getting to Delhi late we had to be up very early the next morning to catch the train to Agra.  We didn’t have paper tickets, only an electronic confirmation, so in order to get on the train we had to run up and down the streets to different offices…running down a Delhi street is tantamount to competing in Olympic hurdles…stray dogs, sleeping people, trash piles, broken bicyles…oh and did I mention the sun hadn’t risen and there aren’t any street lights?  Add in the ruthless motorbike drivers and we felt like we were in a game of frogger.  I of course slipped and fell and had to be pulled up because the weight of my three packs made it too difficult to stand on my own.  After furiously running down the platform we made it with seconds to spare.

Phew.

After a two hour sunrise ride we arrived in Agra where we will stay for the next week.

We went to market today (where I splurged on some traditional Indian outfits called salwar suits, bangles, and too many scarves), and I took my first ride in a bicycle rickshaw.  I am still quite overwhelmed by just how different it is here, so nothing too fancy photo-wise, but instead a bunch of shots to give you an idea of what it like to walk down a northern Indian street.

For one thing, you see animals. Everywhere.  Cows, goats, hogs, cats, dogs, and……..

MONKEYS! Seconds after taking this guy’s photo he basically attacked my cousin in an attempt to steal her cache of delicious bananas. She stood her ground, but we definitely learned to give the monkeys their space…

The streets are crazy busy, with at least 5 different kinds of vehicles sharing the roads with all the animals and a constant stream of pedestrians…

All of the colors in the market were just beautiful and clearly enticing to my wallet.  The shoes you see on the left cost about $4 a pair…

We stopped briefly for my cousin to have a small Mehndi pattern put on her ankles…

Saw and captured a few faces from the street….

Got to the bottom of why the power randomly but consistently goes out throughout the day…it is not surprising when the you see power lines like these…

We didn’t have a clue what any sign read….

…and we loved every moment of it.

That’s all for now. Namaskar.

xoxo,

klc

Not too much report after a looooooong 12 hour flight to the United Arab Emirates.  I was thrilled to have the pleasure of being assigned the middle seat….I can’t think of many things worse than being stuck in that seat for that long.  Luckily Emirates Airlines had tons of entertainment so I watched 4 movies and countless episodes of Arrested Development.  Once I arrived here, I hopped on the metro and took a cruise downtown.  I was really surprised by the amount of construction going on, it seems as if half the city is still being built.  I loved getting to see the city from the train, but my ventures on foot didn’t go as well as I’d planned.  First off, it was 100 degrees, like literally, and I have on  jeans and sweatshirt…I felt uncomfortable just wearing the tank top I had on underneath so I just sweltered.  I tried in vain to buy a more modest, but light shirt, but did end up getting a cell phone that I can have on me in case of emergencies, a few books, and a pashmina scarf…all duty-free and for the equivalent of about $75.  So, not a bad day all-in-all, but since I didn’t sleep a wink on the flight here I know I”m going to be completely wiped when I arrive in Delhi tonight.

Here are just a few photos I shot while wandering.  All but one are of the airport, as I said, all the places I attempted towalk were not exactly rife with photo-ops.

When took this was I going up or down the escalator? Thoughts?  It’s tricky.Crazy huge towers in the financial district, taken from the metro train
and I’ll be seeing you soon!

xoxo,

klc

One of the best parts of my graduate school experience was the opportunity I had to meet great people.  Although I’ve only known Jen and Clarice for a little over a year, they feel like old friends.   I had such a great time modeling for my friend and photographer extraordinaire, shoothead, that I was inspired to host my own fashion shoot.  J & C were great sports and the three of us had a blast being goofy  and pretending to film our own episode of America’s Next Top Model

Jen captured this shot of me prepping, and has her take on the day on her blog

I’m a lucky girl to have such wonderful people in my life.  Now, on to the hotness!

Clarice’s brightly colored outfit provided great contrast to the rusty and crusty shed that we shot in.

I love the intensity in Jen’s look here. It was hard to get the light straight when bouncing my flash into a corner, but I like the uneven-light that was the result
Blues and greensShake it!One of the girls suggested that Clarice looks like she’s caught in a spiderweb…I love it.

And finally, what sort of photo shoot would this be without the obligatory jumping shots?

Thank you again girls for a wonderful afternoon!