ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the theme of the photographs is daily lived experience, with images of Muslims in various parts of the Himalaya going about their lives in markets, kitchens, fields, and shops. The punctum is a detail or aspect of the image that grabs the viewer and engages his/her interest in the photograph; a pattern of cloth, a purse, the knife lying on the dough, or any other small detail in the following images may be the one that pierces a viewer and makes her/him care about the contents of the photograph. The punctum causes a viewer to pause, to wonder about the people represented in the image, to imagine the Other as a real person rather than a photographed object, and thus to perceive personal details that suggest these people exist as agents beyond the photographer’s intent. Photography is not necessarily taken at face value but is experienced by viewers.
