With the cold winter weather approaching fast I decided to travel into Kashmir with the hopes of documenting the lives of the struggling lower class before the inevitable snow storms hit the region. Although I was lucky enough to avoid the incoming storm, the weather was still freezing with temperatures dropping to -7 degrees at night. Trudging through the frozen mud I made my way through the urban slums Naidyar and Sheikh colony in Kashmir's capital city, Srinagar. According to the locals I conversed with, the main struggle of the lower class is not owning land (most families have land and houses passed down from previous generations) but finding a job with a high enough income to support the entire family. Life inside the Naidyar and Sheikh colony slums is a hard one and can be considered modest at best. Many of the houses are held up by tin sheets or torn tarps stung up to make an impromptu wall. For those living in the center of the slums, clean water is hard to come by and each family is tightly packed together in the maze of small, squalor soaked alleyways.
Even with the current lull in violence from the Indian army the effects of a constant military occupation on a region's economy is still very clear as life can become a day to day battle for the lower class.
Man walking down a waterway path - Naidyar slum.
Even with the current lull in violence from the Indian army the effects of a constant military occupation on a region's economy is still very clear as life can become a day to day battle for the lower class.
Man walking down a waterway path - Naidyar slum.
Boy in an alleyway - Naidyar slum.
Brother and sister - Sheikh colony slum.
Girl being lectured by family in candle light - Naidyar slum.
Photo shy girl - Sheikh colony slum.
The one in the middle, of the two children walking down the street together, is my favorite photo I've seen in a long time. Stay safe. :) I miss you.
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