THE OBLIGATIONS OF A PHOTOJOURNALIST

I usually find presenter Paddy O’Connell’s over-familiar repartee on BBC Radio 4’s Broadcasting House programme distracting but I enjoyed his short interview on Sunday with British photographer Simon Norfolk for its insight into the views of a professional photographer working in the developing world. You can hear the interview 25 minutes into this link.

Simon Norfolk has spent the past ten years photographing in Afghanistan and currently has an exhibition of this work on show at London’s Tate Modern gallery until July 10th.

New homes in the barren landscape of Bokhra Kachar. ..The village of Bokhra Kachar, is home to 66 households from the adivasi (tribal) Baiga community. Displaced by the government to make way for the Achanak Marg tiger reserve, this community were forced to move from their old village 27km away two years ago. They were promised compensation, specifcaly each male over age of 18 would receive Rs.100,000, a proper house with toilet, and land at least equivalent in size to what they farmed before, access to PDS (Public Distribution System) and schools. Many families complain that their new land is significantly less fertile than the forest areas they used to farm so where they once went hungry for two lean months in the year, this period has now been extended to three months. Most of Bokhra Kachar's residents have only received Rs.50,000 in compensation and their new homes do not have toilets as promised. Though there is a local primary school, older children have to travel 8km. The nearest PDS is 5km away. There is no local public transport system. Men complain that there is little work in the new village...Photo: Tom Pietrasik.Bokhra Kachar, Lormi Block, Bilaspur District, Chhattisgarh. India.February 18th 2011 (Tom Pietrasik)A new tiger reserve forced sixty-six indigenous tribal Baiga families from their fertile forest land into this new village in 2009. They have not received proper compensation and complain of reduced crop-yield from the new land they cultivate.  Bokhra Kachar, Chhattisgarh. ©Tom Pietrasik 2011

In the interview with O’Connell, Norfolk explained that he no longer considers himself a photojournalist but instead, what he calls, a “la-de-dah” artist. He draws the distinction because he once worked for newspapers and magazines and now earns a living from the sale of prints at galleries. As Norfolk’s fine work continues to be primarily concerned with documenting people and landscapes, I’d argue that he is still a photojournalist at heart.

 Children at the Jalhe Bogiya village Anganwadi (child-care) centre enjoy a hot lunch there six days a week. ..Lack of irrigation and food security lie at the root of the Maha Dalit community's problems in the village of Jalhe Bogiya. In the exploitative and divisive caste system, Maha Dalits are considered the lowest of the low. Ostracized by wider society (including the administration) illiteracy runs as high as 95 percent. Thanks to Oxfam-supported intervention, Jalhe Bogiya now has an - as yet incomplete - access-road built as part of the NREGA (National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme). And an Oxfam-supported initiative in summer 2010 successfully lobbied the local administration to implement the provision of school midday meals which, by law is the right of every child. It is alleged that the Anganwadi (pre-school) centre administrator, syphons off food meant for young children. Jalhe Bogiya has several hand pumps supplying water but these do not work between the months of May to October. And though the village was connected to the electricity grid six months ago, power-supply is not reliable. Without land-ownership and only irregular agricultural work from which to earn an income, the Maha Dalits of Jalhe Bogiya frequently migrate in search of labour at stone breaking quarries, brick-kilns or undertake menial household work in the homes of the urban middle class in far-away cities. ..Photo: Tom Pietrasik.Mohanpur Block, Gaya District, Bihar. India.February 23rd 2011 (Tom Pietrasik)A child from the ostracized Maha Dalit (or Untouchable) community in Jalhe Bogiya village enjoys a hot meal at her local Anganwadi (child-care) centre. Malnutrition in India disproportionately affects low caste communities like the Maha Dalits. Bihar. India ©Tom Pietrasik 2011

Attempting to specify where photojournalism ends and art begins is a pretty pointless task. But in the case of Norfolk, I raise the issue because later in the Radio 4 interview, by explaining his approach to photography, Norfolk seemed to perfectly define the merit of photojournalism – as oppose to art – and the obligations that are incumbent upon all of us lucky enough to have been brought up in the Developed World but who work in much poorer countries.

After speaking candidly about the futile war in Afghanistan, Norfolk explained that,

“When you take a picture in these places, its a kind of contractual obligation… I’m going to take a picture of what you are and I’m going to try and do something. Something that will make the world a little bit different so that your situation will somehow change for the better. Somehow that responsibility lies upon me as someone who has articulacy, has the ability to travel around the world, has cash in their pocket, has a white skin, has a British passport, has a voice in the world…”

 

Anita Devi sits with her three children (LtoR) Sandeep, Sanjit and Deepak (eating the school-provided midday meal). Like many of the men from Jalhe Bogiya village, Anita's husband Sukhdev Mandal works at a brick kiln for 4-5 months a year. ..Lack of irrigation and food security lie at the root of the Maha Dalit community's problems in the village of Jalhe Bogiya. In the exploitative and divisive caste system, Maha Dalits are considered the lowest of the low. Ostracized by wider society (including the administration) illiteracy runs as high as 95 percent. Thanks to Oxfam-supported intervention, Jalhe Bogiya now has an - as yet incomplete - access-road built as part of the NREGA (National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme). And an Oxfam-supported initiative in summer 2010 successfully lobbied the local administration to implement the provision of school midday meals which, by law is the right of every child. It is alleged that the Anganwadi (pre-school) centre administrator, syphons off food meant for young children. Jalhe Bogiya has several hand pumps supplying water but these do not work between the months of May to October. And though the village was connected to the electricity grid six months ago, power-supply is not reliable. Without land-ownership and only irregular agricultural work from which to earn an income, the Maha Dalits of Jalhe Bogiya frequently migrate in search of labour at stone breaking quarries, brick-kilns or undertake menial household work in the homes of the urban middle class in far-away cities. ..Photo: Tom Pietrasik.Mohanpur Block, Gaya District, Bihar. India.February 23rd 2011 (Tom Pietrasik)Anita Devi with her three children who benefit from a recently introduced hot midday-meal provided by their government school. Where properly implemented, the midday-meal system not only improves the health of children but also encourages school-attendance. Jalhe Bogiya village, Bihar. India ©Tom Pietrasik 2011

As a British photojournalist living and working in India for the past ten years, I am continually struck by the huge economic gulf that frequently divides my life and the lives of those I photograph. Of course photography alone is not going to change the world but when confronted by such stark disparity, Norfolk’s idea of a photographer’s obligation becomes vital. To me this is as good a definition as any for what makes a good journalist – writer or photographer.

By way of honoring my own obligations, I will be presenting some of my photographs around the theme of hunger in London this weekend as part of a seminar organized by the Free Binayak Sen campaign. My photographs – including those displayed here – will look at people who endure hunger in their lives. Also featured will be my photographs of the JSS hospital about which I have written before and on whose board Dr Binayak Sen sits.

A girl on a hot summer's evening at Shanti Busti in Lucknow. All the children from Shanti Busti above the age of six or seven work...The rag-picking community of Shanti Busti (literally "Peace Slum") which comprises 210 households have been living and working in Lucknow for the past twenty years. Originally from Assam, their language and culture differs from the wider population of Lucknow who speak Hindi. The low status of the rag-pickers' work together with their minority status as Muslims speaking Assamese makes them particularly vulnerable to stigma and discrimination. The rag-pickers also suffer insecurity of tenure over the land upon which Shanti Busti is built. Families pay a rent of INR100-150 (GB£1.25-GB£1.90) to a "landlord" who provides then some protection from eviction by the government. The community's status is further undermined by the fact that many in wider society falsely charge them with being illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. This effectively denies the rag-pickers claim to any of the rights and services afforded to other Indians including the right to vote. Without political representation the people of Shanti Busti rely on the work of Oxfam and its partners for the provision of basic services. ..Sahera Khatoon is ten years old. She lives with her two parents and five of her six siblings in a small shack built of discarded plastic sacking and bamboo poles. Sahera's father Sameer and mother Zohra arrived from Barpeta district in Assam 21 years ago. They and their families were poor landless labourers suffering the financial insecurity that comes with irregular work. Like many of their neighbours in Barpeta district, they were encouraged to make the journey to Lucknow by a refuge contractor who promised a regular income in return for their labour. It is a measure of the desperate circumstances faced by Sameer and Zohra that their life in Shanti Busti is preferable to the circumstances they left behind in Barpeta district. Collecting rubbish is (Tom Pietrasik, Tom Pietrasik, To/Tom Pietrasik)A girl on a hot summer’s evening in Shanti Busti, a slum in Lucknow. All school-age children from this rag-picking (garbage-collecting) community must work to fund their families’ monthly spending of which food constitutes the greatest expense. Lucknow. India ©Tom Pietrasik 2008

Binayak Sen, for those that are unaware, is an public-health doctor and campaigner on the issue of malnutrition. Dr Sen served over two years in prison accused – and later convicted – of sedition for his alleged support of the Maoist Naxalite insurgence in eastern India. Last month he was granted bail by India’s Supreme Court and released from prison. The Free Binayak Sen campaign demands that his name be cleared and that a proper investigation be conducted into his scandalous intimidation by the government of Chhattisgarh state.

If you are in London on Saturday May 14th, please come along and show your support. The seminar begins at 4.45pm at Dragon Hall, 17 Stukeley St, London WC2. I will be presenting my photographs at 7pm.

A man walks past a government emergency store of food-grains in Bilaspur. The store is not protected from elements which illustrates a lack of concern among the government toward the wellbeing of vulnerable and hungry communities. ..Photo: Tom Pietrasik.Bilaspur District, Chhattisgarh. India.February 17th 2011 (Tom Pietrasik)A man walks past a permanent government emergency store of food-grains in Bilaspur. The store is not protected from the weather – a stark indication that there is little concern in the government toward the wellbeing of vulnerable and hungry communities. Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh. ©Tom Pietrasik 2011