The Spontaneity of Fish (A Photo Essay)

Wandering is one of the best things about traveling. In India, Jenn and I had a loose agenda that we followed so as to make the best use of our short time there. Its a hell of a big place, and with only three weeks, we could have easily spent our time chasing our tails getting from one place to another. Before I arrived, Jenn and Lisa sat down and made up an itinerary and we followed it pretty closely, but within it there was a lot of time for spontaneity.

India as you might imagine, is a good place for impulsive behavior. 'Spur-of-the-moment' is just part of the normal course of events in India; if you're not predisposed to being spontaneous, then India is simply not a good fit for you. In fact, I think the entire country is pretty much contrived by spontaneous energy. If you just wander around long enough, spontaneity will happen to you, like it or not.

Have your camera ready. Unless of course, your camera being stolen is the spontaneous event. (Fortunately this is not a story about thievery)

One morning, in Varkala, Jenn and I were aiming for breakfast, when we came upon what must be an almost daily occurrence in this town: a fishing boat landing on the vast, sandy beach below the cliffs of the North Beach. When we arrived on the scene, a dozen men, woman and a few kids were already on shore, hauling in a coil of rope. Looking towards the sea, it became clear that the boat that had beached had set a purse-seine and we were about to watch it get hauled ashore.


In Canada, when you set a purse-seine and haul it in, half a dozen men on a self-contained fishing boat do it, using a small secondary boat to set the net, and then a winch to haul it aboard the main vessel. But this is India. Here, manual labour still powers these everyday events, so as we looked far out into the ocean, we could see more men bobbing in the water, guiding the nets towards shore.


On shore, the work party grew; its numbers swollen by kids that couldn't be older than ten, and a few older folks - including one amazing older lady - who must be in their seventies. Of course, a few of the tourists on the beach decided to join in - just long enough for their wives to take their pictures.

Now, Jenn and I had been on our way to tackle an unruly breakfast when we came upon this enterprise, and it was starting to look like it was going to last a while, so I ran up the steps to the top of the cliffs for sustenance (must provide for family, male genetics demand) while Jenn continued to snap away. Jenn is as great photographer, and together we're really enjoying the Nikon D80 we bought last year. Shooting with a digital camera lets you focus on exploring all the angles and possibilities of an event, and not about how much its going to cost you to find out if any of your pictures turned out.


The image below is my favorite from that morning's shots. I love the double line of the rope and its' shadow converging on the ocean. The horizon line really trips me out. Above: Jenn has a real knack for capturing the essence of a moment in a single frame.

It took more than an hour from when we arrived on the scene to when the net was finally pulled ashore. There were hundred's of tourists gathered around, and I think we were all hoping that there would be a Blue Whale or a Great White Shark or maybe some sort of Leviathan-like Octopus in the net. Instead, this...

A million little fishes. Some of the men set to work sorting them into baskets - the by catch being gathered up by any bleeding-hearts in the tourist set to be returned to the ocean - and then, loaded right back onto the same boat that had set the net several hours before. My best guess is that the tiny fish would be set on lures on a long-line to catch the myriad species served up for diner in Varkala's fresh fish restaurants that line the cliff tops. This image of the basket below seemed to be a throw-away until i got to fiddling with it in Picasa, my photo editor of choice, and managed to save it by increasing the contrast and adding some tone to the sun-washed inage. Looking at it now, I really love the way Jenn captured the action of the moment.


And without a moment wasted on ceremony (or even to make sure everybody was on board) the boat was launched back into the breaks and out to sea.


Wandering makes it possible to capture spontaneous moments, with the camera, and with the heart. My favorite moments in India were the ones that we stumbled upon (the Blue Market in Ernaculum, the backstreets of Fort Cochin, a night-time stroll through working class Karala, moments of conversation and connection on Flower Sreet in a market in Mumbai). My acquaintance Pat Morrow's philosophy of photography is simple: "f-8 and be there." He means, use the sharpest part of your lens, and get out A LOT. To which I would add, as it pertains to spontaneity and wandering and a million little fish: use the sharpest part of your eye and your heart and soul and and don't let having an itinerary keep you from experiencing the magic of the world.