The -and-
White Histories of Homai Vyarawalla by deven kanal
The lone woman press photographer from a bygone era, her life was as extraordinary as her pictures Delhi, 4th March 1951. It’s the opening of the first Asian Games. A beaming Jawaharlal Nehru holds a white dove, waiting for the moment to release it skyward. Amidst those reporting that momentous event is a small, wiry woman in a sari with a twinlens Rolleiflex camera. She looks incongruous 138
among the other press photographers crowded there—all men. Prime Minister Nehru, always game for a fine photoop, knows her well, as do the capital’s other very important people. Homai Vyarawalla, then aged 37, was India’s first and only woman press photographer. Nehru releases the R E A D E R ’ S D I G E S T m ar c h 2 0 1 2
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R E A D E R ’ S D I G E S T m ar c h 2 0 1 2
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