Poverty Images

Poverty is everywhere and this page does not contain the beautiful images, ones that show what travel agents would like a tourist to see in a brochure as they are booking their flights, hotels, and becoming excited about their new adventures.

This page is dedicated to poverty and  highlights to a very small degree poverty or hardships which many can not even begin to either imagine or understand. We might see it, but mostly turn a blind eye or cry crocodile tears because of what we have witnessed. In the selection of the next series of images, I will focus on one country, and it is here, though the economic GDP (growth) of this country has been one of the highest in the world, the extremes of poverty is everywhere you will go.

Before I start with the images, I must comment on the country and its people as a whole. When I tell others about this country and attempt to describe it in some basic ways, I will always say it is a one of a kind place, full on in your face, noisy, congested, colorful, complete with aromas from spices to urine and the people are like those in other parts of the world, there are good and bad but for the most part they, like others have the same basic desires. To be able to feed themselves, clothe and educate their children, have a home, earn a living wage and most of all have peace in their lives. These six basic desires are the same among people through out the world and those living in this country, their desires and basics needs are the same.

It is a country with a vast cultural heritage thousands of years old and it is also a very complicated society with the combination of its many parts working as a whole. It covers a vast area of land with a wonderful mix of landscapes and it is one of those countries that I always suggest should be visited at least once if not more than that.

For me, this country holds a place in my heart and being and is one that I visit on a regular basis in the attempt to discover more and always leaving with a better working knowledge of this most complicated society with its vast cultural differences.

The following images will be presented in a context of understanding and explanation and hopefully will enlighten as well as taking the viewer into the lives of the people and their hardships. There are many places in the world where poverty and hardships exists; some can be even harsher than what you will see here but nothing on the scale like this country due mainly to the population.

Click on any image it will will open the Light Box photo viewer for a larger picture.

I will begin with happiness, children, smiles and joy. I came across this group of children on one of my very first visits as I was walking around the city observing and trying to understand this new environment I had so casually entered without having a clue as to what I was to actually experience. Even though these children are very poor, like children in other countries, they love to have their photo taken but will swarm upon you like locusts to see their image on the camera. Photo: Jaipur, India

However, some are not as fortunate as to live in the city and life in a rural area is extremely harsh. A lot of my photography in India is done from the open door of the many trains I will use because this provides an opportunity to witness life as it is played out in the most harsh environments, rural living, working the land. Photo: Train from Jaipur to Agra, India - About 1.5 hours north of Jaipur.

This image covers two subjects, one of poverty the other of water. In a lot of regions of India, the only access to water is by using the water wells which is pictured here. I thought this a most telling image of what I believe is an older child, naked, helping the younger child fetch water. I believe that the older child is also a girl but can not be sure. Photo: Train from Jaipur to Agra - About 2 hours north of Jaipur.

This image is just one example of poverty in the larger cities. Mothers and children sleeping on the street with their entire worldly possession and as you can see, the mother is preparing a meal of some unknown food I assume for herself and any child with her. Photo: Bus, Mumbai, India

Rural life in India is a very hard life indeed. The women go to the fields along with the men and when observing this you will see as many women working the soil, orchards, rice, wheat or other type of fields as there are men and in some cases, it is all women. Here we see a woman carrying a bundle of wood on her head presumably for fire wood, however, I can only assume this to be the case. Photo: Train somewhere between Anjuna, Goa and Jaipur - 3 hours north of Anjuna.

The living conditions for those who work the land is not always the best of environments and all to often as you travel the country this is what you will encounter. The shelters are very basic to say the least and in a lot of cases this could be considered extremely good depending on where you are located. Photo: Train somewhere between Anjuna, Goa and Jaipur - 2 hours north of Anjuna

This image is of a work camp where reinforcing bars come from some city factory to await use by the locals in the surrounding communities. This location is near a river which was dry due to the time of year which the photo was taken. Photo: Train between Anjuna, Goa and Jaipur - Early morning of the next day on a two day train trip.

In this image, which was taken at a different location from the above image, we see that the reinforcing bars are being handled by six young men. The unfortunate part of this image is I am not sure if they were straightening the already bent bars or doing the opposite, however, knowing about the transportation of such items, it is more likely they are in the process of straightening it. Most importantly, since there is some much raw manpower and in these remote regions, and little in the way of machines, this is how it is done. Photo: Train somewhere between Mysore and Guntakal, India

For the very poor in India, this image is not that unusual. For the most part, these individuals sift the rubbish for items which can be recycled, however, others might be looking for food to eat as well. Photo: Jaipur, India

The culture of rubbish in India is one that has no understanding to the outside viewer. It seems that regardless of what it might be, if it can be thrown on the ground then that is where it will go. This image is of course self explanatory, but to understand that this images is taken outside a major city demonstrates the fact that the poorest of the country live in horrible conditions. Photo: Train Jaipur to Agra, shortly after departure.

As you can see, this girl is standing in an area which is again full of discarded rubbish. This is her life on a daily basis in India. The look of her face tells the entire story, sadness. Photo: Train Jaipur to Agra, as the train is arriving on the outskirts of the city.

Forgive this image but it is to make a point. During the time prior to the Commonwealth Games which were held in New Delhi, the Indian government banned public urination. After this ban one high government official from the ministry of health made a statement in a written report that, in order to address the lack of toilet (latrine) facilities in India, the government would need to construct 20,000+ latrines per day. He did not comment on how many years this effort would take. Photo: Train, Agra to New Delhi, half way.

Here is a simple image of children playing in the rubbish heap. However, can you tell which is the sanitation engineer? It is the boy with the yellow shirt, maybe the one wearing the red shirt? Give up, the sanitation engineer in India or this image is the "Pig". Of course this rather large engineer servers basically two purposes, one is to eat the organic waste in the pile of rubbish and the other is to fatten up. Photo: Train, Agra to New Delhi, same location as the above image.

In certain parts of India, cooking fuels are very expensive and therefore the local population must be inventive and use traditional methods so they can make cooking fires. This method is a very simple one, take mostly buffalo dung, mix with straw and water, mash into a flat disk, press disk on a flat surface and allow the sun to dry. This is not seen in a lot of other regions but I have no doubt that it is used in other regions of India. Photo: Train Agra to New Delhi, not too far north of Agra.

Here we see how the buffalo dung patties are collected and stacked for storage after they have dried. This is but one example of different techniques that the locals will use for storage. Photo: Train Anjuna, India to Jaipur

This image shows a more elaborate method used for the storage of the buffalo dung. It is an elaborate structure and if you look closely you will notice that on the outside, there are artistic decorations drawn into the material the structure is made of, be it mud or clay, most likely clay since the clay can withstand the rains better after it has been sun baked. I have even seen these structures on the roof tops of buildings. Photo: Train Agra to New Delhi

I will end this somewhat depressing series of images with this last one. Even in the worst of circumstances, where poverty is so bad, the Indians still would like to enjoy the make believe that comes out of Bollywood's film industry but to do this they need a satellite dish. As we see in this image, the buildings are barely livable by certain standards but there are three satellite dishes on the roof tops. My question I asked as I took this image was, how do they get the electricity and do they really have a television. Photo: Mysore to Guntakal, India.

You are thinking to yourself, that was very depressing, why did you post these images. The very simple and short answer is that you will not normally see these type of photographs posted on the internet due to the fact that any and all tourist agencies or governmental tourism agencies do not wish to show certain parts of their society. They want the travelers and tourists to believe that India is an ideal country, without these problems. A recent United Nations study cited that a lot of countries have reduced the number of people living below their poverty limits. In the case of India, they played games with the numbers, in effect lowering this standard so it would have the appearance that there are fewer in India living in such conditions. Do not misunderstand my reasons for this series of images. It is to inform you but not to be judgmental. As stated earlier, the people of India are warm and hospitable and I am sure that if you were to find yourself at the door of one of these houses in a village where they had little to nothing, they would, because of their culture, give you the last food in their house.