Eileen Delhi
Utata Member
Testimonial
I'm not sure what nationality Eileen is, but her photography celebrates India and its geographic neighbours.
Her photographs are all about COLOUR: present in all aspects of everyday Indian life, she captures it brilliantly. There are highly decorated shaws and trucks and ancient stupas. There are some wonderfully atmospheric shots of pachyderms at dawn and she doesn't shirk from the harsh realities of vibrant street markets (livestock has a whole new meaning in that country).
It's the people of India and their lives who leap off the screen at you. The ones who posed beamingly, the ones who urged their children to smile, the ones who were indifferent and kept going about their business. She has a fantastic connection with her photo subjects, particularly women and children. They obviously trust her, and in return she gives them her best. Her portraits all contain lots of context, so you're drawn into the details of the street on which the man is bicycling, and the family in the background of the woman cooking.
The many festivals and rituals of the country zing before your eyes until you feel swept along in the midst of the noisy, celebratory crowds.
To browse her photostream is to have an enormous 'hit' of India... you can virtually smell the spices, feel the sari silk under your fingers, almost choke on the dust of country roads.
And when you need a break from the intensity of Delhi, look at her marvellous sets on Bhutan, Nepal and Kerala. Different cultures but just as vividly captured by Eileen's eclectic eye.
Testimonial written by Rachel Cowan
