India, Aug. 30 -- My first sighting of an upcycled chamcha hoarding was in 2004. At first, I neither understood it nor made much of it. To use photojournalist lingo, it was just an offbeat image that plugs holes in the city pages - miles away from being a project, a body of work or even a series, let alone a book. But those severed heads and lopsided smiles wouldn't leave my eyes alone. The damn things kept showing up and, as a compulsive photographer, I diligently photographed them. Unbeknownst to me, I had built a reputation. A balding yet pony tailed photojournalist quipped - ghar se office aaney ke raaste mein jo bhi banner dikhta hai bhai uska photo marta hai!

In 2016, I came across a truckful being installed and I tried befriending...