Kōrero: Photography

New Zealand photojournalist Brian Brake joined the prestigious photo agency Magnum in 1955. His most famous series is 'Monsoon', which he shot in India in 1960. Brake straddled the pictorial and documentary styles of photography, and this mixed approach is exemplified in his best-known image, 'Monsoon girl' from the Monsoon series. It looks as if Brake has spontaneously captured a young Indian woman revelling in the sensation of monsoon rain on hot skin, but in fact the whole scene was set up. Brake got actor Aparna Das Gupta to stand on a terrace and an assistant poured water from a watering can over her face.