Kite's eye view to INDIA

Nicolas Chorier takes on India with a SLR mounted on a kite.

Surrounded by a gathering crowd of pilgrims and onlookers on the banks of Sangam, Chorier first readies the kite, then attaches it to a kite string – which is more like a thick chord -- and sets it aloft. Once it is airborne, high up above the mela grounds, he hangs a box-like frame -- which holds a regular SLR camera -- from the taut kite-string. Then he uses a pulley contraption to wheel the camera up the string till it is about halfway between the kite and the ground. Chorier uses a remote viewfinder to get the aerial view from the camera and manipulates the camera’s movements and the lens through remote control.

The results are spectacular: from Ladakh to Kochi, India reveals itself from an entirely new -- and completely unexpected – perspective. There are kite’s eye view photos of the Kumbh, shots of the Taj Mahal, the Jama Masjid in Delhi, the Victory Tower in Chittor, the Lake Palace in Udaipur, the ghats along the Ganga in Varanasi, the martial Kalaripayattu dance by the seashore and the Chinese fishing nets in Kochi.

The slide show is worth a watch.