honorable mention
VALERIE LEONARD france
title
ND AWARDS
My ambition was also ethnological: to fix in intimist images a pastoral tribe whose habits are likely to fade away, that of Rabaris known to be the ancestors of our Gipsies of Europe.
Rabaris, live in the North-West of India. This tribal caste finds it's origins with Shiva, major divinity of the Hinduism. They're supposed to have come from Belutchistan. Their name, "Rabari" means, in Hindi as in their own language, the Marwari, which of it is derived, “out of ways” because of their wandering lifestyle stockbreeders of camels, although more and more they are turned into a sedentary population in the outskirts of villages and adds to the breeding of the camel that of the cattle.
If the adults are still attached to the old habits and carry with pride the traditional, splendid costumes of purity and elegance, young people give up this tradition and often leave the tribe to go to seek work in Bombay or Delhi.
When I was photographing them in their traditional clothings, I had sometimes the feeling to leave the real world to enter one of these paintings of the 17th century when the light effects and the draped clothes emphasize the expression of the
When she presses the shutter, she remembers the doctrine of her father: "Always tell the Truth, but in terms of Beauty".
Valerie Leonard strives for her work to embody to this search for truth and beauty of human beings, whatever their origin or wealth.
Far from seeking aesthetic or false compassion, she wants to show the dignity of these women and men, in particularly hostile environments.
Throughout her trips around the world she focused her work particularly on a theme that she named “Labours of Hercules”.
A series of photographs where she attempts to show with utmost respect and admiration the nobility and courage of those living in difficult conditions.
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entry description
It is in search of a certain quality of light, made of intensity and softness, that I went to Rajasthan.My ambition was also ethnological: to fix in intimist images a pastoral tribe whose habits are likely to fade away, that of Rabaris known to be the ancestors of our Gipsies of Europe.
Rabaris, live in the North-West of India. This tribal caste finds it's origins with Shiva, major divinity of the Hinduism. They're supposed to have come from Belutchistan. Their name, "Rabari" means, in Hindi as in their own language, the Marwari, which of it is derived, “out of ways” because of their wandering lifestyle stockbreeders of camels, although more and more they are turned into a sedentary population in the outskirts of villages and adds to the breeding of the camel that of the cattle.
If the adults are still attached to the old habits and carry with pride the traditional, splendid costumes of purity and elegance, young people give up this tradition and often leave the tribe to go to seek work in Bombay or Delhi.
When I was photographing them in their traditional clothings, I had sometimes the feeling to leave the real world to enter one of these paintings of the 17th century when the light effects and the draped clothes emphasize the expression of the
about the photographer
Born in Paris, french-american, Valerie Leonard has always been surrounded by a world of images. Her mother was a painter, and her father, photographer, Herman Leonard.When she presses the shutter, she remembers the doctrine of her father: "Always tell the Truth, but in terms of Beauty".
Valerie Leonard strives for her work to embody to this search for truth and beauty of human beings, whatever their origin or wealth.
Far from seeking aesthetic or false compassion, she wants to show the dignity of these women and men, in particularly hostile environments.
Throughout her trips around the world she focused her work particularly on a theme that she named “Labours of Hercules”.
A series of photographs where she attempts to show with utmost respect and admiration the nobility and courage of those living in difficult conditions.
back to gallery