What is Left, What is Dead 2025 - ongoing
What Is Left, What Is Dead develops a dialogue with the landscape of Alang, a ship-breaking town in the Gulf of Kambhat in Gujarat, through found materials and photographs. The project seeks to reveal the invisible contaminants in the air and soil, accumulated over decades of ship-breaking, burning of fossil fuel, and disposal of toxic and biochemical hazardous materials into the environment. This argument is further developed through a found map of a German chemical tanker “Bau Nr. 216 Norasia Pearl” (dated 1986) and soil samples collected by the photographer from the sites contaminated by chemical and radioactive residues. The pinhole cameras were constructed with the help of locals from collected objects that originate from these ships, turning debris into instruments of documentation. The series of silver gelatin prints reimagine an alternate map of Alang through its material traces, adopting an archaeological approach to image-making.
