One lazy afternoon, after finally quitting my god forsaken job at the art gallery and whilst cursing my ex-boss for delaying my salary cheque, I decided to visit the photography workshop that the Dharavi team had been working on, for a long time. The objective of this workshop was to make a few kids, from the local NGO SNEHA, aware about the many facets of photography, to help them see beyond a 4X6 or a passport size photograph and pursue this visual medium to capture and convey their own thoughts. Visual medium has always been the best mode of communication, be it for adults or children and nothing can be more communicative than photography to convey a message.
I had never attended a photography workshop or a workshop of any sorts and hence I was clueless what to expect in here. For a good hour long wait at the workshop, we saw some 10 sleepy yet smiling faces appear inside the room. Out of the many not-so-enthusiastic faces, some excitedly ran towards the computer as soon as they entered the workshop area to show their piece of art to Anuja.
Meanwhile, to ward off the sleepy evils in other kids, we conducted an introduction session, to introduce, well..ummm...‘ME’. Their eyes went wide open in amazement when I said ‘I was a writer’ and this time I was on the other side of the interview table- I was being interviewed. “Writer, what do you write about” asked Bhima. Rohit interjected “We have a college magazine, you can contribute in it. We won’t pay you or mention a credit but definitely publish it, but kindly hurry up; the space is fast filling, as it will be circulated in 200 colleges.” “Since how long have you been writing? Interrogated Riddhi.
Much to my relief the focus was shifted back to photography after our tea arrived. As we sipped the cutting chai, I finally got the much awaited chance to ask them a few questions about themselves. The major concern of my issue was to learn ‘what motivated them to take up this workshop, when clearly they have a lot to manage in a day- their jobs, college, household chores and studies.’ the remaining component of the issue compelled me to understand ‘How differently do they understand photography now as compared to their understanding prior to taking up this workshop?’
For Riddhi a photograph was merely a passport size picture for official use only, the workshop has helped her to evolve and to see beyond just a mere face with a white background. For her the most insignificant things now hold equal importance. ‘Every little thing is good enough to be photographed’ she thinks.
Photography has helped Rohit to explore a place where he was born and brought up “I am not allowed to loiter around in Dharavi like other boys. My parents are very particular that I stay indoors when I am not at school, but the other day I was permitted to go out only to take pictures for the workshop. So a friend accompanied me, we went taking a lot of pictures from 11am-7pm. You won’t believe I discovered alot of places around in here that I had never seen before.”
As said right by American documentary photographer and photojournalistDorothea Lange “Where there is perhaps a province in which the photograph can tell us nothing more than what we see with our own eyes, there is another in which it proves to us how little our eyes permit us tosee.”
Check out the Photos from the workshop below..
