Kashmir is a photographic journal exploring the state of Jammu and Kashmir located in the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term “Kashmir” denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal mountain range. Today, it denotes a larger area including Indian, Pakistani and Chinese administered territories.

“Driving through Kargil, in Northern Kashmir, India, I noticed from a distance the blue veil of a woman walking down the main street. I asked my driver to stop the car by the side of the road and I jumped off, camera in hand. I approached the blue veiled lady pointing at my camera and asked her in English if I could take her photo, even though I knew she didn’t understand a word of what I was saying. But she gently nodded in agreement.

I found the blue entrance door of a house which strangely had the same hue than the blue of color of her veil. We moved to that door, and I shot a few frames, first cropping from her waist and slowly moving close to her face. She kept an intense eye contact, I could see her eyes, and the spark of life behind her weathered face, still presents after a few decades of an intense and violent civil war. I knew this was the picture I stopped for.” – Frédéric Lagrange