FROM THE FEMINIST LENS
The Hindu, India
July 9 2013
by Surekha Kadapa-Bose
Women photographers travel the globe recording stories of triumphs
and tribulations of the world as they see it
“The camera gives me power and I become brave,” says Anahit
Hayrapetyan, 32, a photojournalist based in Yerevan, the historical
capital city of Armenia, a former Soviet bloc country. “It’s not easy
for me to go out with a camera in my hands but once I am out there,
everything changes. My camera is my motivation, my interest, my soul,
my tears… [It’s my] life,” adds the talented lens-woman.
Photographing the life and times of girls and women in her country
has been like a mission for Anahit ever since she started taking
pictures in 2005. Although she admits she has an emotional connect
with every story she has clicked, one of her most moving works yet
has been the ‘Princess to Slave’ project that depicts the various
forms of violence Armenian women face – be it physical, sexual,
psychological or gender discrimination.
Like Anahit, Russia-born Irina Popova, 27, also trains her lens on
the everyday woman. From photographing an unusual family living on
the streets of St Petersburg to covering a war zone, she has done
varied work.
Anahit and Irina are part of an increasing tribe of women
photojournalists from around the world, who are using their evocative
photography to showcase the diverse challenges faced by women. They
may be living in Tver (Russia), Paris (France) or Yerevan (Armenia),
but they willingly travel to far-flung regions like Abkhazia, Cuba,
Morocco or India to shoot women and present their hitherto unexpressed
fears, apprehensions and problems.
Violence against women is a subject dear to Anahit’s heart. As part
of ‘The Other Side Of Europe’ project, which has roped in various
well-known photographers from Eastern Europe to present an “inside
view” of the region, she writes, “I believe that problems can be
solved only if we speak out; otherwise they will stay hidden in our
society, and the society will stay sick….hiding violence can bring
death…Women must know their rights and bring these problems out
into the open.”
Anahit recalls an incident involving the death of a young woman. “It
was the funeral of a young, pregnant and beautiful woman. She was in
white… her family wasn’t rich. While her family insisted that she
was killed, the husband’s family maintained that she had committed
suicide. At that time my son had just been born. I had to go to their
house then return to feed my son and then go back there again.
Emotionally, it was one of the most difficult days of my life,” reveals
this mother of two, who has worked with National Geographic Traveller
Armenia, Institute for War & Peace Reporting and Radio Free Europe/
Radio Liberty, among others.
It’s the unusual subjects that attract the artist in Irina,
who has many accolades to her name, including the title of the
Best Photographer of Russia, which she won in The Best Photo Story
category. The works she has produced over the last few years clearly
demonstrate her interests – she has photographed Cuban women, captured
Georgia during war, and even told the story of two-year-old Anfisa and
her parents, who are punks and heavy drug abusers. The last feature
created quite a sensation in the Western media.
“I love to interact with people who are not part of ‘real’ life. I too
had no ‘real life’ and that’s why I took up photography. I [love to]
travel for my stories and pick out my destinations [depending on what
interests me],” she says.
One such destination Irina chose was strife-torn Georgia, located in
Eastern Europe. Over the last couple of decades, relations between
Russia and Georgia have been quite tense, especially because of
Moscow’s support for separatist sentiments in Abkhazia and South
Ossetia. Irina has been a witness to the violence that had unfolded
in Abkhazia some years ago. She recalls, “I reached there a month
before the war. When I saw a Russian military camp in the actual
conflict zone I started to shoot immediately. There were about a
hundred tanks crossing over from the Russian side.”
On that occasion Irina was arrested and questioned for an entire day.
The authorities deleted all her pictures, even the ones that were not
related to the war zone. While she was shaken up by the incident –
“as a photographer if you witness something unwanted then you’re in
real danger” – she does not regret her decision to go there.
While Anahit and Irina tell stories of social impact, war, drugs,
subcultures and faith, Italian Guia Besana, 41, who is based in Paris,
is equally at ease with shooting a corporate project for a leading
international chain of coffee shops or portraying the lonely lives of
AIDS victims in Swaziland. A Marie Claire Photography Award (2012)
finalist, whose works have been recognised on various photography
platforms, Guia says, “All my projects have touched me. ‘Traces’,
which was about AIDS victims left a very deep impression on me as
did the project ‘She’, a poignant story that expressed the conflict
of Laura, the first man in Italy who underwent a sex-change surgery.”
On her website, Guia describes how she is “very drawn to my subjects
that have conflict and contradictions”. She describes her meeting
with Laura, “I listened to her story trying to fix gestures that could
well represent her strong personality. I discovered an elegant woman,
an excellent cook, a wise and creative friend…. My desire was to
bring alive this project through images representing my personal
vision of her, her disguises, of fiction and non fiction, showing a
fragment of her soul.”
Of course, it isn’t easy doing the kind of work these women do. As
is evident from Irina’s experience, many a time they not only face
the wrath of the State but also public ire. Irina puts it this way,
“Everyone asks what a photographer does when s/he sees a situation
that needs intervening. That’s a heavy moral dilemma. But there are
also times when a photographer becomes the victim. I feel photographers
in general face a lot of aggression.”
Anahit adds, “Very often I do face problems from the police and even
ordinary people but I try not to notice them. The main idea is to
just go out and start taking pictures.”
What about the time they invest in striking a relationship with their
subjects? Do they go back once they have moved on to something new?
All of them unanimously declare that they make it a point to stay
in touch. Anahit still tracks the lives of the refugees she met in a
building as part of her maiden project. She says, “The kids from that
building are now living in apartments. They have all grown up. One
of them is a boxing champion in Armenia now. Soon, I plan to shoot
a small story about him [and his journey of becoming] a boxer.”
The protagonists of her ‘Cuban Women’ project are still in touch with
Irina and have even sought her help in finding eligible Western men!
“Occasionally, I show these photos to my audience, telling them the
stories of these girls and asking if anyone would be interested in
marrying one of them. Usually, people simply laugh,” reveals Irina.
Women photographers are indeed a unique species – they take risks,
they make lasting relationships with their subjects, they strive to
capture unseen realities. And they do all this in the hope of making
the world a better place. (Women’s Feature Service)
http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Delhi/from-the-feminist-lens/article4895013.ece