Doubt Indo

What about people you can no longer tell if they are Indian? How do they experience the perception of others and how do they see themselves? Do they still feel Indian?

Armando Ello photographed and interviewed these so-called Doubt Indos for his project of the same name. Of the more than 360 people who volunteered via the site hoezoindo.nl, 277 are included in this book.

This book is for anyone interested in Indian culture and personal stories. And perhaps readers will recognise themselves in this story and discover that they are more Indian than they think.

About the photographer
Armando Ello (born 1980) has been photographing Indian people of all ages and generations for publications and his own projects since 2004. Indian culture has developed him as a photographer and as a person, which is why he wants his projects to mean something to the Indian community.

Length: 10 – 60 minutes per interview
With whom: Mainly third generation (and some second and fourth generation) with an Indo-European, Moluccan-Indian, Papua, Indo-African and Javanese Surinamese background in the Netherlands and worldwide.

Armando Ello wanted to investigate the extent to which Indo-European culture and family history is still alive among the current generation that did not experience the wars in South-East Asia and did not always get the stories. With his photo projects, he wants to discuss (the interaction between) identity formation and perception, the inner quest of the Indo-European diaspora worldwide and the perception from outside. By exhibiting his portraits, he hopes to raise awareness around Indian identity.
Two photo books have been published featuring portraits and (parts of) the interviews: Doubt Indo (2019) and Indo World Photo book (2020).

The interviews focus on events and experiences from 1980-2020.
They mainly cover the Netherlands, Australia, New Zealand, the United States of America, Canada, Curaçao, Bonaire, Sweden, Belgium, Norway and Indonesia. Themes include identity formation, identity experience, Indian culture, family history, war history, oral transmission, roots research, roots travel.