For seven years, I have photographed chilli harvests across Guntur. I thought I knew these fields well, every season, every shade of red that made this region famous.
This year, for the first time, I found entire fields of yellow chilli drying alongside the familiar red. Farmers told me the variety is more resistant to pests and disease, and growing international demand has encouraged many to plant it.
I waited days for this frame because I wanted to show more than colour. Red and yellow may share the field, but they also share the same story. The same soil. The same sun. The same hands.
The neat geometry of these drying chillies is not an accident. It is the result of days of labour under a relentless sky, as farmers spread, turn, and tend the harvest until it is ready for market.
Born of the Same Heat.
The heat of the sun that dries them. The heat that gives them their character. And the heat endured by the farmers whose work brings both harvests to life.
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