"The unique features and characteristics of the Parsis fascinate us both,” said photographer and image consultant Kurush Umrigar, speaking for himself and his business partner Charvi Thakkar. The duo had a stall in the flea market area appended to the main halls where Iranshah Udvada Utsav 2019 was held (see "The blessings of Iranshah,” Parsiana, January 7-20, 2020) and were hoping to photograph octogenarian participants. Free portraits were offered for those over 90 years of age. "We noticed that (Parsi) features are accentuated with age, especially of subjects in their late 80s and 90s,” Umrigar said. Explaining their motivation, he said that they intend "to create an archive of the community based on genetic evolution rather than religious beliefs.” The duo are "photographing and interviewing all interesting subjects without delving into their religious views… We are lucky to be living in an age where technology allows us to capture and preserve faces (and) stories like these,” noted Umrigar.
Umrigar and Thakkar are aiming at a 150-page coffee table book on approximately 60 Parsi profiles to be published in 2022. The rich life experiences and anecdotes of the seniors would "make for interesting insights… so we decided to include them alongside the portraits.” The publication "will serve as an archive of this soon to be lost generation,” Umrigar wrote in an email to us. "We wanted to steer clear of the typical stereotypes of how the community has already been photographed… we chose formal black and white portraits so as to avoid distractions and only focus on the facial features,” he stated.
Above l : Photographs of the elderly by Kurush Umrigar (top r) and Charvi Thakkar: "creating an archive"
"This is not a project where we want people to take pity on the subjects just because they are elderly. We are attempting to highlight that despite their advanced age they are… to an extent, independent and show a wonderful zest for life,” the photographer said. As of January 7, the duo has photographed about 30 community members for their project but "only around 10 to 12 currently make the cut.”
The photographers said that their careers have taken a backseat as they focus on the project. "Since we are reliant on word of mouth to find interesting subjects and we are also currently self-funded, it is a slower process than we would like.” Though they did not find many subjects to photograph at the Utsav, "we made plenty of contacts,” Umrigar said.
He can be contacted on 9920099519 and Thakkar on 9821012176.