The Leader of the Pack

Pushkar, Rajasthan, India. June 2017

I love donkeys! I also love puns. Can you spot the pun? Anyway, I love donkeys. I love seeing them that is. If not able to see them I’m still happy to hear them.

Seeing or hearing a train of donkeys delivering a variety of goods ranging from bricks to people and everything in between, lets me know that I am somewhere different. There’s no donkey delivery service where I live but they are going strong in the cities of Pakistan, the Himalayas in India and many other random places – I want to visit them all.

Donkeys often wear bells. This is largely so that pedestrians can hear them and get out of their way; they stop for no-one. Their early warning safety system is particularly needed when on narrow tracks in mountainous areas as it gives walkers time to scramble to a safe spot lest they get kicked or nudged over a cliff. This is also handy for me as it means I can hear them first and know to take extra notice of my surroundings so as to see and photograph them; I sometimes wish people wore identifying bells so I could locate them.

The use of donkeys as beasts of burden is also timeless. Before humans had systems of writing we used donkeys; we’ve come a long way and can now send writing around the globe in a millisecond via the internet and yet donkeys are still used to transport goods. Seeing and hearing them walk the same paths they have for time immemorable makes me feel part of that history. The shepherds and shepherdesses that accompany them often also look timeless. Time stands still as they pass.

This timelessness intermingles with the modern. Donkeys now often jostle for space on the roads with cars, trucks and of course motorbikes. I like photographing this seamless mixing of the times and technology. I can use and be comforted by the new whilst experiencing the old.

Oh yes, I love puns as well as donkeys. Did you manage to pick it? Well, while I might lazily call these creatures donkeys, they are in reality more specifically mules or asses; the result of cross breeding between donkeys and horses. So, in this photograph you can find some ass on the right and another on the left on the motorbike seat.