siddharth behl /India
The Silent Disaster: Changpas of Changthang
The high altitude plains of Eastern Ladakh are home to nomadic tribe called the Changpas. For generations, their intricate multi-dimensional pastoral system has centred around their livestock. At an unsympathetic altitude of nearly 15,000ft., the Changpas have lived a life for generations, survived in harmony against unpredictable wild winds and heavy snow that hovers upon their livelihood. But a larger threat of unprecedented extreme cold and punitive conditions is engulfing the community and their livestock in most winter seasons. In a catastrophic event in 2013, extreme snowfall and plummeting temperatures had completely cut off all the access to normal winter pastures and around 20,000 livestock perished due to starvation; with 90% of the young stillborn or dying. Feeling weak against the odds of lurking climate change threat and deep attachment towards their cultural spirit thereafter, it was distressing to know that Changpas continue to reckon this climatic drift, feeling vulnerable to the re-occurrence of such an event. Most Changpas also fear gradual declination of their tribe as their children move ahead to prefer an advanced lifestyle. Facing this brunt of harsh climate drift in time, ‘The Silent Disaster’ evolves as my extremely subjective visual journey that is born from my dystopian fear of a world slowly losing valuable resources and rewinding into stone age. Nearing the end of first decade of the catastrophic event, understanding Changpa life and its traditional pastoral system was necessary, since it accounts for nearly 80% of wool in J&K region. Post 2013 loss, engaging with their micro level practices like breeding of sheep, extraction- collection- forecasting quality wool and documenting cultural practices has been my immediate approach to the story. With their disciplined intricate systems, I continue to elaborate my project around the powerful Changpa women who remain at forefront bearing hardships and maintaining ecological-economic balance. Following the stories of ‘legends’, who have witnessed climate drift over decades and covering the lives of Changpa children at Nomadic School, I continue to reinforce my idea of restoring their identities. Confronted by effects of climate crisis, I would hope for this work to be a portal for viewers across the world and become more cognisant of Changpa tribes who continue to secure our ecosystem by maintaining a cultural practice amidst environmental risks.
Curator Statement
Siddharth Behl’s evocative visual essay “ The Silent disater ” revolves around the changing world of the nomadic tribe of Changpa, which is in the present time struggling to survive and preserve their organic lives and environment.The precipitious changing climate in the recent years has caused the Changpa community unforeseen hardships in their quotidian world due to excessive cold. The development and modernisation of the human world has not spared most nomadic lives, creating a dilemma and acute hardships among the older and the upcoming generation. The present circumstances have forced the self reliant and uncomplicated lives reanalyse their basic survival creating a contradiction between the older and younger generations to readapt and succumb to the global modernization. Yet due to lack of basic amenities and education, both are kept hanging between the present and an uncertain future. Siddharth through his stupendous and thoughtful visual storytelling interrogates this unending conflict and uncertainity of the Changpa’s human and traditional future.
Sandeep Biswas
Curator
Is an Indian documentary photographer based out of New Delhi. Belonging to a family whose roots have been from Pakistan (before India- Pakistan partition in 1947), Siddharth was raised in a family that had stories and memories to be told about land, culture and relationships. He grew up with a sensitivity towards nature and people, and being more curious about conveying his ideas to the world, he approached the medium of photography to express his thoughts visually and artistically. Siddharth's works are predominantly based on social documentary, climate change, portraits and historical findings where he likes to spend most of his time on long term personal projects, characterised by both black and white and colour suitable mediums. Working on different personal projects concurrently, Siddharth’s documentary works divulges into fluid and cohesive stories. After completing his bachelors in journalism and mass communication and pursuing post-graduation in Photography and Visual Communication from Jamia University, Siddharth went ahead interning under Magnum photo agency photographer Raghu Rai for three months where he discovered a whole new world of photography and learnt the creative workflow. Shortly after, he got his first freelance assignment with Archaeological Survey of India where he documented majority ancient heritage structures and historical monuments vastly spread across Delhi. Working as a full time photographer, graphic designer and digital content creator with humanitarian agency SEEDS, in the span of eight years (2013-21) Siddharth extensively photo documented multiple climate change events and disasters across sensitive zones. He immensely covered diverse landscapes, people, cultures, biodiversity and valued resources in people's homelands, photographing the risks posed by climate change that exacerbated the religious and cultural identities of communities. Some of the major clients Siddharth has worked with in the recent past are UNDP, UNDRR, UNICEF, Honeywell, Christian Aid, CASA, Mercy Malaysia, European Commission, Save the Children, Sphere, Plan, Oak Foundation, GNDR, BATA, United Way and many more. Siddharth has been a recipient of the prestigious National Foundation for India- Media Fellowship 2016- 2017 for producing an extensive body of work on street children ‘Being LOST’. Supervised and guided by his mentors Prashant Panjiar and Raghu Rai, Siddharth managed to pull off his very first solo exhibition at India Habitat Centre, New Delhi with this project. In 2016 and 2018 Siddharth was awarded and selected twice for Neel Dongre Awards for Excellence in Photography. He successfully produced an artistic work on construction and demolition factory and Afghan Refugees in Delhi, following installation art exhibition at India International Centre under the guidance of photographer and famous Indian archivist Aditya Arya. In 2018, he received Foundry Photojournalism Workshop Scholarship to attend a week long workshop and portfolio review programme with VII photo agency photographer and co-founder Ron Haviv. While his work was selected and exhibited for Indian Photo Festival in Hyderabad in 2019, he was also selected to attend a workshop with NatGeo photo editor Alexa Keefe in the festival. Siddharth’s. works on disasters like Nepal Earthquake were commissioned and exhibited by MNC donors PwC, Macquarie and Mahindra Comviva. Besides his grants and awards Siddharth’s work made throught he following list of exhibitions: Angkor Photo Festival, Siem Reap, Cambodia (2020), Speaker and exhibitor at Virtual Photo Summit- supported by UNESCO and GiveIndia (2020), Screened work in public spaces in ,Naples Italy- mentored and curated by photographer and curator Mario Spada (2020), GATHER ART Gallery in Kaohsiung City, Taiwan (2020), Indian Photo Festival (2019), Maribor Photo Festival, Slovenia (2019), commissioned exhibition at UNICEF Head Office in Delhi (2018), exhibited series of images at Street Photo San Francisco (2017), 1000 Lights of Hope- Nepal Earthquake Image exhibition commissioned by- PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), Macquarie, Mahindra Comviva, exhibited work for Mental Health awareness campaign by Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI) at India International Centre, Delhi. Siddharth’s photographic works and stories have been published in Better Photography magazine, Build Construction Magazine, The Hindu, Hindustan Times, Hindustan Times-GroundGlass, Fountain Ink magazine, Indian Quarterly Magazine, Creative Image Magazine, Fairgaze, Catch News, Designboom, Axis Four, UNDRR Special report, UNICEF reports, INHABITAT.