EYES OF KUTCH

Shot over 20 years ago, Rohit Chawla’s ‘Wanderlust’, now on view in Delhi, captures the fading traditions and striking style of the Rabari community in Kutch through muted, almost monochrome portraits that highlight simplicity, fierceness, and the influence of nomadic fashion

- ADITHI REENA AJITH

IN 2005, photographer Rohit Chawla was travelling through the Kutch region of Gujarat—a trip that gave birth to one of Chawla’s photographic series, one which he calls his “strongest fashion images”.

The project, titled ‘Wanderlust’, now on view at Delhi’s Bikaner House, brings a series of striking portraits in muted colours featuring the Rabari community of Kutch, a nomadic pastoral community from northwestern India whose traditions, attire, and way of life are slowly disappearing.

Chawla’s fascination with the community began over 30 years ago when he was there first with Japanese designer Issey Miyake, drawn to their flamboyant lifestyle. “I loved their sense of natural fashion and style, which has inspired countless designers across the world,” he says.

Chawla loves to travel; he describes it as his “whole PhD in education”—something that has guided his creative instincts and sensibility as a lensman, drawing from the design minimalism of the Nordic north. “Travelling is also my biggest source of inspiration. I’ve learned more from the Harvey Nichols shop windows and displays in London than from most contemporary art and design biennales. True art manifests itself in unexpected places, not just in formal museum spaces,” says Chawla.

The Rabari way of life