I visited the Indian-administered region of Kashmir dozens of times over almost a five-year period, photographing its passage through winter in three distinct phases: Chillai Kalan (harsh cold), Chillai Khurd (small cold), and Chillai Bachha (baby cold). As the winter progressed, ravens kept watch over the ongoings of the world below, bearing witness to the snow revealing itself to be an illusion.
Kashmir has always been promoted as a tourist destination, a paradise for Indian nationals to experience snow, even as it remains one of the most militarised areas in the world. It has been at the centre of disputes between India, Pakistan, and China since the dissolution of the British Raj in 1947. Each country has laid claim to the land as their own, while its people struggle for self-determination.
My last visit to Kashmir, for a friend’s wedding in August 2019, was cut short when the Indian government removed the region’s semi-autonomous status through Article 370, and a siege ensued. Snow remains an incomplete body of work.
Sohrab Hura for Guernica.
January in Kashmir. Sohrab Hura, from Snow (MACK, 2026). Courtesy of the artist and MACK.
Between Tangmarg and Srinagar, passengers wait as the driver maneuvers the bus free from the snow. Sohrab Hura, from Snow (MACK, 2026). Courtesy of the artist and MACK.
Horses in Pahalgam. Sohrab Hura, from Snow (MACK, 2026). Courtesy of the artist and MACK.
Tomatoes floating in a puddle outside Srinagar. In all my trips to Kashmir in the winter, I’d often find heaps of tomatoes discarded by the side of the road. I never got to know the exact reason for why this occurred, but it would always remind me of police in India clearing out roads forcefully, making a mess of people’s belongings, the fruits and vegetables they had laid out to sell. Sohrab Hura, from Snow (MACK, 2026). Courtesy of the artist and MACK.
Whenever a strike against the government is announced, it is common to see lines of stones blocking the road, cutting off any kind of thoroughfare. Sohrab Hura, from Snow (MACK, 2026).
School children walking back home after school hours. Sohrab Hura, from Snow (MACK, 2026).
An army patrol. Sohrab Hura, from Snow (MACK, 2026). Courtesy of the artist and MACK.
A dug pit meant to collect the blood of a sacrificed animal. People there often spoke of the land as having swallowed many secrets. Sohrab Hura, from Snow (MACK, 2026). Courtesy of the artist and MACK.
Flowers grow among graves before the beginning of spring. Sohrab Hura, from Snow (MACK, 2026). Courtesy of the artist and MACK.
Sohrab Hura lives and works in New Delhi, India. He started making photographs when he was twenty for catharsis after his mother had fallen ill when he was in his late teens. At the time, making photographs had made him feel like he Existed. He has self-published five books under the imprint Ugly Dog. His book The Coast (2019) won The Aperture- Paris Photo PhotoBook of the Year Award 2019 while the book Look It’s Getting Sunny Outside!!! (2018) was a finalist for the The Aperture - Paris Photo PhotoBook of the Year Award 2018. His work is in the permanent collections of MoMA (New York), Ishara Art Foundation, KNMA, Cincinnati Art Museum and other private and public collections. He is a member of Magnum Photos and is represented by Experimenter.
