I am particularly struck by the relationship between knowledge and embodiment that emerges from the image and captioning. The ethnographic framing is really evocative, showing that popular narratives around chemical industrialization (such as fishermen framed solely as victims or that toxicity can be avoided or undone) are simply irrelevant.
Not enrichment, just actual questions: does all fishing take place at night? Thinking of other rivers in India and the ways their images are mobilized as spectacles of toxicity and death, what does the river look like during the day? How does Velu’s understanding of Chennai as a different place affect his understanding of marine life?
The darkness in this image is very effective. We, the viewers, cannot fully know what is going on without help from Velu and Surya (and Rishabh). Even though he is standing, Velu’s form almost disappears into the water, underlining both the porosity of the body and his intimate encounters with toxified landscapes.