Did you know that there is a market exclusively.for the sale of betel nuts, dried fish, muskmelon and.watermelon in Goa? Were you aware of a Nagpancham.market in Verem which is open for just one hour for the.entire year? These are some of the wonders brought out.in Assavri Kulkarni’s debut book, ‘Markets of Goa’. The.224-page book brimming with numerous captivating.photographs, takes us through the journey and the.transformations that markets go through right from.setting up for the day to closing the stores..Assavri is a renowned photographer in commercial.and creative photography. She fell in love with the.vibrancy of the Mapusa market which she used to visit.as a kid while she tagged along with her grandmother,.Lila Vasant Kandolgaonkar. “I remember going to the.markets with her and the beautiful colours of the ware..I decided that the first book I will work on will be the.‘Markets of Goa’. I have other books in the pipeline but this.had to be my debut book as a tribute to our Goan markets,”.says Assavri, who had the task of selecting the required.number of photographs from her entire collection..The book is divided into four sections, daily markets,.weekly markets, seasonal markets and festival markets..While daily and weekly markets are known, the seasonal.and festival markets are seldom heard.of and very interesting. The betel nut.market in Mardol, Brinjal and sweet.potato market in a temple in Kavalem,.Cashewnut market in Curchorem and Dry.fish feast market in Sanguem have been.undocumented so far. Assavri had to get the research.about each of the markets done and spend time getting.the best shot at the right time. “There are certain markets.that are open only for that particular time of the year. If.I miss that date, I would have to wait for an entire year..I wanted the visuals to be the story that shows the true.essence of the market,” says Assavri, who is currently living.in Mapusa while her studio is in Porvorim..The oldest photograph that appears in the book.was clicked in 1999 at Mapusa market. “I used to go.around the Mapusa market clicking with my Nikon 7M10.with a 100 ISO roll. I used to develop and print my own.photographs at the Goa College of Art lab. Anthony.D’Souza and Willy Goes were my professors while Savita.Prabhudessai instilled in me the love for designing,”.informs Assavri. She has done shoots for magazines in.Goa as well as international publications like ‘BBC Food’,.‘Cake and Whiskey’ and ‘Hi Blitz’. She is also working on a.book on photography for beginners..With husband Nirmal Kulkarni as her biggest support.system, Assavri made sure that her works would be out.in the way she wanted, without any compromises to her.creativity. “I was very clear as to where the book will get.printed and which pictures should stay.” This book will.also serve another purpose. “The book was published by.the Directorate of Art and Culture and they are planning.to give it as mementos when they receive guests or.when they travel to other countries.”.Her photographs indeed speak more than a.thousand words with each photograph bringing to life.different nuances: measures, clothing, expressions,.lifestyle... each expressing its own flavour. “When we.go to the market, we just pick up what we want but I.feel that each shop owner or vendor is an artist who is.constantly painting; setting the wares on display, then.packing up for the night and redoing everything the next.day, painting on a new canvas. This is my tribute to the.markets of Goa,” concludes Assavri.
