This is a fairly slim book. It has only about 15 odd pages of text, and 60 photographs. Yet, it contains a lot to think about and see. In any case, if it is true that a picture is worth a thousand words, then this intriguing little volume contains more than 60,000 words worth of matter.
The book essentially comprises full page photographs of people, individually and in groups. They are preceded by a thoughtful essay by Christopher Pinney, which begins with the story of some thousand medium format negatives, saved from the onslaught of a monsoon storm, and how some of them became this book. The subjects of the photographs, with a directness that is compelling, look the viewer straight in the eye, rarely shying away or looking coy. Even when they are evidently posed or theatrically posturing, they still seem natural. They are a riveting, occasionally haunting, collection of faces, attires and attitudes.