andquot;Horn Pleaseandquot; is the mantra of the rapidly expanding Indian highway system, andand#160;some version of that sentiment is written on the back of practically every truck on theand#160;road. One unmistakable feature of the Indian highway is the presence of these brightlyand#160;decorated trucks that ply the countryand#39;s roads. The men who drive these trucks spendand#160;long hours on the road and can be away from their families for weeks at a time, soand#160;their trucks act as a second home and they take great pride in them. The interior andand#160;exterior of the trucks are colorfully decorated with paintings, stickers, garlands,and#160;tassels, and shrines, which are not only a unique form of folk art but also anand#160;expression of individualism.and#160; For Horn Please photographer Dan Eckstein traveled across Indiaand#39;s byzantine andand#160;burgeoning road network documenting these elaborately decorated trucks festoonedand#160;with lights, brightly colored text, and paintings of eagles, tigers, lions, and pop culturaland#160;fixtures, corporate mascots, Hindu deities, geometric and mystical patterns symbolsand#160;representing a blinding mashup of new and old India. What Eckstein produced is aand#160;singular portrait of the subcontinent distinctly Indian, and a vividly colored reflectionand#160;of this country in flux between tradition and modernity. Horn Please serves as aand#160;psychedelic guide to design in India, from the hand-painted lettering covering theand#160;trucks, to the mindboggling use of color, to the specifically Indian patterns and motifs,and#160;and a showcase of symbology and visual vernacular of the subcontinent.
