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DON’T SHOOT QUANTITY, SHOOT QUALITY
DEMOCRATIC PHOTOGRAPHIC REPUBLIC OF INDIA
MASS GATHERINGS AT KUMBH MELA PORTRAITS OF HIV
An interview with Sanjit Das
Photographic Project of Nishant Ratnagar
Photographic Project of Peter Caton
From the Editor
A teacher of mine once told me that change is the only constant in life. That’s certainly true for the entire editorial team here, which has spent the better part of a year working tirelessly to change Contour for the better. You saw evidence of that for yourself late last year, when we redesigned this site. Now it’s the magazine’s turn: With our September issue, we’re unveiling a new look for Contour. We hope you like what you see. Dan Bishop, our design director and Alison Mackey, senior graphic designer worked hard to develop and implement a design that’s elegant, eyecatching and easy to navigate. Once of the most obvious changes, as you’ve probably already noted, is our
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new logo, our first in seven years. We’ve also adopted a new tagline, “Shoot for the Curious,” which we think is a more appropriate motto for us. Whether you read us in print or online, you represent a readership that loves photography and shares a deep, abiding curiosity about the world around you. With every story we post here, with every issue, with every day, we’re committed to satisfying that curiosity. Quite a few readers noted the absence of our popular Vital Signs column this issue and wondered if it had been eliminated as part of Contour’s redesign. Not to worry: Vital Signs just took a brief vacation this month. It’ll be back in October, and in future issues of Contour.
November, 2014
Contents Cover Story Interview with Documentary Photographer
Sanjit Das 10 Mass Gatherings at Kumbh Mela and Portraits of HIV by Peter Caton
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Featured Article
Mass Gatherings at Kumbh Mela by
Peter Caton 15 The Democratic Republic of india Project by Nishant Ratnakar
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Minor Minors by Suzanne Lee
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November, 2014
Cover story
Don’t shoot quantity shoot quality Interview With Documentary Photographer Sanjit Das 1 CONTOUR
Hi Sanjit, can you please introduce yourself.
I am a self-taught Indian photographer living between two Asian cities – New Delhi and Kuala Lumpur and I mainly work on stories worldwide. My keen interest in social issues is evident in my role as a chronicler, documenting India’s rapid transformation from rural economy to a global superpower. I find it extremely interesting how photography offers me to focus on the people who are living and dreaming through this rapid change. I am represented by Panos Pictures Agency. In 2007, I was featured in a book showcasing contemporary Indian artists, ‘Made by Indians’ published by Gallerie Enrico Navarra November, 2014
I spent few days with Jonas and photographed in my own stylized ways while he was patiently working on his own water project that was published in the National Geographic Magazine earlier this year. It was such a good learning process of watch him work on a project.
What does photography mean to you?
I think of myself as a chronicler of sorts, my role as a photographer is merely to share what I see, and bring it to a wider audience. I, by no way, wish to influence my audience with what I notice but I almost always want to tickle their imagination a bit. Using photography as a tool, I want to pose a question, wishing them to stop and think for a while and it all goes beyond thinking about what ‘we’ have and what ‘they’ don’t but look at a larger picture and the issues. What inspired you to take up Documentary Photography? I am not a single image-maker. Though single photos are powerful, most of the historic images are single images, but I was (and still am) always drawn to a narrative form of photography. I like spending time with my subjects; I really like to talk to them, share a chai (tea) or break bread with them and then eventually take their photographs. This longform photography gives more confidence to the subjects that I am there to listen to what they have to say, do justice to the project that I am working on, and to communicate better. I am not a participant, but an observer and this is what I mean by saying that I am a mere chronicler. CONTOUR
How would you define your style of photography?
All my personal projects fall into the category of long-form documentary photography. My editorial work is however, different, depending on what the clients expect me to do. All of it falls under the category of documentary styled photography.
What is the hardest part of being a documentary photographer?
Back in the days, the news organizations would send photographers for long lengths of time and they could spend a lot more time working on a project but now with shrinking budgets, photographers get very little time to work on stories. Making a career out of photography is more difficult now. It should have been a lot easier with the evolution of digital technology and accessibility of traveling. There are a lot of photographers out there, some doing phenomenal work. Today, with all these photographers around and the photographer need to know how to narrate a story differently just like Susan Sontag once said, “…every story you ever want to do, is already done, you can only do.
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Cover story
43-year-old Suresh Kumar Dash’s family helps him on his betel leaf farm in village Dhinkhia, in Orissa, India. Proposed steel project would displace all families of this village so they are determined not to leave their soil. If the plant is constructed, the villagers from Dhinkia will be the first ones to be displaced.
You will be known for the kind of work you do and hence its important for you to be sure of what you’re doing. it differently
What is the most interesting place you have Can you please share some tips towards encountered for documentary photography? documentary photography for our users? There are stories everywhere. India is a mine full of stories; one just has to look for them. There are a few stories in Malaysia that I intend to work on as well but I need to spend more time in Malaysia for me to embark on one such story. You captured portraits of famous people in India.
It’s extremely important for a photographer to be committed to what one wants to shoot. It’s however more important to respect the surroundings/culture where one is shooting. Patience is a virtue, and is an asset to have as a documentary photographer.
Can you please share some interesting story Looking back at your work, which story when you capture them? makes the strongest impression on you? I once had an assignment to photograph Ratan Tata in his hotel in New Delhi. I had set up the lights etc an hour before the appointment. I greeted him and told him I needed to spend some time to take some portraits of him. Before the shoot, he tells me that he had had an eye operation and didn’t want the lights to face him directly, and also told me I had only 3 minutes to photograph him. I rearranged the lights quickly, shot a few frames and then suddenly, he quite politely, walked off. Fortunately, I had my money shot!
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I have spent a considerable amount of time working on the land rights issue in India. Both the industry and the farmers are at loggerheads with each over land, but the issue of land rights and its connection to industries is badly represented in India. Farmers distrust the government and feel they are being asked to sacrifice far more than the compensation and re-settlements are able to provide. I feel my work is an important means to carry the message of their social and emotional association courage, and their right to dignity. November, 2014
A young Dongria Kondh man consumes the local drink after a long day of hunting. Village Khambesi is the remotest of the villages and is closest to the mining site and will be directly affected by mining in Orrisa.
Villagers of the Dongria Kondh tribe gather around after the day of hunting in the jungles of Niyamgiri Hills. Niyamgiri hills and the tribes come under direct threat of extinction because of expansion and mining plans of the aluminium company, Vedanta. CONTOUR
4 November, 2014
Cover story
An old women consoles another woman while she mourns the death of a family member at the transit camp in Badagabapur, in Orissa. Posco Transit Camp is being set up for people who have been driven out of their villages for being pro-Posco, where they live on the side of a highway on $80 a day shared between 195 people.
Jema Banara shows the photo of her father, Ameen Banara in their house in Balighato village in Kalinga Nagar area in Orissa. Ameen was shot during a peaceful protest on May Day (May 1st 2008) by TATA goons outside the ROHIT factory in Kalinganagar Industrial area.
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An anti Posco sign is seen on a house wall in village Dhinkia in Orissa, India. The local population of small villagers along the proposed Posco site have started a campaign and do not want to give away their land for the proposed Posco factory.
Women gather at the transit camp in Badagabapur, in Jagatsinghpur, Orissa. Posco Transit Camp is being set up for people who have been driven out of their villages for being pro-Posco, where they live on the side of a highway on $80 a day shared between 195 people. CONTOUR
6 November, 2014
Cover story
Bansidhar Bhola is a fisherman and here he poses inside his hut with his grandson, Hemanta Orissa, India. Bhola’s hut is the closest to the entry gate of the village. The roads leading to the village are under surveillance and these villagers have formed an agitating group, to oppose the construction of Posco port in their village.
India. The huge bauxite deposits in Niyamgiri have led the Vedanta group to set up an alumina refinery at Lanjigarh, making the tribals apprehensive about their habitat. The UK based Vedanta Resources has come under immense pressure from human rights and environmental groups to abandon its plans to mine at the Niyamgiri mountains in Orissa.
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India. Raju was shot on his left shoulder during a police shootout on the agitators on January 2nd 2006 and later spent 2 weeks in hospital. Despite vehement protests from political and social activists over acquisition of land, the Tatas are confident of going ahead with the setting up of the 6 million tonne steel plant at Kalinganagar.
A cycle amongst other things like suitcase, few clothes in a bundle and pots were the few belongings that the Kondh’s brought with them when they were displaced from their land. The Government’s agreement with Vedanta Alumina to allow mining of bauxite deposits in the Niyamgiri hills, the home of the Dongaria Kondha tribe, is an example CONTOUR
8 November, 2014
FEATURE STORY
THE DEMOCRATIC PHOTOGRAPHIC REPUBLIC OF INDIA The Democratic Photographic Republic of India is a project that celebrates the democracy in photography craft that is seen all over the world today. The subjects of this project are the non-professional wedding photographers at Indian weddings. These photographers are essentially the invited guests at a wedding – the family and friends of the couple who are getting married. They are not the photographers who were commissioned to photograph the weddings. In fact, It was I who was commissioned to photograph these weddings, and in the course of these assignments I pursued this project on the sidelines.
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The project started with the first ever wedding that I was commissioned to shoot, and it continues to evolve with every new wedding I am asked to photograph. The landscape of these “family & friends” photographers has evolved along with the evolution of cameras. In the beginning, I noticed a very few guests who used to carry a pocket camera to weddings. As camera technology evolved, first came the early DSLR camera owners. Soon, they were followed by legions of DSLR users. And the way our phones evolved, cameras became more affordable and found their November, 2014
The landscape of these “family & friends” photographers has evolved along with the evolution of cameras.The line between professional photographers and amateur photographers is blurring.
and charged Indian wedding setting. I personally celebrate the democracy in photography, as it broke down entrylevel barriers to the craft and also removed the monopolies that existed in photography world. Today, everyone is in a position make a photograph from their own perspective and communicate to their audience. The line between professional photographers and amateur photographers is blurring. I have seen many terrible professional photographers, and brilliant amateur photographers. It is futile and silly to stereotype a category of these photographers based on general assumptions. I do not want to curse this ‘democracy’. A windfall change always brings with it a disruption of existing structures and institutions. The democracy in photography has precisely done that.
way into new devices like smart phones and tablets. Today, every cousin, friend, uncle, aunt, grandpa, neighbor and colleague is armed with a camera or photographic device in hand, and will not hesitate to make images at a loved one’s wedding. Their diversity became an important ethnographic project for me. Many professional wedding photographers probably find this democracy a hindrance to their work. But I, though at few occasions found the space crowded, have otherwise enjoyed shooting in between the already chaotic CONTOUR
In my opinion, one should not try to curb or discourage this democracy. Instead, we should encourage visual literacy and photography education for the mainstream. This would improve the quality of the visual communication seen in our daily lives. After all, the ways of seeing this world is as important as handling the camera when it comes to becoming a photographer. The world photography day is observed every year on 19th August. Its origins mark the anniversary of the patenting of the first practical photographic process the Daguerreotype. Personally, I’d like to see the day to celebrate the democracy of this craft To be able to photograph a subset of our universe from our individual perspectives and be able to share with the rest of the world. Long live this democracy!
10 November, 2014
FEATURE STORY
The family and friends of the couple getting married. They are not the photographers who were commissioned to photograph the weddings. In fact, It was I who was commissioned to photograph these weddings, and in the course of these assignments I pursued this project on the sidelines. Bangalore, 2010.
On the prosperous and holy day of the marriage, even non enthusiasts become passionate and avid photographers to relive the joyous and happy moments with the couple and their near and dear ones
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The holy seer also wants to see the world through a different perspective. A Hindu priest also wants to capture the right moment forever. This is the best contrast of culture and progress.
With a serious expression on their face both men stand shoulder to shoulder. With their respective tools in their hands they stand to shoot at sight. The only difference is that one captures the moment and enriches lives while the other causes irreversible damage. CONTOUR
12 November, 2014
Regular Features
Polio eradication initiative in India In remote villages and urban slums, an army of experts and committed volunteers is fighting what could be the final battle in an age-old war. The polio eradication campaign is the largest non-military, global enterprise ever. It involves dozens of organizations, scores of governments, thousands of health workers and millions of volunteers. In a world of AIDS, malaria and other health crises, the eradication of polio would demonstrate that humankind can triumph over nature.Since campaigns began in 1996, India has
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made remarkable progress, reducing polio cases from up to an estimated 100,000 a year to fewer than 70 in 2004, to date (September ’04). The Polio Eradication Partnership (GOI, The World Health Organization (Rotary International, along with the US Centers for Disease Control) has set a target to eradicate polio from India by the first half of 2005. However, health workers face major obstacles in defeating the virus once-and-for-all. In a country with a population of over one billion, most of which live in remote villages November, 2014
Sephi Bergerson is an Israeli-born photographer who has lived and worked in India since 2002 and photographed the country’s polio eradication campaign since 2004.
or heavily congested areas, it is virtually impossible to keep an accurate database of newborn children. Some communities resist polio immunization, but ultimately it is a lack of funds and patchy commitment that could endanger the success of the mission. The cost of failure would be staggering. If the campaign loses steam and immunization rates drop, polio could quickly re-emerge and threaten a whole new generation of children, even in places that have long been polio-free. CONTOUR
14 November, 2014
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November, 2014
Photograph of the Month by Hari Menon (Freelance Professional Photographer) Aadi Vedan-The monsoon warrior Kutti theyyam performed during the monsoon time of Malayalam calender “Karkidakam� believed as reincarnation of Lord Shiva
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Contour Magazine Documenting India, as it should be. A photography weekly.