சென்னை ...நம்ம சென்னை : Chennai Shutterbugs add human touch to street photography

Wednesday, October 1, 2014

Chennai Shutterbugs add human touch to street photography

When Brandon Stanton, the founder of The Humans of New York (HONY)
page, was in India recently , he took the city of Delhi by storm -such
was the popularity of the `street photographer' from New York, who
travels the world, capturing stunning portraits of people you see
on the street every day . However, what is more touching than the
photographs are often the conversations that these people have
with him, which can either leave you smiling or crying.

The phenomenal movement, which started out small, has now
snowballed into a revolution of sorts, inspiring spirited people to
start off similar pages in their own cities. Namma Chennai has
two such groups -the Humans of Madras (HOM) and
the Humans of Chennai (HOC).

Here's their story. HUMANS OF MADRAS
Beginnings:
Abhishek Dash, 17, has been taking photographs since he turned
a teenager, while Varshita, 16, who came to Chennai just two years
ago from Bangkok, is a multi-tasker -with varied interests including
music, photography and volunteering. “The idea of Humans of Madras (HOM),“
they say, “stemmed out of spontaneity. We came up with it in one of
our free periods.We had a bunch of photographers in our circle of friends,
and this was an amazing way to gain exposure, learn more about the
people we're surrounded by .“
Inspiration is just a click away:
Talking about how HONY inspired them, Abhishek says, “One of the
biggest influences Stanton's work has had on me is my attitude towards
taking pictures of strangers.He's helped me be bold in approaching people,
something that's paid off a lot.“
The first shot: “My first subject was an auto driver called Vasu. He was
amazingly nice to me, and waived ten rupees off my fare because he
liked the picture that much! Just before I got off, he gave me his
brother's email ID, so that he could get the photo printed one day ,“
says Abhishek, adding, “He didn't tell me much of his story ,
but I didn't need that to gather that he was a kind human.“
Talking point:
“The toughest part about getting people in the city to open up,“ says Varshita,
“is the language barrier. Both Abhishek and I aren't good with Tamil.
Also, I think besides children and grandparents, people are not too keen
on allowing two teenagers take pictures of them for a website.
But we're really trying to get everyone to open up to us and share
their own little stories and experiences with us.“
Most memorable picture:
Says Abhishek, “Two years ago, I was in Neelankarai, at the fish market.
One of the fisherwomen pointed o u t t o me this older woman who was
busy daydreaming. Right after I got her picture, she noticed what
I was doing, shocked. Everyone else started laughing, and eventually,
so did the older lady.That's when my love for street photography
truly began.“ HUMANS OF CHENNAI:
Beginnings:
Photography is what connected Ajay Haridas, the managing director of
a private concern in the city and Jayanthi Kanderi, a headhunter from Atlanta.
Together, they started off the Humans of Chennai (HOC). Living in the US,
the yearning to connect back to her hometo wn, is what inspired Jayanthi to
start Jayanthi to start HOC. “I const an tly look out for ph oto blogs and pages
that take me on a journey, but I wanted to know more about the humans
that make Chennai what it is. I looked for a page like HONY on Chennai and
didn't find one. Every time I read a story on HONY, I longed to read more
about people of my hometown.“ Adds Ajay , “The concept of meeting
strangers in your city and asking them questions about their personal
life, was a kind of thrilling. I checked out the HONY page and was
astonished at the kind of questions to which peo ple had answered.
This got me inter ested and since I like meeting people and understanding
their psycholo gy , I decided to give it a shot.“
Inspiration is just a click away:
So, how does HONY's work inspire the duo? “Just the sim plicity of HONY
is inspiring enough. The people are real and the stories are real.
That's just so moving.“
The first shot:
Says Ajay , “It was of a secu rity guard at an apartment complex in Kilpauk.
He is from Nepal and stays away from his family of a wife and three kids,
because Chennai offers great working environ ment and a good salary ,
which he sends back to his village. He hasn't seen them in a year now.
I asked him, `since you work as a security here, what is your great est
fear?' He said, “I am a Nepali. I don't fear anything!'.“
Talking point:
Talking about how easy or difficult it is to get people to open up, Jayanthi
says, “all you have to do is ask and be willing to listen. People will tell
you their stories.“ Ajay concurs. “If you talk to them when they are not busy ,
and explain to them what you are doing, people generally open up.
Plus, once they get started, they tell you so much -it is simply amazing.“
Most memorable picture:
“The most memorable picture that I have taken is of Sachin Tendulkar
during his visit to Chennai. But the most interesting one is that of a
star hotel's GM about how he handles pressure,“ says Ajay .