Rembrandt Girl, India 1989
Rembrandt Girl, India 1989
While in Rajasthan, I walked into a school in a small village in Naguar, Rajasthan. Ever curious I opened a door and saw this one girl sitting alone on the floor. I immediately got on my knees as I wanted to get the right angle for the framing of this picture and some boys were sitting off to her right. Exquisitely dressed, she might have been getting married off that day as it was and is in the Muslim culture amongst poor families to arrange marriages as young as 9 years old. When I used to tell this story in the early 2000’s people thought I as crazy. When I returned to Holland and had it framed, people remarked that this photograph resembled a Rembrandt painting. Coming from Ireland we were never educated in the arts and for sure hade no idea about the great Dutch artists. When I finally went to the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, I too could see the similarities and I was chuffed with myself. Rembrandt Girl is one of my most commented on portraits and was the beginning of a life long passion to photograph unique people on my way in life almost 35 years ago.
While in Rajasthan, I walked into a school in a small village in Naguar, Rajasthan. Ever curious I opened a door and saw this one girl sitting alone on the floor. I immediately got on my knees as I wanted to get the right angle for the framing of this picture and some boys were sitting off to her right. Exquisitely dressed, she might have been getting married off that day as it was and is in the Muslim culture amongst poor families to arrange marriages as young as 9 years old. When I used to tell this story in the early 2000’s people thought I as crazy. When I returned to Holland and had it framed, people remarked that this photograph resembled a Rembrandt painting. Coming from Ireland we were never educated in the arts and for sure hade no idea about the great Dutch artists. When I finally went to the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, I too could see the similarities and I was chuffed with myself. Rembrandt Girl is one of my most commented on portraits and was the beginning of a life long passion to photograph unique people on my way in life almost 35 years ago.
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Also in: The Story behind the Photograph
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