Me, Myself
Who I am
My name is Pinaki. I tell stories.
I photograph, write and design.
I am currently exploring some of the loneliest valleys of Switzerland, one of which has only one man left, frequently cut off from the world by avalanches.
Where I am
I live 1,500m up the alps, in a 300-year-old house in Visperterminen, home to Europe’s highest vineyards. The wine here is as clear as the mountain stream that flows from the glacier above, and forms a large proportion of our diet. This spot – with it’s subculture, my neighbors, the wine and cheese and sausages, the ancient architecture of the Walsers, the 4,000m-high peaks that surround it, the black-nosed sheep – is holy to me.
Where I’ve Been
I have wandered across countries for a long time. In a way I’m a stranger wherever I am, and, in a way, I can be home anywhere.
I’ve always felt closest to people who are the least like me, and to places that are the furthest away. The colder, the harsher, the more difficult, the better. Why is that? I don’t know.
I’ve done stories on France, Russia, the Netherlands, Portugal, Switzerland, Germany, Oman, Kuwait, Yemen, Bahrain, the UAE, Iran, India, Thailand and Malaysia.
I used to be the editor of an adventure magazine in Oman.
How I Work
Minimalism, and focus, is key. As Cartier-Bresson said, “C’est par une économie de moyens et surtout un oubli de soi-même que l’on arrive à la simplicité d’expression.” It is by an economy of means and above all a forgetfulness of oneself that one arrives at simplicity of expression.
To limit myself, I work with a very special camera (one that Bresson would know intimately). It can only take black and white photos, and can’t see color, only shades of light and dark. And it is extremely sensitive to the shadows, which is my natural environment. I have a sixty-year-old lens on it, which I have to focus manually, and which cannot be zoomed. You have to walk closer or further away to get more or less in the frame. I’m not interested in shooting everything. I’m only interested in what matters to me.
Photography and Writing
Most stories are written and photographed by different people. But writing and shooting aren’t watertight compartments. Neither should they be ends in themselves.
There are many photographers in the world, and many good writers. But not many who do both. When you mix the two, when one leads to the other and the lines get fuzzy, you can tell a story with a single vision that runs through both.
Contact
If you’ve got a story to tell, do get in touch with me. I’d love to be a part of your effort.
wwwpinakich at gmail.com / @pinaki / +41 79 155 33 38