Taala Nagri
I'm a travel & lifestyle photojournalist, who loves any place with exotic stories. My journey began with a week's research, from the swift streets of London to the loud ones of India. This project has brought me back home. With a pouch of dark roast & a bag of thin outfits, I made my way to the land of my birth, Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh. Having spent most of my life down south of India, I never really had the privilege to bond with my grandparents, besides drooling over the “Dal Chawal” grandma made.
After a conversation with my mother, I realized I've been sitting on a ticket to a fortunate adventure, and so it began, the art of lock-making. My hometown was a hub of exquisite hand-made brass locks, that were circulated all around the country back in the 90s. There was such an extortionate demand that consumers paid higher for custom made ones, adding to their idiosyncratic personalities. But after machines took over, consumers started to appreciate the function of the lock rather than its value as a piece of art. Soon modern machines started to spit out more iron locks than hands that produced brass locks. Today, it's rather anachronistic, reduced to a decorative piece bought by connoisseurs or antique shops.
This project is dedicated to those artists who still believe in their tradition and thrive to create inimitable designs of security.
