Video

Our last night in Chennai in 2003 we took our kids to Kadaloram, the city beach. We watched families fly kites and play in the waves. A year later this beach was smothered by a wave created by the tsunami, and beachgoers, nearby residents, and fisherman lost their lives. A colleague asked me if I had any photographs that could help our community gather to pay tribute to the lives lost, and I remembered this video footage that I had taken on the beach. I knew immediately that I would use Michael Brook's musical collaborations with U. Srinivas (mandolin) and L. Shankar (violin) for the soundtrack.

I first heard Ganesh Kumar play the kanjira when I was hired to photograph a concert in which he was playing. I was mesmerized by the sounds he brought out of such a tiny drum, and after giving him the photographs, he gave me a kanjira, and my first lesson. He has been my teacher ever since. I shot this clip at his final US concert in 2017 with his beloved guru, the great Subash Chandran.

Audio

While living in Pomabamba alone in the early 1980’s, I often carried a cassette recorder to capture ambient sounds, conversations in Quechua, and fiesta music. Here is a small sample.