by Emma Simmons
In the fall of October 2008, I traveled to Kashmir, India with my photography mentor, John Isaac, to assist a photography workshop through the Maine Media Workshops. Kashmir was a place I wasn’t sure I would be so lucky to experience at my age due to the current turmoil which has happened in the past years. In the past few years John had traveled back and forth roughly fifteen times for his book “The Vale of Kashmir.” It was John’s stories and descriptions of the landscape, both beautiful and serene that inspired me to join him on his next journey.
For photographers like myself, it is hard to describe an experience, a special place, or a culture with only words. Instead, I allow my photographs to speak for themselves. Spending eight nights on a beautiful houseboat on Dal Lake in Srinigar, Kashmir, we spent our days waking up at sunrise to the call of prayer and enjoying a nice cup of Kashmiri tea before venturing around the beautiful country. Whether it was the floating market that was its own little oasis on the Dal Lake at 5am, or driving up into the high mountains and stopping in small rural towns, I was completely taken aback by the sincerity and kindness of the people whom I photographed in their natural surroundings.
Man pulling rootstocks for the floating garden on Dal Lake, Srinigar, Kashmir
Kangan, Kashmir
A family walking through the village of Rezan, Kashmir
School girls in Kashmir
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