Two portraits on the table
I was photographing at Jodhpur in India. "Look. A photographer's takin'
a picture down there. Why don't you ask him for taking your portrait?"
As being suggested by grownups, a girl in charming clothes stepped forward
to the camera. It's my pleasure.
When I looked into the finder, I noticed one thing.
"Eh? I think I framed just like this in Ethiopia six months ago"
It's often happen to me. Some time I fell like falling into a pattern and
hate myself "Oh! Why I always make a same composition?" Yet in
other time, I just give it up and pretend having self-confidence "This
is my style"
I looked for the portrait in Ethiopia after came back to Japan. Yeah, surely
it was. It photographed with similar composition and situation. However
more than that, I found quite interesting fact between the two pictures.
The two girls looked alike.
Now please read this issue with world atlas.
Originally the people called "Dravydan" lived in India. They
had dark skin. It's said they got west coast of India from east coast of
Africa across the ocean in earlier stage. Later India got another group
of people from current Iran area. They were called "Aryan" Although
I heard the definition of the Aryan is fluid, generally their feature is
light skin, long nose and chiseled feature. Also India had other group
"Mongoloid" from far north Himalaya or east current Bangladesh.
After all, India is a huge intersection of people.
Back to the portraits. The Ethiopian girl and the Indian. The Southern
taste and the Western are blended in same way on their feature. Even thousands
miles apart, their common roots can be in the West Asia and the East Africa.
That's quite interesting to me.
So slight difference in their feature can be the difference of the route
that their ancestors traced. The people set foot on India from the ocean
while the others entered in land. They mixed together.
People lived in current Kenya, for instance, moved to the north. Meanwhile
the people in current Iran went down to south, and mixed in Ethiopia.
I wrote in Ethiopian issue here that Ethiopian doesn't have any element
of Indian in their feature. However I correct it. It isn't matter of including
some elements each other. They have similar origin.
I really envy their feature which stire imagination. Because I never have
imaginative story in my face.
"Long long time ago, a Mongolia man lived in tiny island eastern edge of Asia. And his offspring still lives in there" Uhhh...sorry, my ancestors. I didn't mean it. Me myself should move to somewhere. Yeah, that's it.
Mar. 2013
Today's piece
" Portrait " Left: Jodhpur, India / Right: Gondar, Ethiopia 2012 |