Think Positive Designer Prints

After admiring all of the hand painted signs of India we recently discovered a site that is working to preserve the art of Indian street painters. Many sign writers and street painters are rapidly going out of business with the development of desktop prints. Hand Painted Type works to collect the original font sets of these artists and convert them into digital files to serve as a record of their work.

This font was developed by Kafeel from Delhi. Visit the Hand Painted Type website here. (more…)

Mother Ganges, Varanasi

Here are some photos from our trip to India taken on 35mm, medium format and Polaroid film by Eleanor Ackland. (more…)

Kutch, India

While the craft of traditional sign writing has virtually disappeared in the western world, it is nice to see the practice very much alive in India–even if it doesn’t always make sense. (more…)

A gypsy lady of the jogi tribe

Six years ago Capucine left her home in Paris to work for an NGO in India. After she finished her work she went to Jaisalmer–a desert city enclosed by a sandstone fort in western Rajasthan. There she met Pabu, a camel guide from the Bilu people of the Thar Desert. When they met she had a strange feeling that they had met before and that the desert was her home. She decided to stay.

Together they run an eco farm with no electricity or running water on lake 20km outside of Jaisalmer. Small groups are invited to sleep in mud huts, cook on the camp fire, meet local communities and experience life in the desert. With the profits Pabu and Capucine hope to help local communities to preserve their traditions and survive in an environment where life is something you work hard for.

http://www.pabu-ki-dhani.com/

(more…)

There are some cultural differences to be expected when traveling in India: waste disposal and working sewers are not a priority, cows are an integral part of street traffic, it takes more than one person to book a train ticket and motorcycles are an adequate mode of transport for the whole family (at one time). But of course there are always surprises. India is known for its vibrant art and textile traditions, the scope of which can only be fully absorbed in person. No surface is unworthy of intricate detail, etching, engraving, painting and colour. In Australia Mack trucks rip up and down the highways with burly men in a singlet and stubbies behind the wheel. In India each are decorated with flair, fonts, flags, tinsel, pom poms and almost always a very important message: “Blow Horn”. (more…)

Our first stop in India: the Pushkar Camel Fair. Pushkar is a holy town by Lake Pichola, in the northern state of Rajasthan. Thousands travel to the fair to buy, sell and trade camels, horses and cattle in tents lining the desert dunes behind the town. The animals are decorated to look their best with painted horns and fur in fluro braids and coloured bridles. In true Indian spirit the fair is chaos–the best kind. (more…)