HYDERABAD: Portraits of women with long and sagged ear holes, heavy jewellery covering the collarbone to neck, bangle-sized nose rings, and tattoos all over their bodies — wondering what? These are just a few observations from ‘Tribalography’, a photography exhibition on Indian tribes. Andhekar Sathish Lal, the photographer who travelled thousands of miles to capture the lifestyle of these hidden forest communities, offers Hyderabadis a glimpse through this exhibition.
Capturing the essence of tribal communities for more than a decade, Sathish Lal explored nearly 20 states across the country. ‘Tribalography’ features around 110 photographs spread across three galleries on the second floor of the Chitramayee State Gallery of Art. Natural surroundings, festivals, candid portraits, women, and jewellery are some of the highlighted themes. The walls are adorned with beautiful pictures of tribes such as the Drokpa Tribe from Ladakh, Konyak Tribe from Nagaland, Lajia Saora Tribe from Odisha, Dongria Tribe from Odisha, Jat Tribe from Gujarat, Munda Tribe from Jharkhand, Bonda Tribe from Odisha, and many more.
Previously exhibited in New Delhi, his works received appreciation from Draupadi Murmu, President of India, and 65 of his photographs remain on permanent display at the Tribal Art Museum, Rashtrapati Bhavan. This year’s exhibition featured few more tribes, including Changpa from Nagaland, Lokpa from Nagaland, Koraga from Karnataka, Halakki from Karnataka, Dhurwa from Chhattisgarh, and Muria from Chhattisgarh.
Having worked as a photographer for a Telugu daily for over 15 years, Sathish’s exploration began with the Banjara and Chenchu tribes in Telangana. However, his inspiration dates back to his childhood when he grew up with his grandparents in the Ranga Reddy district of Telangana. “From childhood, I have been very keen to know about the tribals’ attire and their culture because my primary studies were done in my grandmother’s village where our native tribes, the Lambadas, lived very near to my grandmother’s house. At that time, many questions were in my mind — why they are like this, and why their attires are different from other people... And I took this tribal photography seriously 14 years back when I read the news about how the culture of these tribes is declining day by day. So, I thought to capture all of them before they and their culture vanish due to modernisation,” he shared.
Recalling a few memories from his exploration of tribal cultures, Sathish described a lifetime memory from his first photo exhibition for tribals in a weekly market in a tribal area in Odisha. “The exhibition was about Bonda tribes, which I had been working on for three years. I saw a girl crying while standing in front of a photograph. Since I didn’t know their language, I asked someone else to ask her. The girl replied, saying, ‘This woman in this photograph is my mother; she died two years ago. And this is the first time I’m seeing her since then.’ She asked for the photograph; I told her I would give one, but she never returned. I went searching for her the next day, found her, and gave it to her. I can’t describe the happiness I saw in her eyes that day.”
Behind the scenes, Sathish faced many challenges on this journey. Firstly, there wouldn’t be proper food and accommodation. Since the tribes live in interior areas, there wouldn’t be any connectivity, no maps to reach them, and language is the biggest barrier, he says. Lastly, they are often reluctant to be photographed; sometimes they even ask Sathish not to shoot.
After travelling with so many tribes for 15 years, the lesson Sathish learned is to be happy with what we have. “The tribes live a very simple life; they don’t have all the luxuries like we do. Yet, they are so happy in their lives. They cannot be separated from nature. I sometimes feel the life they are living is the true meaning of life.”