Freighter, Kochi

One of the charming - if slightly alarming - things about Indian people in India is their

almost casual disregard for human safety. Where we in the west now have endless,

and often stupid, health and safety rules for every facet of life, you only have to

take one look at the interior of an Ernakulam to Kochi cross-harbour ferry, with its

exposed engine and oil-soaked wooden decking, and you wouldn't go anywhere near

it. But they don't sink very often, and by refusing to go on it you'd miss out on a

glorious ride across the busy harbour in the company of the workers of the city, the

herons that land on floating mats of water lilies, and the odd shark fin slicing through

the water.

Coming back to the mainland late one night I grabbed this shot of the dockside

freighters ar Mattancherry Wharf as the ferry slid quietly past. The gentle rocking of

the boat and the long hand-held exposure have created, I think, a vibrant image of

a port at night - one that I quite like even though nothing in it is actually in focus.

One of the charming - if slightly alarming - things about Indian people in India is their almost

casual disregard for human safety. Where we in the west now have endless, and often stupid,

health and safety rules for every facet of life, you only have to take one look at the interior of

an Ernakulam to Kochi cross-harbour ferry, with its exposed engine and oil-soaked wooden

decking, and you wouldn't go anywhere near it. But they don't sink very often, and by refusing

to go on it you'd miss out on a glorious ride across the busy harbour in the company of the

workers of the city, the herons that land on floating mats of water lilies, and the odd shark fin

slicing through the water.

Coming back to the mainland late one night I grabbed this shot of the dockside freighters ar

Mattancherry Wharf as the ferry slid quietly past. The gentle rocking of the boat and the long

hand-held exposure have created, I think, a vibrant image of a port at night - one that I quite

like even though nothing in it is actually in focus.