Retrospection will come from stillness. And stills, offering a chance to look into the world standing two feet away from it, come with insight. That’s what Bengaluru-based Asha Thadani’s photo exhibition titled India and Her Animals offers. A series of 45 photographs, curated from 100 that were shot over more than a decade, speaks of our relationship with animals across many forms and fields. The works share insight into our cultural and social development that took shape through this engagement. From the historic cave paintings of animals at Madhya Pradesh’s Bhimbetka rock shelters to the hunting Angami community in Khonoma village in Nagaland, the photographs cover sport, religion, food, astrology, customs and more. “It highlights the influence of animals in the way we think, believe, nurture and exploit,” Thadani shares.

Hunter from the Angami Tribe, Khonoma village, Nagaland