Photography: An Art Towards Social Change

By Faiyaz Hawawala:

Photography. What comes to you mind when you hear the word ‘photography‘ or ‘photographer’? Before some years when I used to hear those words, ‘expensive equipments, long zoom lenses, etc. owned by rich people’, were the thoughts which used to come to my mind. I guess that would be the same case with you too. But as I understood and felt photography closely, as I understood it as an art, as a science and as a different perspective, I was totally amazed at what wonders one such thing called ‘photography’ can do, except showing off your expensive equipments!

Thanks to my mentors in photography, that they helped me learn basics and develop a deep understanding about it. Photography is all about the perception, like any other art. But this art makes everything and everyone look more beautiful than they are, and one can create a thought or one can initiate a thought process and that where the photography also works towards bringing social change.

Photography may seem to be just a simple and easy form of art, but one photo may not only bring a small change but it may bring revolution, it may help in conservation, it may help people think, it initiatiates a thought in mind and which is very necessary in today’s world.

Recently I attended an exhibition on the theme: Trespass, by Devansh Jhaveri, When asked about the theme, he said the the reason to chose the theme trespass was because its reality that we generally trespass in others lives by being judgemental and there are many ways in which we generally trespass into others lives. The exhibition was one of its kind I had ever felt, the theme, the background music, the video playing there, the lights and of course the photos crying out loud the sadness, the pain and the loneliness among humans, which could never be expressed in any other form but photography. I could not resist going to the exhibition everyday at least two times, and each time I went there I could bring out a different perception of each photos. Each time I went there, the humans in the photos and also the ambience around was pulling me towards them and they were asking me a question. The question was a thought, a thought about the world, a thought about the indifferent and insensitive people all around me. It was about the feeling of indifference which I see in people around me in each one of us including me. Is it true that we are so insensitive and indifferent towards whatever happens around us?

Like the thoughtful and thought provoking photographer in Devansh tried portraying the simple but a heavy and strong message about our indifference towards various issues, we, in our individual lives can bring a lot of difference by being empathic towards each other and the world will be such a better place to live. Hence the more I explore photography and its dimensions, I explore myself more and that helps me feel my soul and I find myself in peace.