Maha Kumbh Mela, 2013

• Photographer
  Max Riché is an adventure and travel portrait photographer, splitting his time between Paris and Montréal. An adventurer at heart, he has a passion for shooting exploration, body and motion. Hailing from a science and business background he decided to devote himself to photography in 2009. In order to convey his vision he has developed a unique style and a mastery of light that has significantly influenced his award-winning work. Published in over 30 magazines throughout Europe, he was the first photographer to be commissioned by Red Bull for the launch of Red Bull Photography in 2014. Max's editorial and advertising work includes Rodale, Red Bull, French Olympic Committees, TV channels and non-profit research institutes. Recognised with several international awards, Max is comfortable on large productions in studio as well as in hard-to-reach locations: his personal projects have taken him from the Indonesian jungle to bathing amongst 100 million pilgrims in India, as well as to developing unique processes for ultra-high-resolution cinemagraphs. He is the founder of the NGO and climate change advocacy project Climate Heroes. Max is represented worldwide by Wonderful Machine for his commercial work and by Galerie Rivière et Faiveley in Paris for his fine art work., France

The Maha Kumbh Mela took place in Allahabad, India in February 2013. The most important
pilgrimage in the Indian society, it gathered 100 million pilgrims, which made it the
largest population migration of the last 12 years, and the largest pilgrimage to date in
history.

I approached this unique event by going against the usual news imagery seen in the media :
getting away from the frenzy of the rituals, in order to focus on the fundamentals of the
Indian society, in constant evolution and renewal as it enters the 21st century. To this
end, I approached this Kumbh Mela as the epiphenomenon of a society eager to demonstrate
an important devotion in order to satisfy to its religious customs, but currently in a
much more modern and progressive stance : whilst still being very attached to their
customs and religious practises, Indian citizens are increasingly parting from their caste
heritage and customs.

I therefore chose to depict the variety of the pilgrims solely by making quiet portrait
studies of them, identifying the sitters by their name, age, profession and city of
origin, thus gathering a collection of over 60 portraits spanning from layers to
government officials, to sadhus and traveling merchants, of various ages and sexes. Some
of them had crossed large distances by foot over the course of several months in order to
attend the event.