Journalism professor follows Indian migration all over world

Steve Raymer set out to capture two centuries worth of photos all over the world, but only had four years to do it. \nThe associate professor of journalism traveled the world in search of people of Indian origin living away from their homeland for his new book, “Images of a Journey: India in Diaspora,” published by the IU Press.\nA former staff photographer for National Geographic, Raymer jokes that the idea for the project first spawned from his love of Indian food. But he said he did not know how or where to start taking pictures, especially considering the breadth of areas Indian people have migrated to since the 19th century. \n“In my years at National Geographic, I tended to cover a broad idea or concept, instead of a just a place. The Indian diaspora is definitely an example of a subject that is not confined to just one location,” Raymer said. \nThe Indian diaspora includes more than 100 countries – on all seven continents, said Sumit Ganguly, director of the IU India Studies Institute. \nIn most of the places Indian people have migrated during the diaspora, they have thrived, Ganguly said. \n“(The Indian diaspora) has been successful in the sense that it reaches across the entire globe. They have been able to assimilate and make economic and professional success in almost everywhere they have spread,” Ganguly said. \n“Wherever Indian people have gone, they have survived and made better lives for themselves – many times in circumstances that have been rough. It’s really a story of adversity and high stakes risks … and their culture has been a tie that bonds them together,” Raymer said. \nThe Indian diaspora began shortly after the end of slavery in the United Kingdom 200 years ago, Raymer said. Shortly after, at the start of the industrial revolution, England needed large amounts of migrant workers for its growing economy. \n“Without slaves, the British needed cheap labor for their empire. But they treated their workers, which included a great number of Indians, little better than slaves,” Raymer said. \nToday, the success of Indian expatriates is impressive, especially when considering the conditions under which many left their homeland, Raymer said. \n“The per capita income of an Indian family in the United States is 35 percent higher than the average,” Raymer said. “Nearly one in twenty doctors in America is of Indian origin. And across the world they tend to hold high profile jobs almost everywhere they have migrated.”\nBut the success story of the Indian diaspora has not reached everywhere he photographed, Raymer said. \nHe said he witnessed the dark side of globalization while watching Indian immigrants help build the largest building in the world in Dubai for less than $300 a month. He calls South Africa, where almost 1 million people of Indian origin live, “one of the most dangerous countries in the world not fighting a war.” \nTraveling to 15 countries over the last four years, Raymer said it would be impossible to tell how many pictures he took for the project. Narrowing these images down was a difficult process, Raymer said, but he and his editors finally settled on about 180 photographs for publication. \nHe said the most difficult place to get photographic access was in the United States, in Silicon Valley, California. Getting in the door of some of the largest technology companies in the world, which employ hundreds of Indian workers, was only achieved by a chance meeting with a well-connected cricket player in San Francisco, Raymer said.