bassculture islands
The Celebration
The festival of Phagwa is celebrated
throughout Trinidad and Tobago by
the Hindu community, a religion practiced by about 20% of the country’s
population. Its’ date is marked by the
full moon in March each year. Known
as the Festival of Colours, Phagwa, or
Holi, is popular for its vibrant and ubiquitous colours, which are created by participants throwing coloured dye known
as ‘abeer’ on friends and strangers alike.
Despite Phagwa being a Hindu festival,
as with any other religious celebration
in Trinidad and Tobago, the country’s
unique multi-cultural make up allows
for non-Hindus to take part as well.
This Series
When people think of ‘Phagwa’, they
think of faceless people in a sea of colours. Most photos just show the action
of throwing colour, but I wanted viewers to be able to feel connected to the
celebration not just through colours
but through the participant’s reaction
and feelings. The way I chose to show
this is by going at it in more of a portraiture style. I wanted the people behind
the colours to shine through.