KARUNA 06

"People robbed of their past make the most fervent photographers,” says the critic Susan Sontag. This newsletter is proof of that. In your hands is an experiment - at the heart of this publication are pictures taken by children and young people in Karuna-supported education projects. The photographers range in age from 8 to 16 and many of them had never held a camera before, let alone taken a photograph.

How have their pasts been stolen? For the students at the educational hostel in Chennai (formally Madras) it happened in a matter of minutes on Boxing Day 2004 as the giant waves of the tsunami washed away their villages, boats, crops, families and friends. In Kalimpong it is the stolen past of exile, since these are children of Tibetan refugees who have been fleeing their homeland ever since the Chinese invasion in 1959. In Pune (where Karuna first began its work in 1980) the theft is harder to see since it has been going on for thousands of years. Here the students are descendants of Dalits (ex-"untouchables") and other low caste and tribal communities. People who have been forced to the edge of society: the marginalised who are in danger of being further marginalised as India rushes headlong into the global economy.

At each project the challenge was simple: with a little training, would students like to take pictures to show us what’s significant in their lives. Then, through simple writing exercises, could they add their stories to the pictures?

For us it meant finding a new way to work, facilitating rather than leading the process. Instead of us deciding what’s important to photograph and write, the kids frame the storytelling in terms of their interests. Here is a different reflection on life in Karuna-supported projects. There’s exploration on all sides and a powerful sense of fun and discovery. In each situation the kids were buoyant, excited, and instantly showed signs of the kind of creativity an experiment like this really needs.

With camera in hand, the youngsters photographed their subjects in ways that only insiders can, capturing intimate moments in the inner lives of their communities. They notice and then photograph much that outsiders are rarely allowed to see, or even think to see.

Free of pre-judging their shots as "good" or "bad”, they responded directly to what interests and excites them to share. For girls in particular the camera lends a new power. Instead of deferring to how boys like to look at the world, suddenly girls had a licence to see and record what they decide is significant. With cameras in hand, their body language changes and they move and look with new confidence, interest and strength. One thing is clear: despite a history of deprivation these students are no victims.. Their potential was immediately apparent and their work shows a wealth of talent. Here are some results when - through your continued generosity - potential meets an opportunity for young people to show their own pictures and tell their own stories.

Pratap Rughani & David Keefe

David Keefe is a pubished poet and creative writing teacher.

Pratap Rughani is a photographer and award-winning documentary filmmaker.

They gave time to this project at a much reduced rate.

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