A series of photographs by the British photographer, taken over a period of three months, captures the quiet streets of Indian cities at after dark A world away from the bustling, crowded streets normally seen in photographs of urban India is Gavin Evans’ Nightscapes series. Walking around at night over a period of three months, the British photographer captured the eerie emptiness of Indian cities after dark, depicting its urban architecture in low light. Evans, who is better known for his portraits, worked with Sony, which provided him with an Alpha 7R mirrorless, full-frame professional camera for the project. He describes his experience: India moves at breakneck speed, but in the dead of night the frame is frozen. People sleep where they stand: stalls by day are beds by night. The Indo luchador is stripped of his mask as he slumbers – the face of India is laid bare. In the dead of night the rules are re-written. The streets become the dominion of the dog. Canines, no friend of man, now rule. Packs on every corner patrol their patch with pernicious fervour. Heavyweight rats bound and banquet along the rubbish strewn pavements. The eye feasts on detail upon detail until it can stomach no more. Burgeoning sculptural forms are, on closer inspection, cocooned bodies. Many sleep on the highways, trusting that a drunken or over-tired driver won’t deviate from his course. Away from the cities, rural India sleeps under a heavy blanket of stars. Out there, the elements threaten. A legion of deities is no defence from the monsoon torrents. The countryside, like its urban sibling, revels in schadenfreude. In Nightscapes, the nocturnal landscapes of India’s cities and countryside are captured in forensic detail, uncovering and mapping a country as it sleeps. |
Images Gavin Evans
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