PHIL MAXWELL

A baby taxi in Bangalore, 2008

This photograph was taken from the passenger seat of a ‘baby taxi’ in Bangalore. It was one of many similar stills that were edited together for the final sequence of the film Not in Our Name. When I started making films with Hazuan Hashim over 10 years ago  I continued to document the world around me through photography. I’ve never really understood those who say the two disciplines of film and photography are different. There is a school of thought that suggests that you should abandon still photography once you start working in film. I think this is a ludicrous idea. A film is just still images projected at 24 frames a second to give the illusion of movement. The image above conveys movement because of the relative stillness of the driver compared to the chaotic movement outside the baby taxi. A sequence of similar shots taken in rapid succession were edited together to provide a moody final sequence for the end of the film.

A baby taxi drives past a woman, Chennai 2007

Baby taxi in traffic jam, Dhaka 2009

Baby taxis, Dhaka Bangladesh 1994

Baby taxi, Dhaka Bangladesh 1994