'I have shot more than 100 photographs of Khajuraho. They are part of a photo-essay on the state. Khajuraho is India's cultural landmark,' Puri told IANS.

'Last October (2008), I ended up in Madhya Pradesh for 15 days. I made Orcha, Khajuraho, Shivpuri and Panna my base and made overnight trips to the smaller cities. Most of it was high definition photography shot with Canon US film camera, a Nikon D 200 camera, a Roliflex Medium Format and a Russian little plastic camera called Lomo,' Puri said.

The photographer, who was born in India, grew up around the world in cities like New York, Shanghai, Paris and Seoul. He describes his photographs as 'moments of truth through the eye of his lens'.

'Five years ago, I went to Africa for six months and followed a group of photo-journalists to all the crisis zones -- beginning with Dar-es-Salam. I got their stories and their shots. The fact that men on an average in Mozambique died before 37 changed my life. I started documenting reality,' Puri said.

Puri's photographs can be divided into two genres -- monuments and man. The section on monuments includes shots of Humayun's Tomb, one of Puri's favourite thinking pads, and the grimy by-lanes of Delhi, Africa, New York and Gujarat. The figurative section is a collage of ethnic Indian faces from the tribal areas, fashion models and African child soldiers with Kalashnikovs.

--Indo-Asian-News Service

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