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Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Forty-Seven: How using words in pictures can expand meaning > Truck driver training, Cochin, India, 2008
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03-APR-2008

Truck driver training, Cochin, India, 2008

This chalkboard was hanging on the wall of a truck driver’s school just outside Cochin. I don’t read Hindi, so I don’t know what most of these words say. (I am not sure what “Royality” means either. Royalty? Reality?) It really doesn’t matter – what matters is the embellishment of language so common in Indian communication. No matter how small the task, it takes many words to explain it. Something as straightforward as how to properly drive a truck can become a very complex matter in Cochin.

Leica V-Lux 1
1/30s f/3.2 at 11.1mm iso100 hide exif
Full EXIF Info
Date/Time03-Apr-2008 22:26:37
MakeLeica
ModelV-LUX 1
Flash UsedNo
Focal Length11.1 mm
Exposure Time1/30 sec
Aperturef/3.2
ISO Equivalent100
Exposure Bias-0.33
White Balance
Metering Modemulti spot (3)
JPEG Quality
Exposure Programprogram (2)
Focus Distance

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Phil Douglis20-Jul-2012 17:36
Thanks for your clarifications, and also for your suggestion that it would be better if we do not question, judge or generalize on things we photograph until we "understand our subject completely." In this case, there was no opportunity for me, as a visiting tourist, to understand this subject completely. This is an image about communication, and how complex it may seem to a visitor who had never been to Kerala before. I made and posted it here to stimulate thinking and given your comment, I am glad that I did so.
temp 19-Jul-2012 10:52
Royalty was what the person meant by royality - it is a spelling mistake.
The other language is not Hindi, it is Malayalam, which is the language of the Kerala state.
The words written dont explain 'how to properly drive a truck', but rather it more of socio-political in nature. One (somewhat) complete sentence that i can see in the picture translates "To grasp the truth, what is needed is not knowledge ..."...
The other words talk about happiness, hope, the weak sections, hunger, masses and so on...
Would be better if we come to conclusions and judgements after having understood our subject completely...to judge, and then generalise based on the few words that we can understand is probably not the bestest of ideas...guess thats one place where we could try and see what the visuals tell us and not the words that we do not understand...
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