Rain Dogs – A Photography Exhibition by Rohit Chawla

In 2021, while the world shut its doors against the pandemic, I sought refuge under Goa’s monsoon skies and a sea-facing room. I began walking the beach 20km a day, stray dogs following me, hoping I was the harbinger from heaven, for on earth they’d been left with nothing—the tourists had fled, the beaches no longer a feast of leftovers. It broke my heart to see them emaciated, eyes large with hunger. More than turning them into a photographer’s subject, photographing them became a way to frame my vulnerability. I couldn’t direct them, nor the moods of the monsoon or the sea; only the light was mine to choose. Yet clouds, rain, and tide offered a vast, ethereal studio. I think the dogs knew I needed saving, too. Three years later, I see these images tell a larger, perhaps political story about survival, empathy, and companionship, hoping it resonates with others who, in one way or another, may have been where I was. 

– Rohit Chawla

Explore the Rain Dogs exhibition catalogue