Camillo Pasquarelli

The loudspeaker of a mosque in Srinagar.
A woman walknig out from a mosque in Srinagar.

A boy inside the "Firdous" cinema hall of Srinagar, today abandoned after being occupied by the indian army for 20 years.

P􏰑ages of 􏰒book􏰓s 􏰒burned􏰄 after a fire d􏰄estroyed􏰄 some houses in downtown Srinagar.

The carcass of a dog on the road of Dawar, in the Gurez Valley.

A man takes a break laying just outside the sufi shrine Kanqa-e-Mualla in Srinagar.

A man hold􏰄 a sick􏰒 Pidgeon in Srinagar.

A poster for the martyrs d􏰄ay mar􏰒ch c􏰒alled by the k􏰓ashmiri separatist lead􏰄ers e􏰘very year on 􏰚the 21st May. O􏰜n this d􏰄ate the people mourn the 􏰄death of Mirwaiz Farooq,􏰗 a separatist lead􏰄er k􏰓ille􏰄 in 1990􏰛􏰟􏰟􏰠 b􏰙y un􏰓knwon

A picture of a movie shot in Kashmir. The valley has been a very popular setting for Bollywood movies untill the 90's.

The interiors of the abandoned cinema hall "Firdous", in Srinagar.

A mannequin in Srinagar and a butcher in Dawar, Gurez Valley.

Gulmarg, the border between India and Pakistan.

A man enter the prayer room of the sufi shrine Kanqa-e-Mualla in Srinagar.

Two men sits in "􏰔Nishat Garden" of Srinagar.

A boy walking on the road of Cherwan, one of
the last village of the Gurez valley before the Line of Control, the border that divides Indian and Pakistan.

Endless Winter

The valley of Kashmir has been a contested land between India and Pakistan since 1947 and one of the most militarised zones in the world. Since 1989, when a Kashmiri armed insurgency was bloodily suppressed, this region witnessed various political turmoils against the Indian administration, and the situation has never really changed. The starting of a new season of protests, repression and martyrs is always unpredictable. Disillusionment is in the air; new tombstones fill the graveyards and a new generation is ready to sacrifice their life for a new armed insurgency. A visual journey through the struggle of the Kashmiri people, trapped in an endless winter of suffering whilst hoping for a spring of azadi (meaning "freedom" in Urdu language). The valley and its people are stuck in a temporal limbo, a continuous cycle in which time has lost its ability to affect history. With this project, I seek to reflect on the notion and the experience of conflict, memory, islamic religion in a highly politicised geographical area. Through an intimate and personal approach, I aim to question and challenge the classic “news perspective” to conflict zones in a way that raise emotions and atmospheres rather than show facts and provide informations.

Camillo Pasquarelli

Camillo (1988) is an italian photographer based in Rome. Only after completing his studies in political science and anthropology, he decided to devote himself entirely to photography. Nowadays, he is mostly interested in personal and long-term projects, and deals with documentary photography through the combination of the anthropological approach and the photographic medium. Since 2015 he has been working on a visual project about the valley of Kashmir, India, exploring the notion and the experience of conflict, memory, religion and political aspirations. In 2017 he received one of the Alexia Foundation Student Grant to keep working on “Endless winter." His works have been published on Time, Der Spiegel, BuzzFeed, Internazionale, Mashable, Il Reportage, Gazeta Wyborcza, Il Manifesto, Left, among others. He was part of exhibitions in Russia, Italy, Spain, India, Israel, Lithuania, Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates.