Hands of South East Asia

© Shravya Kag

Growing up in Vijayawada, India, I experienced storytelling through ‘mudras’ i.e. hand gestures in dance forms and yogic practices. The stories told by the wrinkles on my great-grandmother’s hands as she drinks a cup of chai. The tales of protection and ancestry told by my grandfather’s ring on my mother’s fingers. I am continuously drawn to photographing people’s hands to tell tales of interaction and expression - both with their own histories and their world.

I set out to photograph hands through my travels in Thailand and Vietnam, hoping to create a sense of the place removed from its landscape, solely experienced through the dance of hands. While daily life ambles along slowly here, there are rapid movements of the hands to make a meal, make a living, rest, take a break, have a conversation, and to create art. I hope the stillness of my photographs captures both the fleeting bustle of the city and the familiar stories of routine we all have in our daily lives.

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