Antediluvian

The Harvesters

Gujarat, India 2009

All of the young people from the village worked to bring in the wheat. The women looked like walking haystacks as they hauled bundles of shocked wheat to the men who threshed the wheat by flailing it against a wooden trough. Golden chaff covered the workers and filled the air.

We were excited to photograph this scene. But once we had hopped out of the car we were confronted with reality. Some of the men wore baseball caps…one man who seemed to find his way into nearly all of my photos wore a bright red one. Eager to have his photo taken, he mugged for the camera and the amusement of his friends. The girls who carried the loads of cut wheat were obscured by the bundles: their colorful, flowing garments hidden.

I tried to catch the action. I wanted the sheaves high over the men’s heads.  I stuck with this one idea, shooting the same action over and over.  As a result my photos don’t have much variety.   It pays to stop and look at your shots and figure out a plan. Either think of a better way to do what you are doing or think of another viewpoint.