In 1947, when the British left India after 89 years of colonial rule, the land was divided into two countries: Pakistan and India. Known as the Partition of India, this enforced and hastily drawn line sparked a violent mass migration of fifteen million people, changing the course of history on the subcontinent for generations to come.  

In the series This Isn’t Divide and Conquer, Aaryan Sinha documented his journey across five Indian states bordering with Pakistan. The photographs capture his travels in an intuitive and poetic way, and together investigate how historical events, like the partition, influence the Indian landscape and the identity of its people, including his own. 

At the core of the project lies Aaryan’s attempt to depict a version of India that is truer to his experience, one of similarity and connection, rather than division and opposition. Through this, his project also exposes the relationship between photography and colonialism—aiming to revoke the stereotypical perception of a poor, overpopulated nation held by many in the West.