Ami Vitale’s Kolkata’s Rickshaws
One of my favorite photographers is Ami Vitale. We met in a small shop in Delhi. I did not know who she was at the time and wondered what this petite American girl was doing in Delhi at an out of the way Anything Mac store. Later when I wrote her about her website, she made the connection. What a missed opportunity on my part. Ami is a rising star in photojournalism today. She has the eye and the guts. If you haven’t visited her website you are missing some great stuff. Be sure and check out the images of Kashmir while you are there. You can also visit her PhotoShelter site HERE.
In this National Geographic photo essay on Kolkata’s Rickshaws she again grabs your attention and draws you in to this fascinating world. In this video she uses a creative technique of snapping off 8 to 10 shot in continuous mode and then segments them together for a video like feel.
Hi Matt, thanks for the link to this, it’s a fascinating slideshow. Do you know what Ami is referring to when she says, towards the end of the piece, something like “depending on what happens in the Supreme Court, this may be something that you won’t see much more of”? Is she talking about the US Supreme Court? Any ideas?
Gavin – I’m pretty sure she’s referring to the ongoing battle to make human rickshaws illegal. I’ve caught snippets of it recently – doesn’t look good for the rickshaw wallas…
david duChemin
Gavin – David is right. There is an effort to ban the rickshaws pullers in Kolkata. You can find a series of reports on it here: http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/geopedia/Kolkata_Rickshaws
Thanks guys. I wasn’t aware of this and will go and read up on it.