Rajan Parrikar wrote:
Portraits of Goan women collected over 15 years of flâneuring. More in my blog post.
These are all excellent portraits Rajan. One thing that I notice is that these Goan women are all wearing very colorful clothing. Is that a cultural preference?
eeneryma wrote:
These are all excellent portraits Rajan. One thing that I notice is that these Goan women are all wearing very colorful clothing. Is that a cultural preference?
Steve
Steve I can make an 1st hand observation about "the colorful" clothing these women are wearing. I make it from my 2 years in SE Asia. The native peoples, The Montangyards, Hmongs peoples wore colorful dress all the time. To distinguish themselves from the "outsiders".These people were treated terribly by both the French and the Vietnamese. They were mountain people and hated the Vietnamese, French and Chinese equally. They wore the colorful dress as part of their culture, survival in the dense jungle(being seen) and a slap in the face of their oppressors!
I doubt this is the case with these Goa'n women. Only Rajan can educate us on that. But the colorful dress is not uncommon in many Countries.
60F tomorrow!
Have a great day!
Dan
Below is an image...it was 1968-1969...not sure when because the film was sent to Kodak and the Return Mailer sent to my home. So It was at least 1 year or 2yrs when this was taken. But definitely 1968-1969 1stTour.
All the native peoples in SE Asia were our allies and welcomed us if we respected them! Just FYI..whenever my team need passage through a village, the team leader would 1st go to the village elder, present him AND his wife with cigarettes, whiskey and other "goodies" to show respect. Candy for the kids! This kindness led to many sources of info not readily available to some American troops.
1968-69 Slide mailed to Kodak for development then Return Address was home.
eeneryma wrote:
These are all excellent portraits Rajan. One thing that I notice is that these Goan women are all wearing very colorful clothing. Is that a cultural preference?
Steve
Thank you, Steve.
As Dan has correctly observed, people in Southeast engage in colorful wear.
India has a long history of women adorning themselves in vibrant colours. The Hindu Gods & Goddesses are often depicted in colourful robes and sarees. Weddings & festivals are unthinkable without colour and the festival of Holi has colour among its themes. Similarly, the spices and food range over the spectrum. This is not just a Goan thing, but a pan-Indian phenomenon. In fact, in states like Rajasthan in the north, the colours can be a riot.
As Dan has correctly observed, people in Southeast engage in colorful wear.
India has a long history of women adorning themselves in vibrant colours. The Hindu Gods & Goddesses are often depicted in colourful robes and sarees. Weddings & festivals are unthinkable without colour and the festival of Holi has colour among its themes. Similarly, the spices and food range over the spectrum. This is not just a Goan thing, but a pan-Indian phenomenon. In fact, in states like Rajasthan in the north, the colours can be a riot.
Thank you Rajan for posting this interesting analysis of color and it's associations in Indian culture. I'm a color guy myself, mostly photographing on the street in color.
Something else I notice about your ladies, Most are barefoot, except one who is wearing flip flops. Is that something that ladies in the countryside prefer?
Steve
eeneryma wrote:
Thank you Rajan for posting this interesting analysis of color and it's associations in Indian culture. I'm a color guy myself, mostly photographing on the street in color.
Something else I notice about your ladies, Most are barefoot, except one who is wearing flip flops. Is that something that ladies in the countryside prefer?
Steve
Steve,
Most of these are rural women, and yes, when working in the fields or forests the practice - for both men & women - is to go barefoot, as Nature intended.
The photos you post I take to the most are those coming out of left field. Like the "Body Evolved" you have going right now.
eeneryma wrote:
Thank you Rajan for posting this interesting analysis of color and it's associations in Indian culture. I'm a color guy myself, mostly photographing on the street in color.
Something else I notice about your ladies, Most are barefoot, except one who is wearing flip flops. Is that something that ladies in the countryside prefer?
Steve
Steve, more FYI..if you look at my post, the girls are also barefoot. Most of the "hill people" of Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos went bare foot. Many local Vietnamese also.
Or in some cases, would make "flip flops" out of the broken retreads from military vehicles.
Many of the soldiers from N.Vietnam also went barefoot.
Also did you notice that their houses are built on stilts? The monsoon season can bring raging torrents of water and ground built houses would be lost. Also snakes, rats and other "2 legged" vermine were a problem.
