Chak de patte!!!!! F.O.E rocks Punjab

Whhhheeeeeeee!!!!! F.O.E reached Bhatinda! Yup. After an exhilarating 6-day stint in Sheopur, Madhya Pradesh, Freedom of Expression is now testing waters in the land of five rivers -- Punjab *gee*

We reckon testing waters, becoz, it's the first location for the F.O.E team to rub shoulders with men and women from the community. We presume, [comparatively that is] it must have been a cakewalk for master photographer Shaw and his team to groom children in photography. It's a given that different strategies exist to teach children and grown-ups irrespective of what needs to be taught. But what do you do, when you have a combination of both children and grown-ups seeking to learn the same subject at the same time?

[Uggghhhh...complex right?]

Well, Shaw and his team have saved us from racking our brains to come up with a solution. For, they are already on Ground Zero and enjoying every minute of teaching a vibrant team of 3 children and 9 men and women. [And of course savouring lassi, makki-ka-roti, and sarson-ka-saag :-D:-D].

So, stay tuned for updates on F.O.E's Punjab sojourn.

"I realised it was time to pack my bags and move on...."

If you ask me as a trainer which session was the most exciting for the children at the Sheopur photography workshop, and expect me to say ‘shooting’ that would be incorrect.
While shooting did generate high excitement because of the rides, new places and the freedom to use the camera, it was the review of their photos that the children most eagerly looked forward to.
Every shoot was followed by a review: what worked, what didn’t and why. And despite being tired after the outing in the scorching sun, children were the first to assemble in the hall awaiting results of their efforts.
Enlarged photos were shown to them and the photographer will share what made him or her click that image, what worked out and what didn’t. Then the rest of the children will share their comments. Unlike adults children need no coaxing to comment on each others photos. They were forthright. And as the images were projected on to a screen one after the other, children's comments just followed:

‘She has cut off the top of the fort. She could have turned the camera to the vertical position to include it.’

‘The house is small. He should have gone closer, it would then be a better photo’

‘The people are too stiff, they could have been more at ease’

‘I like the reflection of the tree in the water, I too would like to try it’

And when an image appeared on the screen which almost everybody felt was a perfect picture and clapped for it, Prithiviraj Meena, Std IV, GPS Bijarpur, Sheopur, stood up and drew our attention to a subtler aspect:

‘Bahoot achcha hai lekin thoda soonsan hai’ [A perfect picture but looks a bit deserted]

I realised it was time for me to pack my bags and move on to the next workshop at Bhatinda, Punjab.

Author: Rajendra Shaw, a freelance photographer is training children, men and women through Naandi's Freedom of Expression project.

Overheard...

Photographer: Ankita Chowhan, Class: Std IV, Government Primary School, Sheopur

Date: June 3rd, 2008, Location: Chambal River

"There's something very different about this picture. Something that's invisible to the common eye. Look closely, focus and then you can feel the movement of the objects plying on the bridge and objects living in the water. Buses, motorcycles, autorickshaws, fishes in the river they are all there.......Yes. They are there where they ideally should be.

Okay, before you start fretting why you can't see them, let me tell you that they are all invisible because....

.....

it's becoz....

.....

....mmmm.................I actually never shot them!!! *geeeee* I just wanted the bridge in isolation. And there it is, in its solitary splendour posing just for me."

Overheard by the blog writer during luncheon conversation between Ankita and her group.

Happy World Enivronment Day....

Photographer: Nisha Jangid, Class: Std V, Government Primary School, Sheopur
Date: June 2nd, 2008 Location: Doob Kund, 60 kms away from Sheopur city

Take a two minutes to look at the picture. Exactly two minutes. 120-119-118-117-116....
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60-59-58-57-56-55...
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5-4-3-2-1-0. Okay stop now. And don't worry. We ain't inviting your thoughts this time :-((( sorry folks!!
What we want to share with you is how the thought-process of young children is shaping up when they are given a tool and a skill to express ideas.

Read the conversation between Manisha, one of the participants and Nisha who shot the picture at Doob Kund and you will figure out what we are talking about.

Nisha: "Wow! This place is picturesque. I'll go for a wide angle shot."
Manisha: "I bet you should stand right there. And don't zoom in. Just take a long shot."
Nisha [looks through the viewfinder]: "Oh! There's no headspace. Not all pillars are in the frame. I'll step back."
Takes few steps back .... but something catches her attention and she instantly changes her subject of focus.

Manisha: "What are you shooting? That looks like a broken piece of a wall or may be a pillar. Yeah. That's what it is."

Unperturbed, Nisha is busy arranging her frame (both camera's and her mind)

Manisha: "What on earth are you shooting????!!!!"
Nisha's camera answered: Click-Click-Click.
Manisha: "????!!! Whhhhaaatttt?"
Nisha's camera again: More clicks. Vertical. Horizontal. And some more clicks.
Manisha: "???????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!??????????Eeeehhhh!!!"

A little later, Nisha turned to explain: "Don't you think it's a wonderful design? It'll make for a good picture. And guess what? I have a great idea."
Manisha, who's furious: "To replicate the design on your clothes?"
Nisha: "No."
Manisha: "Get an imprint on your hand then???? Ridiculous."
Nisha: "Heck no!!"
Manisha: "Then whhhaaaat is it?"
Nisha: "It can make for a beautiful manhole cover."
Manisha: "????? Of all the things, a manhole cover? Are you crazy?????"
Nisha: "You are dumb. Just think of it. What we don't have right now are lids covering manholes. And that's why all the filth and garbage flows on to the roads and into the streets. When you have a nice design engraved on the lid, people might as well start using it. It'll control overflowing sewage."

Some noble thought, this!!!

Our blogger intelligence bureau reports:
Every manhole cover in Japan is engraved with designs that each town and city is famous for. For instance, Osaka, which is a port city, has lids with Osaka castle or designs depicting a boat and the like engraved on manhole covers. It's a common sight in Japan and perhaps this is one of the reasons why the country has clean and neat roads.
Manhole cover in Japan. Source: Sewage Works Association, Tokyo

Our verdict: Nisha, hailing from a remote village in Sheopur district, is blissfully unaware of this fact. But we are glad that Freedom of Expression as an initiative is surely firing up imagination of participants and is equipping them with a skill to make the world a better place to live.

And that's the way to go....

From the filmmaker....

What happens when you bring together over a dozen children from underprivileged homes, a team of photographers and a video crew? An explosion of color, chaos and creativity :-D

Children - urban and rural - who had never had the opportunity to even touch a digital camera, were suddenly let loose to capture the world as they see it in digital images.

Government schoolchildren in Hyderabad and Sheopur ranging in age between 8 and 13, guided by the team of photographers, were suddenly transported to another world. One where with a mere click of a camera they were given the freedom to express their interpretation of the world around them. Their imagination took flight, their sphere of knowledge suddenly included terms such as framing, color and composition, and like a group of whirling dervishes they took off. And we had to keep up with them while documenting their experiences on video.

How do you frame a child on video who’s chasing a butterfly digitally? How do you focus on a child in moving images who’s already clicked and vanished? Try panning the camera on a child who’s clicking stills on the fly – in the opposite direction! Try zooming in on a child who’s suddenly noticed a pigeon in the rafters of a church, leaving you with a big closeup of the back of a head.

These are the children that our video crew has chased through the narrow lanes around the Charminar, the imposing staircases at the Indian School of Business, the exquisite architecture of the Chowmahalla Palace, the colorful stalls at Shilparamam – all in Hyderabad. We then followed that up by trying to keep up with feet on virtual castors as they raced through the Sheopur Fort, darted through the melee of a rural mela, froze their impressions of home and family in a moment in time and clicked away with reverence in a Shiva temple.

Result? Closeups of eyes sparkling with wonder, faces radiant with excitement, and a bunch of NG takes with speed lines to show that there once was a subject in the frame!

Undeterred, our video crew continues to chase these budding photographers who click with increasing confidence, producing images that would put a lot of aspiring adult photographers to shame. Uninhibited and unbiased, they continue to manifest their perceptions of the world in strong digital images. Motivating us to try and keep up, in order to capture that one ‘Eureka!’ moment that makes it all worthwhile.

We hope to provide further updates after resting our tired feet and recharging our batteries. And of course, another tape change.

Author: Mita Bose, a Filmmaker, who's shooting a 15-minute film on Freedom of Expression for Naandi.

Hide and seek....

Date: 2nd June, 2008

Place: Sheopur Fort, 3kms away from Sheopur city.

We all had descended on to the desolated Fort early in the morning with re-charged batteries and cameras ready. And yes! With turbo-charged spirits in tow :-D

Silently, we all settled down whereever we can. Few of us on trees, others on dilapidated structures and few others on the ground. With cameras in ready-mode we waited with bated breath for the subjects to come and pictures and stories we could share.

In the meantime, we shot the ruins of the fort. Later we quickly adjusted the focus of our cameras and waited patiently for some more time.

The excitement changed to hope and lasted for 15 minutes until somebody from behind blurted out: Ohhh yaaaaaarr! We forgot to tell the monkeys to be here today!!!! :-(((((

[Thoughts of Punam Sharma, Std V, Government Primary School, Lachoda, Sheopur block as told to the blog writer]

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.