WaterAid India launches ‘The WASH Photo Project’ exhibition at DLF Promenade on World Water Day

on
20 March 2019
WASH photo project
Image: WaterAid/Prashanth Vishwanathan

7 Fellows I 10 States I 18 Locations | 1 Theme: Water

To raise awareness about the impact of lack of access to clean water on millions of people across the country, WaterAid India launched ‘The WASH Photo Project’ exhibition at DLF Promenade in Vasant Kunj, New Delhi. The 3-day long exhibition launches on World Water Day on March 22 and will continue till March 24.

The WASH Photo Project exhibition showcases the current reality of water – the crises and the solutions -- through the lens of visual narratives captured by seven amateur documentary photographers under the guidance of an esteemed mentor panel: Samar Singh Jodha – Photographer & Installation Artist; Prashanth Vishwanathan – Documentary Photographer; and Paroma Mukherjee – Photographer & Head, National Photo Desk, Hindustan Times.

With an intent to document strong visual narratives in urban and rural communities on the reality of water, WaterAid India launched its first ever documentary photography fellowship ‘The WASH Photo Project’ in July 2018. The aim of the fellowship was to encourage amateur documentary photographers to explore visual narratives around the themes of water, sanitation and hygiene in India – the three essentials for a decent life. The fellows have documented stories from remote rural locations like Gaya, Kanker and Alairajpur to issues faced in the heart of urban settlements like Delhi and Hyderabad.

With 600 million people facing high to extreme water stress and around 2,00,000 people dying every year due to inadequate access to safe water, India is suffering from ‘the worst ever water crises’ in its history. Given the severity of the water crisis, this year’s theme for the fellowship was water thus aiming to widen the fellows’ understanding on how access to clean water has a positive impact on an individual’s life, and how the lack of it can lead to unimaginable circumstances.

Nanditta Chibber, Head – Media & Communications at WaterAid India, said:

As the WASH Photo Project 2018 culminates with the work of the fellows at this exhibition -- their journey exploring, learning and documenting the reality of water from far flung and hard to reach rural areas to discovering the water crisis in urban settlements across the length and breadth of the country has been most fulfilling and fascinating. The fellows have gone beyond their comfort zone to document some hard-hitting stories around access to water, how the lack of it affects women, the severe health implications of contaminants in water to realising that the reach of clean water is not equal for everyone, something which most of us who’ll see it at DLF Promenade Mall take for granted. The fellowship was intended to introduce young photographers to the theme of water and handhold them as they document many facets of it. Under the guidance of Samar, Prashanth and Paroma, they all have done a brilliant job at capturing visual narratives. Their work encourages everyone who sees them to start conversations on water – that despite being one of the most essential elements for sustenance of life, how clean water is still a scarce resource and how millions of people struggle to access it everyday. Taking the opportunity of World Water Day, we at WaterAid India hope that we are able to start a conversation to value water more amongst everyone, especially young people through this exhibition.

To raise awareness and start conversations around the theme of water which many of us take for granted, the exhibition has been organised at DLF Promenade Mall – a high footfall mall to give mall-goers a glimpse of how millions still struggle to access clean water which many of us take for granted.

About DLF Promenade: A mall for the trend-conscious, by the virtue of its offerings, DLF Promenade has earned the distinction of being the city's only fashion destination. The mall caters to customers who are looking for a quality shopping experience coupled with a chic ambience. DLF Promenade not only boasts of some of the best brands in the fashion retail industry, it also offers some rather exclusive value additions. Housed in the mall are Kiddyland – the largest outdoor play area for kids, The Hub – a one of a kind open air lifestyle space comprising cafés, dancing fountain and the city's largest LED screen. With its strong anchors like Zara, Marks & Spencer, PVR Icon Cinemas and the Eat Food Lounge, DLF Promenade completes the mall experience for all its patrons. In addition to its fashion and beauty portfolio, the mall offers a strong mix of Food & Beverage brands. Offering a 360-degree shopping experience, DLF Promenade never fails to offer you your next moment of fashion.

ENDS

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Notes to Editors:

WaterAid

WaterAid is an international not-for-profit, determined to make clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene normal for everyone, everywhere within a generation. Only by tackling these three essentials in ways that last can people change their lives for good.

Working in India since 1986, WaterAid has successfully implemented water, sanitation, and hygiene projects, extending benefits to some of the poorest and most vulnerable communities across 13 of India’s 29 States.

For more information, visit www.wateraidIndia.in, follow @WaterAidIndia on Twitter, or visit us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/WaterAidIndia.

Mentor Profiles

Samar Singh Jodha: Samar is a photographer and artist. He has been commissioned by the likes of Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, BBC World Service Trust and the United Nations, and his work has been published and broadcasted by Nat Geo and Discovery Channel.

http://samarsinghjodha.com  

Prashanth Vishwanathan: Prashanth is a freelance documentary photographer. His work on political activism, visual sociology and news photojournalism has been featured extensively with newswires, newspapers, magazines, non-government organisations, and other feature agencies.

https://prashanth.photoshelter.com/index

Paroma Mukherjee: Paroma is a photographer and writer and heads the National Photo Desk at Hindustan Times. Interested in the social and visual landscape of the present, her photographs are in the permanent collection of the Kiyosato Museum of Photographic Arts, Japan. She has photographed extensively for various national and international publications.

https://paromamukherjee.wordpress.com/

Fellows Profiles

Aoun Hasan: A Lucknow born visual artist who has worked on environmental, religious, social projects and film making. With a Masters’ degree in Human Rights, Aoun has also completed a PG Diploma in visual communication. He aims to build his work on environment, history, culture, religion and politics.

As part of The WASH Photo Project, Aoun visited communities in Kanker, Chhattisgarh and Gaya, Bihar.

Meenal Upreti: A fashion communication student from National Institute of Fashion Technology, Bhubaneswar. She has tried her hands on different genres of photography but has finally discovered her passion in photojournalism. For her, it is not about clicking a picture; it is rather about creating art.

As part of The WASH Photo Project, Meenal visited communities in Jhabua, Alirajpur and Khandwa in Madhya Pradesh; Deogarh, Nuapada and Bhadrak in Odisha and urban slums in Delhi.

Poshali Goel: A fashion design graduate from Pearl Academy, Noida. After being introduced to various aspects of storytelling in college, she has gradually moved to the space of visual communication. She is now working with various organisations to have a better grassroots understanding.

As part of The WASH Photo Project, Poshali visited communities in Lucknow and Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh and urban slums in Delhi.

Proneet De Kashyap: A documentary photographer based in Delhi and Assam. After finishing college, Proneet worked with an NGO in the rural areas of Madhya Pradesh. The camera became a mode to get involved in the lives of the people and their stories, which taught him a lot. Proneet feels that having spent time on the field photographing people has made him a better person and he wants to keep at it.

As part of The WASH Photo Project, Proneet visited communities in Hojai, Assam and Dumka and Pakur in Jharkhand.

Rohit Kumar: A student of Diploma in video camera and lighting from Film and TV Studies of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Rohit has also studied photography from Sri Aurobindo Centre for Arts and Communications (2015-16). He interested in documentary videography and photography and wants to pursue that as a career. He is also interested in visual arts and likes to explore mix media and other experimental mediums.

As part of The WASH Photo Project, Rohit visited communities in Chittoor, Andhra Pradesh.

Sachin Mishra: A student of Bachelor of Design at M.S University of Baroda (Gujarat). Born in Bihar, Sachin is fond of travelling and documenting rare stories. He is working on a personal documentary project on the fishermen's of Khambhat, Gujarat and has also made a short film on food hygiene. He has contributed his work in magazines and newspaper, websites and other social networking sites. Documentary photography is something which interests Sachin, and he would love to continue in future.

As part of The WASH Photo Project, Sachin visited communities in Sehore, Madhya Pradesh.

Vansh Virmani: A journalism and mass communication student, Vansh finds photography to be a medium to express himself and the world around him. It provides him and the viewer with a window into the world he observes, enriching both in process.

As part of The WASH Photo Project, Vansh visited communities in Medak and slums in Hyderabad, Telangana.