Why
Did I choose to create a body of works
“The Real Women of India?
Photography
is my true passion, which I find fulfilling. On arriving in India I was amazed at the
strength the ‘Real’ Women of India portrayed.
Wherever I travelled throughout India, I could not get over the
resilience that these women show in their everyday life. Amongst a sea of humans the emotions of these
women shine above the pollution, crowds or extreme conditions and you cannot
help but admire such outlooks on life.
The best way I know how to capture this paradox of emotions is
through photography, a visual way to share some of these "jewels" with the world.
I
was invited to exhibit my work in Bangalore and Delhi, this was to be a new
experience for me. What is the best way
to show these images, who should be invited, did I require catalogues………..so
many questions?? Both
exhibitions were well attended and even the Ambassador of Oman with his wife
and the Maharaja Kamal Singh of Suket attended the
Delhi exhibition, what an honour.
So
why did I choose to associate my show The ‘Real’ Women of India with ROKO
Cancer? Like many of you reading this
article I have been touched with loved ones who have suffered Breast Cancer,
some fortunate to beat this disease, and some not so fortunate. I have seen the strength that these women
show while fighting this affliction, an inner strength that I can only imagine,
or indeed that even they did not realize they had. These unique strengths are also shown within
the ‘Real’ Women of India working in extreme conditions, carrying heavy loads
daily to earn a living to feed their families.
ROKO
Cancer was founded by a wonderful gentleman, APS Chawla who sadly lost his wife
at a young age to Breast Cancer and has now devoted his life to educating and
making awareness of this disease to help women identify abnormalities at an
early stage. The focus of ROKO Cancer in
India is to reach out to females in the suburban and rural areas, to provide them
with education and also examinations.
Currently ROKO Cancer has one mobile unit that is taken around such
areas but India is huge and one unit is not sufficient to address all the
regions. The proceeds from the sale of
selected framed photographs sold at the shows were fully donated to this
cause.
Having
had two successful shows in India, I was privileged to be invited to exhibit the
same body of works in Mayfair London.
The exhibition was inaugurated by Lord Sheik of Cornhill and again was
very well attended.
However
the one exhibition that has given me so much pleasure is the exhibition that
finished on 19th October 2012 at Bromley House in Nottingham, my
home county. For those that may be
unfamiliar with Bromley House, it is a private library dating back to the
1700’s. In 1804 the first photography
studio in Nottingham and the Midlands was set up in the attic. A dome was constructed to enable the photographer
to control light for their portraiture, an amazing building.
Through
the exhibitions and my journeys in India I was invited to write a monthly
column for Asian Photography magazine that is distributed throughout India and
also South Asia. I will be sharing some of these experiences throughout my series of blogs.
Follow
my “Real Women of India” blogs to hear about my challenges as a photographer in
such a diverse country, especially being commissioned to photograph the tribal people deep in Andhra Pradesh.
For
further information about The ‘Real’ Women of India visit www.ellejestudio.com
Lesley
Saunders
