Village Pond

Murshidabad, West Bengal · street

A fisherman casts his net into a village pond, the circular throw frozen mid-air like a wing. Subsistence fishing — the oldest skill, practised with the newest grace.

Every village in Bengal has a pond — a rectangular body of water dug generations ago for fish farming, bathing, and irrigation. The ponds are stocked with catfish, tilapia, and carp, and they're fished daily by families who have inherited the right. The casting net — thrown by hand in a circular motion that spreads it into a perfect disc — is the primary tool.

I watched this fisherman from the far bank, waiting for the moment of the throw. The net leaves the hands and spreads in the air like a wing, weighted at the edges, opening as it flies. For a fraction of a second, it's a perfect circle suspended above the water. Then it hits the surface and sinks, the weights pulling it down around whatever fish are below. The fisherman throws the net dozens of times each session, and each throw is slightly different — a response to the wind, the light, the movement of fish. I shot twenty throws. This one, with the net fully spread against the green background, was the one.

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