Dhanushkodi

All that remains in Dhanushkodi are the ruins and the 200 families who make their living by fishing. Photograph/Rajiv Kumar

Rajiv Kumar discovers what it feels like to experience a historically significant, yet dislocated piece of land, in its complete entirety.

This story was originally published in November 2013.

Rajiv Kumar
is a Delhi-based
freelance photographer.
His series
‘Dhanushkodi’ was
exhibited at the 2013
edition of Delhi
Photo Festival.

Dhanushkodi is a small piece of land located on the eastern coast Tamil Nadu. The first time I visited the place, I felt a strange affinity towards it without knowing why. The once-thriving town was destroyed in a mega storm in December 1964. Despite this, there is still something special about the area that is not easily overwhelmed by the present or by its recent past. I knew that the land had several stories to tell. To put these feelings into context, I visited again in 2009. I was sure about not using colour for this project because Dhanushkodi, with its white sands and endless blue waters, would have been immediately transformed into an oversaturated postcard series. I used a fully manual film camera, which, in many ways, slowed down the whole photographic process and helped me take the time to notice things I might have otherwise missed.

How to Bring Out the Essence of a Land

• Understanding the nature of light and how it transforms an area is essential. For this reason, shoot at different times of the day.
• Experiment with other media. Using film allowed me to spend more time and learn a lot more of the land than I would have otherwise.
• After editing, you may find missing links in between photos.Spend more time with your work. Don’t hurry the editing process.
• Photography is a medium of expression and exploration. Don’t overthink it. Photography for its sake is pretty boring.