Graciela Magnoni: Watan

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ONE PHOTO – ONE STORY

16.12.2021

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“This encounter happened at the very beginning of my Watan project. When I arrived at Blossom’s house, she offered me tea; she is a wonderful person. Suddenly she told me about her rooster. His name was Sikander, which means “king” in Punjabi, and he was her pet. She was holding him like a baby. I instantly grabbed my camera that was lying on the table. I had no time for adjustments; the light in the house was rather dark. But I was lucky it was in focus.

Blossom was very happy about the picture. All the neighbors said that by taking this picture, I have made the rooster immortal. I was so happy she liked the image. And it was a good picture to me, too. It was a sign that I was on the right track, to immerse myself into the Punjab and pursue this project. It gave me hope that this Punjabi project would be a good project.

You have to have pleasure and joy in pursuing a project. In Punjab, in addition to the connection through my husband, I really wanted to pursue the project and I enjoyed my work there from A to Z.

In the meantime, Sikander, the rooster, has died. He will live forever in my Watan series.”

Image and text: © Graciela Magnoni
Equipment: Leica M10 with Summicron-M 35 f/2 Asph

Learn more about the series in LFI Magazine 01/2022.