My Impressions of India

In October of 1970, I received a call from Frank Wyle, CEO and founder of Wyle Laboratories in El Segundo, California. One of their subsidiaries, American Tool Company in Cincinnati, Ohio, was importing machine tools from Hindustan Machine Tool (HMT) in India. They needed photographs of their facilities for marketing. Two weeks later, I was on my way to India. In our spare time, Frank and I drove through the countryside; it was like stepping back into time. The photo opportunities were fantastic! At that time, there were only a few cars in the villages, mostly bullock carts and bicycles. Upon my return to Los Angeles, I decided to put together a collection of photographs called "Rural India." My next assignment in India, "India: The Sexy Subcontinent," was for Playboy. The photographs appeared in Oui magazine. Our locations were in the Konarak Area and the Maharajah of Jamnagar's palace. These photos are not in the book. I returned several more times in 1972 and 1973 to the villages to continue my "Rural India" project. When I returned in 1973, I contacted the Government of India Tourist Office and Pan American World Airways to sponsor me in a museum show, "Rural India." I got the sponsorship and was featured in an exhibit in 1974 at The Museum of Science and Industry in Los Angeles. The Government of India Tourist Office sent me to India many times in the '70s, '80s, '90s to photograph tourist locations. I have returned to India in 2009, 2010, 2012, 2018 on my own to continue my "My Impressions of India" project. Check out the locations on page 16 of the book. India and my many experiences there have had a big influence on my life. On my first trip, I was in a boat on the Ganga River at Varanasi. At sunrise, I looked over the edge of the boat and saw my reflection in the water. The person looking back at me was an Indian man. I knew at that time I had a past life in India. The experience gave me the chills. When I was in the villages, I saw the kids at play with each other, and their happy smiles had an effect on me. That led me to ask myself: Are we happier with all our possessions or are they happier without them?