Once Upon a Shitty Bridge

I don't consider myself a documentary photographer. I occasionally take pictures, that if were part of a much larger and more precise body of work, could be considered documentary in nature. But the reality is there's only one project that has been dear to me in the past decade and I only photograph that part of Kolkata real estate too infrequently.

After coming to India, I've done away with the outrage (for the most part) and the moralizing. As an American, I've learned to let go of all of this. Especially, since I'm keenly aware of American history. Who am I to condemn anything, especially anything that happens while I'm living abroad in my non-homeland, even if it's been over a decade? India has been my home.

But good goddamn...

Sometimes, I see some things that make my head spin. There's a bridge five minutes walk from home that I've nicknamed Shit Bridge. It's probably the shittiest bridge I've ever had the displeasure of crossing with any regularity. There's even a footpath that goes over it. Even that's pretty shitty because of the view and also because of the fact that there's a railing that locks you in snug with the side of the bridge and the Shit Creek below.

Then I saw the boy.

He was wading through the water and the muck, presumably barefoot (flip-flops would be sucked off anyone's feet in that stuff). And I've seen this activity many times before in disgusting waterways around the city, the act of foraging. He was picking through the muck looking for anything of value that could have floated its way down through the filth and toxic sludge. An aluminum can. A piece of wood. Copper wiring. A lost and deranged 10 rupee note, twirling around like a whirling Dervish wanting to forget about existence. Anything shiny has potential.

It's in times like these that my heart sinks. I know that at best, humanity is 51% evil and maybe 49% good on its best day ever in all of humanity's history. Maybe. The yin-yang seesaw is probably more skewed than I'll ever know.

Sometimes, you can submit yourself to the reality of the darkness and accept it. For everything else, we have our smartphones, distractions, and drugs of choice.