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Photos: Highlights from life in Kerala’s rockpools
Jayesh Padichal, 40, was entranced by nature even as a child. He wanted to be a nature photographer, but didn’t have the means. So the son of small-holdings farmers in Kerala took up autorickshaw driving, built a good life for himself, married, started a family. Then, with the blessings of his wife and mother, he decided to follow his dream. He sold his rickshaw to buy a camera, made a nature documentary, and hasn’t looked back since. He’s now working with the local government to protect what he so loves. Take a look at photographs from that first documentary, Pallom Oru Jeevabhayam (Pallom: An Ark of Life; 2017).
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Self-taught nature photographer Jayesh Padichal, 40, spent four years capturing life around Kerala’s rockpools or pallom. (Photo: Jayesh Padichal)
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These rockpools are natural bodies of stored rainwater that form in the hills of Kerala and support diverse ecosystems, including small communities of local fisherpeople.(Photo: Jayesh Padichal)
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After selling his autorickshaw and buying a camera to follow his passion, Jayesh Padichal made a documentary called Pallom Oru Jeevabhayam (Pallom: An Ark of Life; 2017) on Kerala’s rockpools.(Photo: Jayesh Padichal)
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A spider snacks on frog’s eggs on the surface of a rockpool. Water had always fascinated him, says Padichal, the son of farmers and a former autorickshaw driver himself. (Photo: Jayesh Padichal)
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An Indian pond heron goes about its day. The rockpools in Kerala's laterite hills can be over 800 sq metres in size. They act as natural sanctuaries and watering holes for thousands of life forms.(Photo: Jayesh Padichal)
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A bullfrog skims the surface, looking for prey. After the success of his documentary, which has been screened at multiple film festivals in Kerala, Padichal is working with local government bodies to try and protect the delicate ecosystems of Kerala’s rockpools. (Photo: Jayesh Padichal)
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A blue-tailed bee eater in flight. “Jayesh’s film is a brilliant and rare creation. No one would believe the shots are by an amateur,” says senior wildlife filmmaker Suresh Elamon.(Photo: Jayesh Padichal)
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A jackal at the watering hole formed by a rockpool. Padichal has two more documentaries in the works. Chaal (Malayalam for Creek) tracks the Karyankodu river across seasons, documenting life along it as well as its pollution; Maram (Malayalam for Tree) is a look at the mango tree as symbolic of how intrinsically man and trees are linked.(Photo: Jayesh Padichal)
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