CityState: Current
a decade ago for our Hindu wedding ceremony and from
that very first trip to Rajasthan, the color stories featured
in the book presented themselves with absolute clarity. I
certainly wasn’t looking for a project or traveling with a
“story” in mind, but the colors revealed themselves in this
way immediately. I would ask our friends: “Don’t you love
the way the same colors echo throughout every facet of
life here?” And they would remark that they had never
thought of it in that way. That’s when I knew I had hit on
an interesting and unique idea.
Q + A >>
Christine Chitnis and
her husband, Vijay,
while visiting India
with sons Vikram and
Vijay. Above are
photos from her book,
Patterns of India.
Christine Chitnis
In her beautiful new book, Patterns of India, the local writer
and shutterbug shares more than 200 photographs depicting
everyday life in India. By Aiden FitzGerald
Providence-based writer and photographer
Christine Chitnis celebrates extraordinary beauty
in ordinary moments in her new book, Patterns of
India, a vivid depiction of India’s northwestern
region of Rajasthan.
Your book is such a delight to behold — it has visual impact
while also being full of fascinating historical facts. How did you
come to make a book about India?
Although this is my fourth book, it is the book I first wanted to
write and I am incredibly proud of how it turned out. This book
project was a true labor of love that has taken me the better part
of a decade to complete. My travels through India, and my love for
the region, have been deeply influenced by my husband, Vijay’s,
familial connection to the country. We first traveled to India over
What type of research did you do to lend additional
meaning to your images?
I was very conscious of the fact that as a white woman
writing about India, it was imperative that the book be
rooted in research and that other voices be heard,
including experts in the field. I took copious notes when
traveling. I then verified those facts through academic
sources and additional research; some of my favorite books
are listed in the back of the book.
What appeals to you most about design in India?
That every color is imbued with meaning, and it is within
the details of patterns that the full story comes to light.
How did you decide to categorize the book by color?
My eye was naturally drawn to colors that are repeated
throughout India in the markets, architecture and clothing.
Sandstone, rose, marigold and royal blue were always very
clear color stories to me. But my amazing editorial and
design team helped me realize that ivory could also be its own
stand-alone color story, different from sandstone.
What are some of your favorite images in the book?
When I travel with Vijay, I have a unique experience of being able
to interact with locals in a way that I wouldn’t be able to otherwise;
he speaks Hindi and Bengali. Some of my favorite pictures
from the book are from moments that wouldn’t have happened if
I had been on a tour group or trying to navigate on my own. On a
drive in the countryside, we saw a family that was farming and
their kids were around our kids’ ages so we pulled over the car.
Vijay started speaking with them and it turned into an afternoon
of us eating lunch and our kids playing together. It was this incredibly
beautiful and unplanned experience and the pictures from
that day have an extra personal meaning. �
PHOTOGRAPHY REPRINTED WITH PERMISSION FROM PATTERNS OF INDIA, BY CHRISTINE CHITNIS,
COPYRIGHT 2020. PUBLISHED BY CLARKSON POTTER, A DIVISION OF PENGUIN RANDOM HOUSE.
20 RHODE ISLAND MONTHLY l MAY/JUNE 2020