Phil James was commissioned to travel to Uttar Pradesh in India to shoot a documentary for Project Mala, a charity action programme for the elimination of child labour from the hand knotted carpet industry.

Whilst he was travelling through the area – Phil was overwhelmed by the beautiful landscape and the colours of the traditional Indian life often captured by photographers. But he was also truly inspired by the family life he witnessed, which was so different to his own upbringing and that of his role as a father in the 21st century.

Life in India is so very different, but the same wonderful things you get from having a family are the same. Family is a beautiful thing – no matter where you are. Phil captured the daily life of many Indian families – either at home, or working in the towns. He also captured children at play, and the fun and joy present in their faces.

Being kindly sponsored by Peartree Digital for a high end Aptus II Digital back, Phil was able to capture these beautiful images in very high resolution, giving them a huge level of detail and quality. This then means they can be printed on a large scale giving the viewer more to see, and to feel a part of the environment.

Overall they give a positive representation of a world which is so often shown in a beautiful, but ultimately negative way by many other photographers.

Phil also directed a film whilst in India with the talented Dave Francis capturing the beautiful scenes around them. This video can be viewed on this link and made it through to the top two in the AOP Open moving image category in 2012

www.philipejames.co.uk