We are thrilled to announce that Early Times, Vasantha Yogananthan’s new book, is now available.The first 200 orders come with a 18 x 22 cm C-print.

Visit the dedicated website of the project: www.a-myth-of-two-souls.com

Early Times is the first chapter of Vasantha Yogananthan’s long-term project A Myth of Two Souls, which offers a contemporary retelling of The Ramayana. A seven-chapter tale first recorded by the Sanskrit poet Valmiki around 300 BC, The Ramayana is one of the founding epics of Hindu mythology.

Since 2013, Vasantha Yogananthan has been travelling from north to south India, retracing the itinerary of the epic’s heroes. Between fiction and reality, he deliberately blurs the lines through multiple aesthetic approaches: colour, black and white, hand-painted and illustrated photographs are interspersed with vernacular images to compose the layers of this timeless story.

This first book addresses the beginnings: it tells of the youth and education of Rama, son of King Dasharatha, and of Sita, daughter of King Janaka, who do not yet know each other but are destined to meet and fall in love.

The Ramayana has been continuously rewritten and reinterpreted through time, and for Early Times has been retold by Indian writer Anjali Raghbeer. Vasantha Yogananthan commissioned Mahalaxmi & Shantanu Das, Indian artists specialising in the tradition of Madhubani painting, to create original illustrations for display alongside his photographic work.

A Myth of Two Souls will be published by Chose Commune in 7 photobooks between 2016-2019, one per chapter of the epic.

Early Times
First edition of 1.600 copies
Photographs: Vasantha Yogananthan
Text: Anjali Raghbeer
Illustrations: Mahalaxmi & Shantanu Das
Graphic design: Kummer & Herrman
Hardcover
24,5 x 30 cm
48 photographs
104 pages
French / English
ISBN: 978-2-9548777-3-0
Publication date: 31 May 2016
55€ (trade edition) / 500€ (special edition)

Order the trade edition HERE
Order the special edition HERE