Indian artist Atul Bhalla in 2005 took a series of 14 digital pigment photographs depicting the artist's gradual descent into the Yamuna River and formed a poignant montage on the spirituality and environmental degradation of the water revered by Indian Hindus. The prints, which are based on the poem "Not Waving but Drowning" (1957) by English poet Stevie Smith, are currently on display at the Arthur M. Sackler Museum at Harvard University.
The Yamuna originates in the Yamunotri Glacier in the Himalayas and, according to Hindu beliefs, is where the revered god Krishna bathed and played with cows as a child. Devout Hindus worship Yami, the goddess of river Yamuna, along the river's banks — they believe the water to provide spiritual rebirth and cleansing. Tragically, the divinity of this river has been desecrated by pollution.
The photographs of Bhalla were taken in Iagatpuri, near New Delhi, where the Yamuna is the most polluted and dangerous to swim in. "I Was Not Waving but Drowning" juxtaposes the believed spirituality of water with the harsh reality of how the river is treated environmentally.
There is subtle variation among the photographs; the only factors that change are Bhalla's position and reflection in the water. Each print shows the artist in profile, while his body is hidden by the murk of the water. The only colors evident are the tans and browns of the water and Bhalla himself, as well as a slight green outline in the background of shrubbery along the riverbank.
In the first photograph of the montage, Bhalla's eyes are open and he has a serene look on his face, despite the filthiness of the water that surrounds him. His eyes gradually close over the next two photographs, and as the photos continue more and more of his facial features are lost to the disconcertingly opaque water.
Bhalla uses the reflections of his own face in the water to create fascinating shapes. In the first few images, when his head is still above the water, his reflection makes it look as though he has two heads, which fuse into one featureless figure by the final photograph. But his reflections are blurred and distorted, representing the abuse endured by the water itself. Despite the distorted nature of these images, Bhalla's keen photographic sensibility helps the viewer understand the point of his works.
"I Was Not Waving but Drowning" reveals a stunning duality shared between the artist's physical body and his spiritual essence in the water. His unclear reflection represents his spiritual unification with the water; both tainted by pollution. Bhalla's reflection, and the water itself, exposes how apathy towards the environment is as self−destructive as it is harmful to our world.
There are many layers to this piece, but one interpretation is that through these photographs Bhalla stresses that we are not only losing the environment to pollution, but we are losing ourselves. The Yamuna is an integral part of Hinduism, and thus its desecration challenges the Hindu identity and the role of water in Indian thought.
As advancing countries like India balance their cultural traditions with the environmental consequences of their industrialization, works like Bhalla's "I Was Not Waving but Drowning" will become all the more important. By highlighting the costs of pollution in a religious context, Bhalla is providing a key source of conflict to galvanize concerned Indians.
The observer can also find hope in Bhalla's work. "I Was Not Waving but Drowning" reveals that, in spite of pollution, man and nature are ultimately in it together. This knowledge will hopefully steer people in the right direction, promoting spiritual reverence for nature.
