Mapping The Salt

• Photographer
  Payal Kakkar
• Technical Info
  DJI Mavic 2 Pro. Altitude : approx 60 meters from ground
• Photo Date
  February 2023
• Website
  https://www.payalkakkar.in/

Shot using a drone, the aerial photographs of salt pans of Kutch and Sambhar Salt Lake are reminiscent of the abstract expressionist paintings of Mark Rothko, Barnett Newman and Helen Frankenthaler. At the same time, they depict a historical industry vulnerable to the effect of climate change. In 2020, India marked 90 years of Mahatma Gandhi's Dandi Salt March and its important role in anti-colonial struggle. Despite its humility and simplicity, salt became a powerful symbol of resistance and self-sufficiency. This historical significance is channeled into my photographs of salt-making.

• Biography
  Payal Kakkar is a self-taught artist using the camera as an activist tool that blurs the lines between documentary and art photography. She lives in Delhi and since 2014 has lived part of the year in Goa.The 2018 Kerala floods pushed her to study the human impact on ecosystems. Since then, she has used her photographic practice to have a more immediate impact on conservation efforts, often working alongside environmental and community activists. Her works focus on landscapes impacted by human activity, exploring the impact of extraction and over-consumption on the communities who live there.
• Awards
  In November 2024, her film, 'Requiem of a Mangrove Forest' was screened as a 'Special Presentation' at International Film Festival of India 2024, Goa. Her work is recognized by the Prix de la Photographie de Paris 2023, State of the World 2023, International Foto Awards 2023, Budapest International Foto Awards 22, Chennai Photo Biennale and Indian Photo Festival 2022.