The Everywhere People

“We first moved to Gokarna, and met a lot of artists and musicians, and that sealed it for us. After a year, we went to the Andamans, then a few months later, to the hills close to Almora, where we rented a cottage, then to Kheerganga,” remembers Harris, 48, as he flips through the pages and points at pictures of Uma and Yael, in tune with nature. Soon, the family moved to Australia, hired a camper van, and stumbled upon a small town called Balingup in western Australia, where they befriended a community of artists and writers, and lived in a tree nursery in the middle of a forest. “What is better education for Uma than meeting these wonderful people from all walks of life? How many kids get such exposure? It was all about slowing down time. It’s our way of teaching kids that they shouldn’t be afraid of change,” says Harris.

The photos remind of a simpler time, of children jumping into lakes, crying over a tricycle injury, fresh juice-stained hands, drawing on a dew-covered glass pane, and so on. Soon, Uma finds herself playing the role of an elder sister to Yali, who was born in India. The “sister policy”, comprising five points untidily scribbled on a tiny sheet of paper, and apology notes on post-its from Uma to Yali also find themselves in the book.

In 2007, the family moved to Balingup and live there now. Harris continues to click them but, with Uma soon turning 16, he feels he might need a new subject. “I wasn’t consciously making this book, I was just photographing my family, and answering the question, ‘where is home?’ It’s where we all are together, I realised,” he says.