Rabari Matriarchs
India 2009
Many Rabari women of a certain age wear these silver cuffs. You can see the woman on the left wears only one bracelet. Perhaps she has had to pawn her other bracelet. Look closely and you will see her arm is tattooed with many small designs. This, too, is the custom of the tribe.
The women were waiting for their husbands at a Rabari temple we visited. I was hesitant to approach them, but they were pleased to be photographed. It took a few shots for me to think of trying to pose them. I couldn’t speak their language so I had to touch them to arrange their hands. (We were taught never to touch our subject, but maybe that is a American fear-of-being-sued thing.)
Final Touches
I think this woman was considered the prettiest by the other Rabari women. They pushed her forward, gesturing to me to take her portrait. Her friend, wearing the silver cuffs, arranged her hair and veil. I pressed the shutter just as the bracelets framed the handsome face.
This is a digital shot and, of course, was in color. The women wore either black or dark maroon. I think the black and white with a bit of blur enhances the silver and the skin tones. Much more dramatic. It’s fun to experiment. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t.