"A Diminishing Line" Introduction by Sabine Kutt
© Richa Bhavanam
Sabine Kutt is the VJIC theme editor for "Only Women Can Do That"
Introductory words by Sabine Kutt
When Sandeep Biswas asked me if I would write the introductory words to his exhibition about female Indian photographers, my spontaneous question was: Where does your interest in doing an exhibition about female photographers come from? His answer was clear and deeply humanistic: “My interest was not women photographers initially but the subject of gender and equality among women in India. Ironically, I couldn’t find any male photographers who were looking into these subjects. I have travelled the length and breadth of my country as a social and travel documentary photographer. I have many times observed gender inequality and it troubles me to see the disparity.”
From these experiences Sandeep decided to organize an exhibition of four female photographers, dealing with the issue of equality: Paromita Chatterjee, Richa Bhavanam, Ruhani Kaur, and Uzma Mohsin. They are his colleagues to whom he gives respect and recognition.
All four photographers are well-known in the sea of male colleagues. Their work is published in India and is in demand internationally.
Ruhani Kaur documents Safoora Zargar, a student from the New Delhi university Jamia Millia Islamia, the National Muslim University. She was the first woman protester coming from this highly male dominated space. Safoora had the courage to fight for the right of women to demonstrate. She feels the reason women are taking to the streets is because the country has done great injustice to them. She believes that India has failed its women in so many ways that they have lost faith in men. She also believes that men are not capable anymore of running this country.
Football is a very popular game in the Bengal, and Paromita Chatterjee shows in her photo series how football can change the life of girls, especially when they are coming from marginalized groups of the society. School dropouts, child marriage, domestic violence, sexual assault, and human trafficking are a few issues in a long list that girls are facing.
Uzma Mohsin turns her interest also to women in sports, but specifically to boxing. Since 2001, when boxing was introduced in India, women boxers have given India many world champions. There are an estimated one thousand women boxers. This is an astonishingly high number in woman’s sport considering the short time window.
Richa Bhavanam photographed changing gender representation in Yakshagana.
Yakshagana is a dance drama, originating between the 11th and 16th centuries, remaining a predominately male practice until recently. Women now take the stage and participate as equals in the performing art space that solely belonged to men for hundreds of years.
The presentation of these four female photographers is a powerful and thought-provoking exhibition which helps us to see the world through the eyes of Indian women.