Monday, June 2, 2008

Can I Have Some More?




'I want to take more photos.'



'I want to go to more places'.



'Can I spend more time here?'



'Show me more photos.'


In other words, can-I-have-some-more is what every child is asking for at the photo training workshop being run by Naandi Foundation at Sheopur in Madhya Pradesh.

Sheopur is a small remote town surrounded by miles and miles of forests with scattered tribal hamlets in them.

It is the height of summer and the markets here are overflowing with mangoes. You just can't ignore them. The smell of ripe mangoes is heady.

Sheopur however is better known for a run-down but charming fort on the banks of the Chambal river.



Rajendra Shaw is training children how to take pictures.
And he is also learning that they have an amazing point of view on everything


Presently it is abuzz with two events: an annual fair and our photo workshop. The fair lights up the night sky and has the usual attractions: the giant wheel, the merry-go round, the candy floss, the chaats and the iced mango pulp.

The photo workshop, however, is a bit unusual for Sheopur. School children from government schools from surrounding villages have invaded its population. Wearing sun hats, holding water bottles and with a compact camera sling on their wrists the children are shooting everything in sight and wanting more. They are everywhere: the fort, the fair, the streets, the markets and the nearby villages. They are clicking away: photos of their schools, their homes, their streets and any thing that interests them. Nothing escapes their lens: the heaps of mangoes, the cracks on the fort walls, the giant wheel against the faint blue sky, the cow squatting on the street, the colourful motifs on the walls of their village homes, the goats and the pots and pans. They just want more of everything.

Watch this space for more.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

must say our child photographers have done Naandi proud !! I am shutterbuff and I feel they have some masterpieces to show us .. all the best

Christopher Stanley

Anonymous said...

This is fantastic. I am really impressed with the blogsite. I hope to see all this as a book with lots of photographs. Hope all of it is being archived - with names and other details.

warmly,
Indira