Photography and Text by Ted Kawalerski, Copyright 2022
.
India: Kolkata to Jamshedpur
.
When I woke up, I realized that I was not hallucinating and I did not have a psychedelic dream. I spent the night in a flop house that made my living conditions at Ft Polk during my time in the army look like a high end hotel. The barracks were WWII vintage with holes in the exterior walls.
My assistant and I arrived in Kolkata, India in the middle of the night on a flight from Shanghai, China. By the time we collected all of our camera equipment and went through customs we were catatonic so when we saw a man holding a sign with my name on it I felt like we were in a game show and we won a prize. The three of us loaded up the van and took off. The driver, who spoke English relatively well, informed us that we were staying at a temporary residence during the first night and he would pick us up in the morning.
That brings me back to the flop house. I have traveled for work my entire adult life and I have stayed in a wide variety of lodgings but this place was definitely the weirdest dump that I had ever stayed in. It was hard to figure out what this single room was about. There were some light mattresses on the floor, an open toilet, a few cooking utensils and a small stove. Above all, the place was filthy. If you needed a location to film a scene where human traffickers were hiding people this would be perfect. At this point we didn’t care – we slept. At about 7:00 AM the driver arrived with a shit eating grin on his face. We didn’t change our clothes or wash – we ran to the van.
I elaborated on our first night in India because it is part of a metaphor that follows. The driver delivered us to the Oberoi Grand. This place is one of the most spectacular hotels that I have ever stayed at. So, in the course of twelve hours, we experienced the Yin and Yang – extreme opposites existing in the same place. This is India. When I looked down at the street from my room people were sleeping on the sidewalks. Yes, this situation exists in most cities but not on this scale.
.
.
We were in China and India on a photography assignment for Praxair which is now Linde after merging with that company. They manufacture industrial gases that are used for a wide variety of global business applications and they wanted to visually establish their worldwide presence by featuring a facility in Jamshedpur. This is an industrial city that is a five hour drive northwest of Kolkata. After spending our first day in Kolkata meeting some company officials who were headquartered there, we embarked on our adventure. I’m not being frivolous with that description.
I love to drive! I usually do all of the driving on a trip, whether it’s for business or pleasure at home or abroad. However, I’m not suicidal! I think that India is the craziest place to drive. I routinely drive in NYC where some people soil themselves at the thought of having to do that. Operating a motor vehicle in New York is a simple task compared to driving in India. So, we were very fortunate to have our expert horn blowing driver. You literally have to be an expert technical driver or you will die. This is not hyperbole! You also have to blow the horn non stop.
.
.
After plenty of rest we were re-energized and constantly breaking the driver’s balls to make him laugh. I sat up front with a camera at the ready and he kept explaining where we were and what was going on. Upon leaving the city, we were on paved roads that were in relatively good condition. Within an hour, we were on a dirt road that was lined with pretty shitty looking trees. Soon thereafter, we started passing small villages with domestic animals running all over. Some of the people were dressed in traditional Indian clothing and some were in western garb. We would occasionally stop at a few of these villages to look around and make some pictures. I never move in on people and start shooting. It seemed that they really appreciated that because when I started talking they laughed even though they had no idea what I was saying. I always get the best pictures this way.
.
.
Moving on, we were about to have two interactions. We wound up on a paved section of the road again. Traffic was minimal – mostly trucks. In the distance, we could see smoke rising from the road. As we approached we saw why. A truck was flipped over on its side and several dead bodies were laying on the road. People were walking around the accident like they were viewing an obscene sculpture. These trucks are super dangerous. The chassis and bodies are made of wood and they are not well balanced so accidents are common. Our driver told us that the truck drivers are always drinking and or using drugs. It was a sad moment.
.
.
A couple of hours later, we could see traffic approaching. Suddenly, two men on elephants were heading straight to our van. The lead guy gave us the international hand sign to stop. It was obvious – this was a shakedown. In my lifetime I have seen a lot of really crazy shit, but this scene climbed to the top. Our driver did his best to look and sound really pissed off while he negotiated the quasi toll. This went on for about twenty minutes and then Gunga Din had his elephant flip his trunk up and down a few times. It was over! Those god damn elephants are huge!!!
.
.
Because of the number of stops that we made, it took us longer than five hours to reach Jamshedpur. We arrived in late afternoon after a totally non-tourist trip. It was fantastic.
We checked in with the powers that be at the facility and laid out a plan for the next day. I had to cover as many features of the facility as possible. There are no horror stories about our accommodations here.
I started shooting early in the morning after sunrise and I spent the early part of the day doing straight documentary photography. After lunch, we scouted for the main photo – the one that would be featured in the annual report. I decided on the location which featured the plant in the background with workers walking across the frame in the foreground. The window of opportunity was going to be short. I wanted to make the picture right after sunset, with the exterior lights coming on and enough skylight to show some detail in the buildings. We used a small flash to light the workers in the foreground but as the ambient light was fading, the flash didn’t look right. We resorted to a real exotic piece of equipment – a small Maglite flashlight. The day ended successfully with two excellent options. The people from the facility took us out for a fantastic dinner and we retired.
.
.
Our horn blowin’ driver picked us up in the morning and we started working our way back to Kolkata. Once again, we stopped at a few villages to feel the vibe of the lifestyles and make a few pictures. We arrived back at the Oberoi Grand in the early afternoon and had time to relax before setting out in the evening to explore Kolkata.
My assistant and I decided to stay in the hotel neighborhood rather than running all over the city. We had fabulous encounters with people of all ages who were as interested in engaging with us as we were with them. I really didn’t expect to shoot much that night but I ultimately made a lot of portraits. It was a great way to end this trip.
.
.
In spite of a few minor events, this was a momentous experience both professionally and personally. The assignment could not have worked out better and the people that we worked with and met along the way provided some real context to this complex culture.
We headed back to New York the next day.
.
.
About The Author:
Ted Kawalerski is a New York based photographer and filmmaker who has been shooting for more than 40 years for corporations, graphic design studios, and advertising agencies.
He has done assignments worldwide for AIG, Bank of America, Chevron, Dominican Resources Services, Ernst & Young, Harris Corporation, Johnson & Johnson, Liberty Mutual, MasterCard, Medica, Pitney Bowes, Praxair, United Technologies Corporation and The Hartford.
Ted Lives on the Hudson River in Sleepy Hollow, NY and is involved in an ongoing project to photograph landscapes and portraits of its inhabitants along the entire length of the river. This work has been exhibited in one man shows in New York City and MV Gallery and a The Beacon Institute in Beacon, NY. Another project, “Windows”, has been exhibited in New York City and Connecticut.
With two partners, Matt Stanton and Gene Mayer, Ted launched Cork Factory Films, a full service film/video production company. For assignment queries contact Ted at 914-545-5600.
.
To access additional articles by Ted Kawalerski, click here: https://tonywardstudio.com/blog/that-vitiligo-guy/