Gori and her story

She was about 4 years old when her parents and few other Bhopa families finally settled, abandoning nomadic way of life. Small village of tents slowly erected in an open desert near a small town with the hopes that nobody will tell them to move out.

She never went to school. Since the age of about 12 or 13 she was working… first in the kitchen in a nearby restaurant, later helping build houses and roads… Few years ago a man was chosen by her parents. She married him, a man she didn’t know. He took her to his village about 500 kilometers away; away from her family and the life she knew. Her father passed away soon after the wedding. Everything was foreign and very distant to her, including the new place. Sad to say, but the marriage she was so excited about didn’t last long. Husband was drunk every day and she had ran away from him, back to her village, back to the life and the people she knew…
Almost a month ago she ran away again. This time, she ran away from her family, with a village boy, whom she secretly fell in love with. He is from another caste.
She knew from the beginning, by violating the caste and the family tradition she will not be able to return to her family, nor the village. Their love is stronger than any ban might possibly be.

Taken in 2013, a few months before the wedding

Rural Rajasthan, India 

June 15, 2015 | Categories: 35mm film, Analog photography, Asia, Documentary photography, India, Leica, Life, Life in the desert, photography, portrait, Portraiture, Rajasthan, Street photography, Thar Desert, Travel, Travel photography | Tags: analog photography, Bhopa, camel, desert, desert beauty, documentary photography, eyes, Gori, ilford hp5 plus 400, India, Leica MP, leica summicron-m 35mm f/2 asph, life in the desert, portrait, Rajasthan, rural Rajasthan, Thar Desert, tradition, travel photography | Leave a comment