Photo stories
Peter Dench examines a project exploring the changing landscapes of the Indian Himalayas
The Himalayas conjure many images of natural and human endeavour. It is the source of rivers Ganges, Yangtze and Mekong among others. Billions of people in thousands of communities rely on Himalayan water. Also a region of monsoons, it has one of the world’s greatest freshwater resources. There are enough ice and snow deposits to impress the Arctics. Yet, alarming reports suggest the glaciers are shrinking and potable spring water is running dry. The pressures of tourism, population growth, intensive logging, quarrying, the outing of environmental laws and changing weather patterns has plunged the region into a water crisis.
British photographer Toby Smith is committed to effecting positive environmental change. He has reported on illegal logging and mining in Madagascar and renewable energy across Asia. Smith spent three years diligently photographing the 32 major power stations across England, at night, on large-format colour negative with exposures ranging from ve minutes to ve hours. In 2013, Smith walked the exact planned route for HS2, documenting disrupted communities, the demolition of habitat and potential economic and infrastructure bene ts.
Collaboration
Providing photographs for the collaborative research project ‘Pani, Pahar; Waters of the Himalayas’, Smith photographed in six towns over 18 months during both wet and dry seasons: Palampur and Rajgarh in Himachal Pradesh, the hill stations of Mussoorie and Nainital in Uttarakhand, all in India, and Dhulikhel and Bidur in Nepal. The images capture transformations around water sources and how sacred water is. ‘It’s a case of nding vantage points then forcing your way up above a scene to frame it all. The water catchments are really steep, which gives me a chance to illustrate lots of different elements at one time by layering up the human aspect, the physical location and the geographical situation people exist in,’ explains Smith.
Smith’s photographs were rst exhibited in 2017, before attracting funding to tour both the UK and Asia. The exhibitions bring together academic research and archival prints from Cambridge University Library and Centre for South Asian Studies. The archival prints offer an acute reminder of how fast environmental change can be. Smith set out to photograph some of the historic locations: in one pairing, residential and tourist housing photographed by Smith are revealed to occupy the site of a lethal 19th century landslide. ‘Using a historical photograph demonstrates a modern problem of urbanisation and unstable foundations,’ he says. Another pairing demonstrates the escalation in tourism and seasonal workers that put pressure on local resources.
A free online curriculum has been designed and developed for students aged nine to 15 – the aim being to engage and instil the responsibilities on water conservation. ‘It blew my mind, the idea that as a photographer, I’d be contributing to educational resources for tens of millions of schoolchildren and available for any school in India to use. It echoes our original aim to simplify, make engaging and publicly accessible an enormous academic project.’
Pani, Pahar presents the best of what photography can do, a technical tool in Smith’s skillset to demonstrate the consequences of environmental change – and one that this master craftsman has wielded to maximum effect.