honorable mention
andrea bettancini italy
title
Chaos Karma
I have visited many places in the world known for their dense populations, heavy traffic,
and large masses of people moving every day, by foot, car, or public transportation. We all
have experience with this, even in our own cities. Despite being involved in these
situations, we still have the security and guidance of a flow moving in some sort of
organized, "pre-ordained" direction, ultimately following a pattern. This sense of security
disappears suddenly in India. Diagonals, broken lines, zigzags, and unexpected
suspensions replace straight lines, and sudden turns replace smooth curves. People move
along countless individual directions, and along these directions, there are incessant social
interactions. Crossing an intersection in India is not taken for granted.
Just as this geometric metaphor plays out on the streets, it reflects on every aspect of
Indian life, putting on a "theater of chaos" that eludes any attempt to be represented with
an iconographic order that could make it intelligible and thus reassuring. Neither
modernity nor tradition is strong enough in India to surpass the other. Western
consumerism and modernism seem to demand a universality that here becomes only an
abstract concept, grafted onto a millennia-old collective memory. The result is a
schizophrenic society that seems always on the edge of the abyss but never falls into it. It
is a place where human perceptions are amplified in a formidable sensory resonance
chamber. An Ikebana in reverse, pursuing disharmony instead of harmony.
The result of all this is a blender of contrasts, a nature that is venerated and violated,
poverty and wealth, the coexistence of man and animal, public and private, sacred and
necessary, shared in a single space, within an impossible yet achieved balance.
I worked in the fashion and publishing industry. The photographic genres I prefer are Street, Travel and Reportage, a photo contest for me is an opportunity for comparison, criticism and judgment by qualified people, an opportunity for growth. I was awarded at the World Water Day Photo Contest 2019, at the Trieste Photo Days 2020 and Italian competitions.
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entry description
All the images in this portfolio were taken by me in India.I have visited many places in the world known for their dense populations, heavy traffic,
and large masses of people moving every day, by foot, car, or public transportation. We all
have experience with this, even in our own cities. Despite being involved in these
situations, we still have the security and guidance of a flow moving in some sort of
organized, "pre-ordained" direction, ultimately following a pattern. This sense of security
disappears suddenly in India. Diagonals, broken lines, zigzags, and unexpected
suspensions replace straight lines, and sudden turns replace smooth curves. People move
along countless individual directions, and along these directions, there are incessant social
interactions. Crossing an intersection in India is not taken for granted.
Just as this geometric metaphor plays out on the streets, it reflects on every aspect of
Indian life, putting on a "theater of chaos" that eludes any attempt to be represented with
an iconographic order that could make it intelligible and thus reassuring. Neither
modernity nor tradition is strong enough in India to surpass the other. Western
consumerism and modernism seem to demand a universality that here becomes only an
abstract concept, grafted onto a millennia-old collective memory. The result is a
schizophrenic society that seems always on the edge of the abyss but never falls into it. It
is a place where human perceptions are amplified in a formidable sensory resonance
chamber. An Ikebana in reverse, pursuing disharmony instead of harmony.
The result of all this is a blender of contrasts, a nature that is venerated and violated,
poverty and wealth, the coexistence of man and animal, public and private, sacred and
necessary, shared in a single space, within an impossible yet achieved balance.
about the photographer
I have always been a photography enthusiast, I had an artistic education (Artistic high school, and European design institute in Milan IED)I worked in the fashion and publishing industry. The photographic genres I prefer are Street, Travel and Reportage, a photo contest for me is an opportunity for comparison, criticism and judgment by qualified people, an opportunity for growth. I was awarded at the World Water Day Photo Contest 2019, at the Trieste Photo Days 2020 and Italian competitions.
back to gallery