Living on the edge
People in slums are born photogenic, says ace photographer Raghu Rai. “There is nothing to hide for Delhi slum dwellers. They face the camera like no other,” says Raghu.
After years of photography, he says, slums are one place he came across as the most camera-friendly.
It was about three years back that he was approached to take pictures in the slums of the city as part of a campaign by an independent child rights organisation ‘Save The Children’ in partnership with Magnum photos — a multi-country project which included India.
What began as an initial probe in the slums of Delhi to capture the deplorable condition of health among women and children has now grown into a full-fledged photo book Outside the Margins.
The book was launched along with a four-day long photo exhibition in the city recently.
Raghu recalls the first day when he visited the slums of North-West Delhi to click pictures. “I was overwhelmed to see how every square inch of space was eked out by the people in which they live — neighbours are often separated from each other by nothing but a curtain,” he recalls.
Delhi slums are mostly a precarious sprawl of slipshod brickwork and corrugated roofing, he says. “And how it all stays up is something one can only guess but never know exactly,” says a surprised Raghu.
It was this ‘invisible’ reality that he decided to make ‘visible’ through his photographs. Speaking at the launch of the photo book, Thomas Chandy, CEO of Save the Children said, “We do hope that with our efforts we will be able to create a nation where every child counts.”
The book, says Raghu, focuses on the reality of millions of underprivileged children. However, Raghu insists, “I have no illusions about changing the world through these pictures. But by sharing them with responsibility, I hope they will touch people to some extent, and create an environment where people are more aware of, and sensitive to, the glaring disparities and contradictions that mark everyday life in India. Especially the children who are the future of the nation.”
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