Haik Kocharian, Photographer

In early 2008, New York-based photographer Haik Kocharian spent six weeks traveling alone through India; the impressive fruit of his journey has been gathered into a new exhibit at the 92Y Tribeca, called "Walking the Way." Featuring photographs taken in and around the Indian sub-continent, including the ancient city of Varanasi, the coasts of Varkala, and the Tar Desert, Kocharian's intimate images seem to exhale the serene elegance and colorful grit of everyday life. In addition to his work with still photography, Kocharian is also a fiercely independent filmmaker and musician (MySpace); following the opening reception Friday night, he screened his striking black and white short film "Control Z" and performed a set of passionate rock ballads with his three-piece band. "Walking the Way" runs through September 30th at 92Y Tribeca, located at 200 Hudson Street.

This series of photos is called "Walking the Way." What inspired that title? Right before I traveled to India, there was an emotionally difficult time in my life. My relationship fell apart and some plans that I had for myself and for my future, both personally and professionally, fell through, just as it happens often in life. And I felt like I was at a specific crossroads where I wasn't sure which direction to go. And India was a natural call. First of all I had always been very attracted to the country. I always wanted to see it. And I had this intuition that I need to go there and pass a certain passage, a certain distance to analyze internally what's going on with me and where am I going.

And you've organized the photographs into three chapters? Yes, it consists of three parts. The first part is the beginning, or renewal. A new start, which was the idea of leaving and going somewhere that you've never been. Leaving the past behind. The second part is about relationships and it's called "Relation." And that is searching for love. Even though we don't see the faces of the subjects, and there is a purpose for that. As we grow and as we mature, we realize love is about the tricky emotions and to me it's a faceless emotion. So the second part symbolizes the facelessness of love, and the search for love. And the third part is Death, which is the conclusion of the journey. So after I came up with this concept, I realized that in a way it's walking through a journey. It's walking through beginning, through relationship, through life, and approaching the end. And because it was unfolding so well with my own internal trouble, internal questions, I thought "Walking the Way" would be an appropriate title.

(Courtesy Haik Kocharian)

How long were you there? A month and a half.

Were you walking the whole time? I did quite a bit of walking, yes. I also traveled by land, the entire country. I traveled by train, so there was a physical passage, a physical distance to pass. It's a large country.

What was your route? I went to New Delhi, then I went to the western part of the country to a city called Jaisalmer, it's an ancient city, quite a fascinating place. It's actually a castle, a living castle functioning, with citizens living in there, and it's made out of desert stone, straight out of Nights of Arabia kind of event. Then after that, I continued traveling further south, through villages, cities, and then I arrived in Bombay, which is an interesting place in it's own way. Then further down to an area called Kerala, which is near the Indian Ocean, and then all the way down to the end of the continent which is Sendamangalam. And the idea was to photograph different environments. To photograph and urban environment, to photograph desert, to photograph jungle environment.

How many photographs are in the exhibit? Total amount is 18, for three parts. At 92 Y, I'm only presenting part 1 and part 2, for several reasons. One of them is that there is negotiations with another organization which is probably premature to mention at this point. And also I felt that it could be interesting to give a bit of a distance between the first and second part and then the third part, because that part is very heavy and it has a lot of intensity to it, and I felt that it could be just like a passage of time equaling the passage of the exhibition, and it could have a very interesting effect.

Can you talk about some of the strangest experiences you had? Well, first of all, India itself is a strange place. If some of your readers have an idea of it as a holy, pure, spiritual place, it is indeed. But it's also mixed with something else. It's also a very harsh place from an economic standpoint. There is a lot of poverty. There are lots of problems. It's also a practical place. People have to survive. People sell and buy. An example, on the banks at Varanasi, by the holiest river in India.

The Ganges. Yes, at the banks of the river Ganges, where all the ghats are. The ghats are the burning ghats, there are 24 hour cremations. It's a very solemn, spiritual and beautiful event. But directly next to it, there are kids playing soccer and some guys selling Marlboros and Coca-Cola. So it's a very interesting mixture of practicality, survival, spirituality, and it exists in this mosaic of human variety. I mean, if you're there, you really experience some of the most extreme versions of human ambition and human life. I also traveled to deep villages where I stayed with local shamans and witnessed different rituals such as washing in rivers and lakes at night and just really, truly, every step is weird, wonderful, magical and also very educational and very revealing.

After that long in India, was it difficult to adjust when you returned to New York? Actually, no, because in many ways India and New York are very similar environments. Of course not in a direct sense, New York is obviously a lot more developed and supported. But in terms of energy and in terms of absurdity, if I can put it that way, and in terms of human congestion and in terms of the chemistry, it's very similar. It has the same level of cabs, it has the same level of culture, it has the same level of fascination.

And it also has the same level of otherness. In New York, you can't put your finger on something. There is so much of everything. It never repeats itself, it's always in the process of motion. It's always in the process of development. I felt the same thing in India. There is constant motion, there is very little logic, except it's all internal logic and it functions in its own way, just like New York City. Ironically, I felt very much at home, except for the pollution. There is no oxygen to breathe, especially in New Delhi. I very much felt home immediately, especially in Varanasi, which is a very populated city, I was with my guide on a rickshaw going through traffic, and it was just like New York City traffic. It has its own rules and people function in their own right, so adjusting wasn't that difficult.

And you made a film with Isilde Le Besco, what's the status on that? It's in post-production, and we're hoping that it will come out soon. Sometime next year.

What is it about? It's a love story. I won't be able to, because it hasn't been officially released yet, it would be a little premature for me to tell the premise of the film, but it's a love story and a strange love story, just like most love stories are. I don't believe in perfect love stories that are being portrayed by Hollywood. They're fun to watch but I don't think these things exist. Love is very complicated, usually very hurtful, very painful event.

Yours is different from a mainstream Hollywood love story? In many ways. First of all, I don't have the know-how, knowledge or resources to make a typical Hollywood love story. I have full respect for people who do that, these are extreme high professionals. They know all the world of cinema top to bottom, and they are also businesspeople. They understand the demands and I'm not going to hide that I could enjoy a nice slapstick love story, to sit down and watch it. It's something fun. But yes, my art in general is something that derives from something very personal, from something inside of me, and I certainly don't consider my life straight line. It's can be both romantic and horrifying, depending on the circumstances. So indeed, the films I make are different from anything else, or at least I hope so.

What else are you working on now? Right now there are a few projects that I'm working on. First of all, I have a music video that's going to be released soon. It's with a wonderful, talented singer, Christina Courtin, who just recently released her album, Christina Courtin, on Nonesuch Records. And the music video will be released maybe by October, so stay tuned for that. And also I'm in development for my next feature length film. It's called "Forest With Parking." It's a psychological drama about a struggling poet who feels stuck. He's stuck with his 6 months pregnant girlfriend. He's stuck in New York. He's stuck within himself. And he's desperately trying to find a way out, and there is an unexpected encounter with death that pushes him towards the limit. And he puts his plan of escaping to action, but as we all know there is no escape, and we all have to pay a price. It's pretty much the premise, and it's in development. We have a wonderful cast, a wonderful producer, and as you know it's a bit of a struggle very step, so we're working very hard to make this film into reality.