The Tsunami took place a few days after Chobi Mela [photo carnival] ended in Dhaka. On 28 December, Pedro sent an email to the mailing list of the festival, detailing his concerns and sharing his thoughts on the media coverage. His message stuck to my mind when I travelled to Tamil Nadu, via Kolkata, on assignment for Rhythms Monthly (Taipei).

My editor is a very understanding man and has given me much leeway to document the tragedy. Regurgitating from Pedro’s email, I told my editor that I am not interested in the body bags or the “beauty” of devastation. I’m more interested in the survivors and their stories. I’m more interested in destroying the hegemony of media coverage that a tragedy should “look” like a tragedy. In Singapore, the government advised the different organizations to tone down the year-end celebrations.

When my friend was shooting a promo video in the town area, the people were as reckless and wild as ever, but his boss reminded him that the organization wanted “sad” footage. “Sad” footage during a new year countdown? Anyway, my contribution doesn’t tell a coherent story. Instead, it is a selection of singles that tell different figments of the subjective truth of the situation in Tamil Nadu.