PROJECT DESCRIPTION
Soul of the Nilgiris: A Journey through the Mountains by Ramya reddy
Created over nine years, Soul of the Nilgiris is a labour of love and the story of a place told through a personal tapestry of oral narratives, conversations, writings and over 300 photographs, drawn from the creative abundance of a millennia-old mountain land and her centuries-old inhabitants.
The book traverses the cultural, ecological, colonial and the now drastically altered landscape of the Blue Mountains situated in the Western Ghat region of southern India, while attempting to draw attention to the lives of its indigenous people and the synergistic way in which they were attuned to the natural world. Their lifestyles were (still are) based on a respectful, reciprocal orientation and a sacred relationship with their land and there is a dire need to give voice to the relevance of this knowledge to the times we live in.
The book thoughtfully combines prose, photography, design and community involvement; we had the spines for every one of the 2000 books hand-embroidered by the Toda women artisans over two years.
All profits from this book will be donated to Keystone Foundation, a registered not for profit Trust based in the Nilgiris.
www.soulofthenilgiris.com
BOOK INFORMATION
Trim Size: 8.633x12.11 inches
Number of Pages: 304
Binding Method: sewn bind in signatures (lay flat), hard case; every spine was hand embroidered by tribal women artisans from the Nilgiris region in southern India
Paper: Munken Lynx Rough 90
Typefaces: Canto (Eduardo Rennó), Dia (Schick Toikka), Virgo Mono (Sharp Type)
CREDIT INFORMATION
Creative Director:
Art Director: Ramya Reddy and Cleber Rafael de Campos
Book Designer: Cleber Rafael de Campos
Jacket/Cover Designer: Cleber Rafael de Campos
Illustrator: PHILIP FURLEY FYSON LADY BOURNE AND OTHERS, THE FLORA OF THE NILGIRI AND PULNEY HILL -TOPS, 1915
Photographer: Ramya Reddy
Picture Editor: Ramya Reddy
Production Director:
Production Coordinator:
Production Artist:
Other Credits: Printing and Prepress: PRAGATI OFFSET, HYDERABAD, India
Soul of the Nilgiris: A Journey Through the Mountains
Category
Book and Cover
Description
Winner - AIGA 50 Books | 50 Covers of 2018
Book Title: Soul of the Nilgiris: A Journey Through the Mountains
Design Firm/Agency: Self-published
Publisher: Ramya and Rajesh Reddy
Author/Editor: Ramya Reddy
Juror Comments
This remarkable book about the Toda ethnic group utilizes cloth on the spine, woven by Toda women artisans. The interior marries contemporary typography with photography and a narrative flow in a way that makes you want to read. The book is at once journalistic, artistic, and narrative thanks to the deft handling of all the elements. Multiple type faces somehow all work seamlessly. — Lucinda Hitchcock
Winner Status
- 50 Books Winner
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