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Friday, December 8, 2023

Fishfarms: India. Forming My World View through Aquaculture in 1977 by Robert Glenn Ketchum

Fishfarms:  India

Forming My World View through Aquaculture in 1977 by Robert Glenn Ketchum


The second stop in my world tour with Thomas Mann’s daughter, Elisabeth Mann Borghese, to photograph aquaculture was India, a VERY different place than anywhere I had ever been.
~Robert Glenn Ketchum




Friday, December 8, 2023

Fishfarms: India, Forming My World View through Aquaculture in 1977, #7
India #7:  
It is a VERY long, hot day on our drive to Agra. The fact there is also a national election and the streets along the way are crowded with celebrations, makes our progress that much slower. Towards the end of the day, when it becomes clear the Janata party has won a major victory, the streets turn into bedlam. We have been in the car for hours, and I am beginning to wonder if we will ever get there, and then this appears. It is the Yamuna River, which runs through a portion of Agra. We are finally close. Elisabeth agrees that we will all stay overnight (our cab driver, as well), because driving back in the dark with all the election celebrating would be insane. Making a joke, the cab driver points to the activity on the river shore, and he says he knows the hotel is preparing for us, because they are washing our sheets. The fact is, because of the numerous tourism visits to the Taj Mahal, there are many hotels in Agra, and these workers ARE washing the hotel linen in the river. This gives Elisabeth and I some pause for thought, as most rivers in India are quite polluted with human waste, and if you look carefully upriver in this shot, you will see 8 head of cattle “bathing” just beyond where the sheets are being washed. Oh well! On to our hotel.


photograph(s) © copyright, ROBERT GLENN KETCHUM, 2023,
@RbtGlennKetchum @RobertGKetchum @LittleBearProd #LittleBearProd

Follow Robert Glenn Ketchum's Photographic Activism Online:
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Friday, October 6, 2023

Fishfarms: India, Forming My World View through Aquaculture in 1977, #6
India #6:  
In Bombay in the late 70s’, cars were few and far between, and the streets were choked with bicycle traffic.


photograph(s) © copyright, ROBERT GLENN KETCHUM, 2023,
@RbtGlennKetchum @RobertGKetchum @LittleBearProd #LittleBearProd

Follow Robert Glenn Ketchum's Photographic Activism Online:
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Friday, July 28, 2023

Fishfarms: India, Forming My World View through Aquaculture in 1977, #5
India #5:  
In the late 70s’, cars we few and far between in Bombay. Most people rode bicycles, or as you see here, traveled by bicycle taxi.


photograph(s) © copyright, ROBERT GLENN KETCHUM, 2023,
@RbtGlennKetchum @RobertGKetchum @LittleBearProd #LittleBearProd

Follow Robert Glenn Ketchum's Photographic Activism Online:
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Friday, July 21, 2023

Fishfarms: India, Forming My World View through Aquaculture in 1977, #4
India #4:  
In the late 70s’, India had very little industrial equipment, everything was done by hand labor. These guys are part of a team paving a street.


photograph(s) © copyright, ROBERT GLENN KETCHUM, 2023,
@RbtGlennKetchum @RobertGKetchum @LittleBearProd #LittleBearProd

Follow Robert Glenn Ketchum's Photographic Activism Online:
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Friday, July 14, 2023

Fishfarms: India, Forming My World View through Aquaculture in 1977, #3
India #3:  
The lawn in front of our Mumbai hotel hosts 3 elephants and a camel, so many people come to play, picnic, and watch them. This is perfect for me to practice taking pictures of people, which I have always been uncomfortable doing. I see myself as a landscape photographer in the tradition of Ansel Adams and Eliot Porter, and I seldom think much about motion and film speed. Now, those elements are paramount, and I do not have the luxury of taking my time, or setting up a tripod. At the beginning of this project, I explained this to everyone involved, and I was assured that they did not need “people” pictures. The editors felt they already had those images, sent from contributing scientists. I was expected to take pictures of the “landscape” of aquaculture. After several days in Russia, however, I was pretty sure my pictures were going to involve people, so now that I am in India and surrounded by them, I keep saying to myself, “what would Salgado do?,” and I shoot what sits before me on the lawn. Elisabeth joins me after a short while, and takes in the view as well, but eventually suggests we should get breakfast, and then go explore. Her associates will take us to dinner this evening and explain our tour plans.


photograph(s) © copyright, ROBERT GLENN KETCHUM, 2023,
@RbtGlennKetchum @RobertGKetchum @LittleBearProd #LittleBearProd

Follow Robert Glenn Ketchum's Photographic Activism Online:
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Friday, July 7, 2023

Fishfarms: India, Forming My World View through Aquaculture in 1977, #2
India #2:  
Elisabeth and I have come to Mumbai to meet with administrators that have been planning our visit. There is no aquaculture here, so we will soon go to the southern state of Kerala, where many forms of it are practiced. For the time being, however, we have a very nice hotel, an occasional meeting during the day, and a good bit of time on our hands with nothing to do. Our first evening, we are on our own, and I did promise Elisabeth that I would eat whatever Indian food she ordered for me, so we head off for what proves to be a fantastic restaurant. It is elegant and air-conditioned. People are beautifully dressed, and the servers are formal. There is a large band of drummers, sitars, and wind instruments playing great music, and every once in awhile a dancer performs. I do not even look at the menu, and just let Elisabeth order everything. The first plates are pan (bread), some fruit, and some salad-like veggies. No problem. Then, when the main plate comes out, I am relieved to see that she has ordered a simple dish for me of rice and large prawns, and there is little other garnish. Wanting to seem “fearless” about the food, I dive in. Halfway through the first prawn, I begin sweating in places I did not even know could sweat. My ears burn. My eyes water. I take in some plain white rice to try and cool down, and the rice is even more spicey. Neither water nor beer seem to make any difference. My mouth is on fire. Trying to appear to be taking it in stride, I pick up the second prawn and glance at Elisabeth who has been watching my reactions. She is laughing hysterically. She also assures me, I will survive, AND she says that I will never be that affected by spices again as this would inoculate me. I do cool down as the meal progresses, and I eat the entire plate. Dinner ends early in the evening, and Elisabeth introduces me to another part of her personality, restlessness. She does not want to go back and sit at the hotel, so we hire a bicycle-taxi and go for a ride about the city. In the days to follow, we would do this several times, and see some interesting sights. The above, being one of many. I am not sure what they are doing, or why, they were just simple all punching each other rather randomly.


photograph(s) © copyright, ROBERT GLENN KETCHUM, 2023,
@RbtGlennKetchum @RobertGKetchum @LittleBearProd #LittleBearProd

Follow Robert Glenn Ketchum's Photographic Activism Online:
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Friday, June 30, 2023

Fishfarms: India, Forming My World View through Aquaculture in 1977, #1
India #1:  
After visiting Moscow, Elizabeth Mann Borghese, and I, took a morning flight to Bombay (Mumbai), India. Now our trip was about to get VERY interesting. Starting with the fact that we landed on grass, and frightened a camel off the “runway.” Moscow had been freezing cold and rainy, and India was the opposite end of the spectrum, blazingly hot and humid. Fortunately our taxi and hotels rooms had airconditioning. We would stay at one of the premier hotels in the city, the Ashoka, and when we arrived, an elephant awaited to carry our luggage into the lobby.


photograph(s) © copyright, ROBERT GLENN KETCHUM, 2023,
@RbtGlennKetchum @RobertGKetchum @LittleBearProd #LittleBearProd

Follow Robert Glenn Ketchum's Photographic Activism Online:
______________________________________________________
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