Gilbert-bab, I am all for promoting my photographs of Goa but not for the reasons you cite. The Goa of today is a filthy cesspool. To make these photographs I have to abstract in my mind's eye a tiny slice of Goan reality. What you don't see in the photographs is as important as what you see. You don't, for instance, get to see that I have to stand in a soup of wet garbage, trash, and muck all of which are ubiquitous in Goa now. You don't get to see how carefully I have to compose to eliminate the ugly concrete that juts out from just about everywhere. You don't get to see the depressing sights I have to drive by to get to my photo locales.
For the past 13 years, I have photographed Goa extensively and I now have a vast archive for a "Before and After" exhibit. When I started my work in 2006, Goa was already on the way down but there was still enough material to work with. The decline in the last 5-6 years has been especially precipitous. I have to now struggle to find snippets of beauty in the Goan landscape. This December I hardly stepped out with my lens because it is all so depressing to see how far we have fallen. Why do you want to hide Goa's reality from the rest of the world? Reality is always robust, comfortable lies aren't. How will things even begin to reverse course if we convince ourselves and everyone else that "all is fine"? You want to see the reality of Goa? See this - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idOEeh0GUzA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lwWoXczbQc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbBpykDD_-U This is a small tranche of Goan reality for you. Why would you want to invite decent Westerners to this hell? Calangute, once the Queen of Goa's Beaches, now converted into a slum by Indians thanks to the apathy and corruption of Goans. You see this scenario virtually in every coastal village. Why do you wish to hide this? As I like to say - thank you, India, for NOTHING! Best, r Gilbert Lawrence wrote: >GL responds: >Every Goan should promote Goa with the forward of Rajan's post; as well >as the attached: >Photo Blog by Rajan Parrikar has posted a new item, 'A New Morning, A New Year, >A New Decade' 2020 is here. >I was out early this morning in Goa. >https://blog.parrikar.com/2020/01/01/a-new-morning-a-new-year-a-new-decade/