Early Times – Vasantha Yogananthan

Early Times is the first chapter of Vasantha Yogananthan’s long-term project A Myth of Two Souls, which offers a contemporary retelling of The Ramayana. A seven-chapter tale first recorded by the Sanskrit poet Valmiki around 300 BC, The Ramayana is one of the founding epics of Hindu mythology.

Since 2013, Yogananthan has been traveling from north to south India, retracing the footsteps of the epic’s heroes. Between fiction and reality, he deliberately blurs the lines through multiple aesthetic approaches: color, black and white, hand-painted and illustrated photographs are interspersed with vernacular images to compose the layers of this timeless story.

This first book addresses the beginnings: it tells of the youth and education of Rama, son of King Dasharatha, and of Sita, daughter of King Janaka, who do not yet know each other but are destined to meet and fall in love. The Ramayana has been continuously rewritten and reinterpreted through time. This French / English language retelling is in hardcover and measures 24.5 x 30 cm, with 104 pages.

See all chapters of A Myth of Two Souls:  1  |  2  |  3  |  4  |  5  |  6  |  7

Artist / Author

Chose Commune is an independent publishing house based in Marseille, France, which curates, edits, and produces artists books with a focus on photography and works on paper. Chose Commune is directed by Cécile Poimboeuf-Koizumi, co-founder with Vasantha Yogananthan. Vasantha Yogananthan made the images for Early Times, with illustrations by Mahalaxmi & Shantanu Das, Indian artists specializing in the tradition of Madhubani painting, to create original illustrations for display alongside Yogananthan’s photographic work. The story has been retold by Indian writer Anjali Raghbee and graphic design is by Kummer&Herrman. Find more on Yogananthan‘s artistic practice on PhotoSouthAsia.

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