Sebastian Studier: I met a young boy at the baseball field while recording a video for our story on Jyoti Sain. He was extremely interested in the game of baseball but even more interested in my video camera. By the end of our trip, the boy knew a few different baseball pitching grips and even helped take a few videos of the players. I still remember his pure excitement and happiness each time he saw us coming to the field.
Sebastian Studier: This is the hand of Balwan Kashyap, a working class farmer who farms with his wife Birmati in Haryana, India. We spent weeks with the couple, getting to know them and writing a story that allowed them to share their voices. The couple welcomed us into their home, served us chai each day and always kept us warm with fire on the colder days.
Merrina O'Malley: In Haryana, foreign brides have become commonplace for men who cannot afford brides from their own state. Geeta, a woman originally from the state of Assam, got married at 20 and has lived in Haryana for 14 years.
Merrina O'Malley: At a funeral in Haryana, women gather around the granddaughter and daughter-in-law of Phooli Devi who died at 90 years. During traditional funerals, women gather to clean and dress the body, sing, and seek solace in community.
Maya Phillips: Sonia smiles and gives a thumbs up at the Titram Games, just after helping her competitors to settle pots on their heads. She then destroyed them, winning race after race. Sonia is gentle and encouraging, and she’s strong and independent–I wouldn’t guess it just by looking at her, but I think she’s capable of anything. When I raced, she and her children cheered me on. Then, she wiped the floor with me in tug of war. I want to be her when I grow up.
Maya Phillips: Geeta stands in the doorway of her house, following us out to say goodbye. I didn’t give her any warning before this, our third interview. I just hoped she would be ready to open up. We sat around for a while drinking chai, then I asked her what was difficult about leaving her home state of Bengal and coming to Haryana where she had to learn a new language and culture. She glanced at her sons, stood up, and gestured for me to follow her into her bedroom where they wouldn’t hear. She cried while telling me about what life was like when she first came here to live with her in-laws. Geeta made this trip feel real and personal to me, and still, months after coming home, I often find myself thinking about her and telling her story to others.
Abbi Bates: Balwan took me in as a daughter. He embraced me and kissed on the forehead as I imagine Jesus did to the prodigal son. Both of his daughters died by suicide and he always told me I should move to India to work on their farm as their adopted daughter. I felt so loved by him as a father in just a short time.
Abbi Bates: This piece of architecture was located at the Agra entrance of Agra Fort. We visited here after visiting the Taj Mahal. I admire the detail and coloring of brick on this building. It reminds me of the beauty in the mundane – every opportunity has potential to be something beautiful.
Madi Kremer: After spending the night at our source’s home and documenting his morning milk route, his wife made us breakfast in the cozy kitchen. Squatting on the floor we shared moments of laughter as she continued to pile ghee and chilis onto our roti. “Thank you, thank you” they said in mockery of our obsessive need to seem polite. In their eyes, welcoming us into their home and family was nothing they needed to be thanked for.
Madie Kremer: The buffalo of Haryana are an essential part of the culture and lifestyle, providing delicious milk and giving a way of life. Coming from a farm gave me a special connection with our source Krishan and his family and allowed us to compare aspects of farming, raising livestock, and the way our cultures view agriculture. The buffalo provided me with a sense of being at home, making our lives feel more similar and the world a little smaller.
Emma Lovell: We started interviewing Sajna and then her neighbors continued to join us. I love how close knit the community is. Everyone is welcome. Sajna reminisced with her neighbors in the courtyard of her home in Titram. In recent years, Sajna has been very involved in the farmers' protests, providing buttermilk for the protesters in Titram. “I will never leave my farmers,” Sajna said.
Emma Lovell: On our first day in Titram, we were greeted by a whole village of multicolored shawls and awaiting faces eagerly anticipating our arrival. The Titram community gave us a warm welcome as they sang and danced to traditional folk music of Haryana. Against the backdrop of the hazy, gray skies, the vibrant, patterned textiles created a contrast that brought India to life.
Luca Lombardi: A man walks through a mob of people on a crowded street in New Delhi, India. The man had to avoid an oncoming rickshaw which is a common form of transportation in India.
Luca Lombardi: Tourists stand under one of the many arches at the Agra Fort in Agra, India. The fort is known for its architectural features such as the arches.
Talia McWright: The Titram Games in Haryana India is a communal event for women. The day is about them. It shines light on their strength, their confidence and most importantly, play. It’s a moment for adult women to become children again, run across a field in potato-like sacks, tug at a rope and watch their friends fall to the ground, and laugh, yell and laugh again. The woman in this photo was attentive during the tug of war event. Her cheering was the loudest of them all. This was a moment of pure joy.
Talia McWright: Our team (Team Ash) spent a lot of time in the Dheeraj Collection fabric shop. How could we not, with all those gorgeous layered, colorful textiles? One of our partners, Hersh, said it was his mom Gurpreet’s favorite place. When we entered, Hersh and our teams were immediately met with excitement and hospitality. The store owners and employees hadn’t seen Hersh in a long time, so chai and cookies were a must. The woman in the photo is folding fabric, as she sells it to other interested women; some who need something to wear to a wedding, some that want a new veil and some that just couldn’t help themselves when they saw the glitter and patterns from the glass windows.
Alyssa Malyon: Jassi jokes with friends on a farmers’ union election morning in Harsola. Jassi spent much of his morning talking to men before they voted, putting in a final good word for his uncle, Hukmi Dhull, who ran and won. “The best moments for me have been when my friends stand by me,” Jassi said.
Alyssa Malyon: Haryana farmer Kuldeep looks over the field that he saved using Ishwar’s products Jan. 12. Like many farmers, Kuldeep was distrustful of organic products until he tried Ishwar’s and saw its effectiveness.
Anna Kapsner: A girl looks back through the carved patterns in the stone wall at Humayun’s Tomb in Delhi Jan 1.
Anna Kapsner: A dancer at the Titram Cultural Festival watches her friends perform from the sidelines Jan 5.
Soraya Keiser: On our last night in Haryana, we had the privilege of getting dressed up in traditional Haryanvi dance clothing. Despite the language barrier, I was able to connect with the girls helping me change. They were so excited to let me wear this necklace, they were giggling and smiling the whole time.
Soraya Keiser: While their parents mold and bake bricks in the warm January sun, children run through the brick factory, making the stacks their playground. Many families live in the factory, having migrated from other regions of India to find work.
Taylor Hanson: Jyoti Sain stands on the pitching mound with the town of Peoda outlined in the distance. Jyoti organized baseball practice for the young girls that she coaches in the afternoons. The girls show up after school and make their own baseball field so that they can practice the sport that they are growing to love. These were my favorite afternoons. When we could all be together, bonding over a game that I love. Even though we didn’t speak the same language, we laughed together as we played baseball and cheered each other on. It’s one of my favorite memories from the trip, and I’ll cherish those afternoons for the rest of my life.
Taylor Hanson: Every afternoon, my team would get the opportunity to go watch the young women’s baseball team of Peoda practice together. So many young children from Peoda came to these practices to watch and be with us. We laughed as we cheered each other on and played baseball together. They are some of my favorite people in the world and I miss them dearly.
Sarah Bakeman: The women of Textura gather with the women of Titram during the mourning period following a funeral. It was Texturans’ last morning in Haryana after a month of reporting, and this captured moment is one of the most bittersweet of my life. There was a sense of accomplishment – we’d put together a publication and made meaningful, life-changing connections with sources. But as we gathered and danced with these Titram women, I wept. I knew I might never return to India, I might never see these faces again and I would never physically return to this very moment. But as tears continued to fall, one of the women grabbed my arms and repeated “No, no, no,” a loving reprimand to stop my sorrow. “This is life,” she said, lifting her hands towards the sky.
Sarah Bakeman: Madi and Hersh sit together on the kitchen floor alongside Suhani, our source’s niece. We’d slept over at the house of our source Krishan, a local milkman, so we could get up to observe him doing his early morning chores. When we woke up, his wife Suman made us roti with ghee and some chai and lassi to drink. Suman had me roll the roti – a job I wasn’t good at. Nevertheless, it was one of the best breakfasts I’ve ever had.
Devanie Andre
Devanie Andre
Cyrus Ruch
Cyrus Ruch
Anna Pearson: My team spent a lot of time in Kailram interviewing farmers like Kuldeep about their land, and took a ton of photos in the soft lighting that illuminated the tall grasses and mustard fields. I wandered all around the farm, enjoying some time alone and taking wide shots from the roof of the house or far off in the fields. Running along the dirt paths in between the crops was goofy, but I felt so much peace on the farm that day.
Anna Pearson: On the streets of Delhi, I kept my little old digital camera in my fanny pack at all times, waiting for an opportunity to snap photos of another street chai or sweet moment to savor in early 2000s photo quality. This photo is one of those digital camera snapshots from our time meandering around Delhi one day, the day we met Rafi, and our very first street chai – a day to remember.
Emma Carmichael: During my time in Haryana, I had the pleasure of meeting one of our India volunteers Amit Kumar. He has two very special kids that would spend days in and out at the local Canteen with me and my team. Over the two weeks I got to build a very remarkable bond with Kumars daughter and she taught me one of her favorite Indian dances.
Emma Carmichael: This is 14 year old Radhika. Jyoti Sain found a passion for Baseball and Cricket and wanted to help her local community. She started gathering her neighbors and nearby town mates to start their very own baseball team that contained young boys and girls. Radhika always had a huge smile every game being their catcher with nothing but joy.
Angela Gonzalez: Komal laughs in front of one of the homes made for families dealing with leprosy in Kaithal. I got to spend my last three days in Haryana in the leprosy colony and getting to know Komal. Komal does not have the disease, but continues to live there to help her parents who do. At first Komal was very shy and had a hard time giving real answers to our questions, but after some time with Ash, she was telling her story and was able to laugh with us.
Angela Gonzalez: Narender and Dhanno laugh together outside their home where four generations of their family live together. My team and I were able to hear the stories of three women from three different generations of one family. It was amazing to hear how much has changed over time for each of these women. Dhanno recalled being married young, not being able to go to school and how important it was for her to have children. Meanwhile her grandson’s wife, Renu, wasn't married as young, has a husband who wants her to get an education and she wants to spend a bit of her life with just her husband before having a child.
Mild Du: Rahul (right) and Sakshi (left) are headed to the Canteen (left building) after working in the gardens. The Canteen was a frequent place we would go for lunch or to just hang out with each other and the community.
Mild Du: Sarah (right) has Suhani, our source's niece, on her shoulders as I help balance her to make sure she does not fall. We are at the Titram Games, an event put on by the community where only women compete in the events. Suhani’s cousin brought her and she came and hung out with us during the games watching us compete as well as competing herself in the Lemon race, where she took 2nd place.