Photos: Experience Spiti Valley's splendor, in monochrome

In an exhibition titled 'Light and Lines in the Middle Land', photographer Amit Verma captures otherworldly images from the desert-valley landscapes of the Himalayas, evocative in greyscale

Jan 21, 2020, 15:07 IST2 min

<p class="n-zicg"><strong>Hunting: Rakchham Baspa River</strong></p>
<p class="n-zicg">Expectation is a foe</p>
<p class="n-zicg">when patience isn&rsquot a friend.</p>
<p class="n-zicg">&nbspOnly time could bid these clouds&nbsp</p>
<p class="n-zicg">and beckon this mist&nbsp</p>
<p class="n-zicg">over the Baspa River&nbsp</p>
<p class="n-zicg">Into the frame.&nbsp</p>
<p class="n-zicg">Patience is the spring</p>
<p class="n-zicg">in the photographer"s trap.</p>
<p class="n-zicg">Any hunter would say the same:</p>
<p class="n-zicg">One should expect&nbsp</p>
<p class="n-zicg">only what one&nbspis willing to wait for.<br /><br /><em>-Poem by Melissa Alipalo</em></p>

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Hunting: Rakchham Baspa River Expectation is a foe when patience isn&rsquot a friend. Only time could bid these clouds and beckon this mist over the Baspa River Into the frame. Patience is the spring in the photographer"s trap. Any hunter would say the same: One should expect only what one is willing to wait for.-Poem by Melissa Alipalo

Image by Amit Verma

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Rock Paper Scissors: Chitkul Once I cut out some magazine copy that quoted the "O Pioneer!" author, Willa Cather: &ldquoI like trees because they seem more resigned to the way they have to live than other things do." I pasted the quote on a pencil box, and read it to myself for years. Just be a Willa tree. Just be a Willa tree. I lost that pencil box in a sudden move, and I lost

Image by Amit Verma

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Grazing: To Chandratal Lake &ldquoIf you can imagine it, you can do it,&rdquo the saying goes. So he does what he must do: He waits. For the grazing guests to draw nigh. Foreground. For the mist to lift behind the knoll. Middle ground. For the clouds to yield the light. Everything he imagined. Sometimes the doing is in the waiting, because timing is everything.Poem by Melis

Image by Amit Verma

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The Middle: To Chandratal lake The grandeur of beginnings has faded. The end is not in sight. The land feels as barren as it looks. The slope is subtle, but still a slog. Will we ever reach the other side? If we knew what was there, Would it quicken our pace or send us back? Where is the point of no return? Just keep one foot in front of the other. You&rsquore in the middle

Image by Amit Verma

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Light & Lines: Jispa Sometimes light unfolds, and other times it strikes. Like lightning, a severe and devastating light can split a thing in two. It rakes its jagged saw across the thing, It severs asunder what was and what is, what would have been and what shall be. Rarely does such a light ever strike the same thing twice. Poem by Melissa Alipalo

Image by Amit Verma

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Rooted: Sangla Valley, Sutlej River The quietest and surest thing is the tree planted by the river. Nothing bothers it. It knows its roots. They are deep and reliable and resilient. Not a gust that snaps it, not a dearth that parches it, not even its own burial under the mountain could worry such a tree. Its roots are its hope and future. Poem by Melissa Alipalo

Image by Amit Verma

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The Same Bend: Kaza & Langza This is that road the Beatles sang of&mdash. The long and winding one. The one that leads me to your door and back and back and back again. I&rsquom losing count of the times we&rsquove left each other there, always at the same bend. At least we know our reasons and where to find each other again, always at the same bend. It is the road that neve

Image by Amit Verma