Congratulations to photographer and long-time supporter Francesca Moore, who has won first prize in this month’s Life Framer photograph competition in the ‘Colors’ category for her (above) photograph of Sarita Malviya, part of her ‘Women Activist Survivors’ series on the women of Bhopal. She has kindly sent us some background on the photo and the ‘Woman Activist Survivors’ series, and her career as a photographer:
The participants in the Bhopal’s Women Activist Survivors series are all survivors of the 1984 Bhopal gas disaster, and some of the people who continue to campaign for justice over thirty years on. The women were photographed in all the natural beauty of their humble homes, on the edge of the disaster site that has never been cleaned up.
This image is of Sarita Malviya, who’s family moved to Bhopal after the gas disaster, but the secondary water contamination, as a result of the Union Carbide factory site never being remediated, has resulted in a much greater ongoing disaster that has affected Sarita and her family. Sarita is one of the founders of a campaign organisation named ‘Children Against Dow Carbide’ set up when she was only around 10 years old, and she was even campaigning for justice long before that.
“At first, when we used to pump water, we didn’t mind it much. We thought that since it was coming from the pump, that’s why it was dirty and smelled bad. But when we started getting sick and they told us that this water is causing diseases and disabling our children, I met those kids, and then I realised that this water was ruining our generation. Something inside told me that I should join [the movement], because [if] we don’t do anything today, tomorrow someone else will be affected” – Sarita Malivi
This piece is a work-in-progress that will be accompanied by further documentary photographs and a collection of their life stories, transcribed and written by anthropologist Apoorva Dixit. Here is how one of the judges describes the image:
“This photograph portrays one of the activists for justice powerfully contrasting the woman’s lively colourful surroundings and traditional South Asian wear and with her introspective, focused gaze. The woman avoids direct eye contact, smiles faintly, but she stands strong and determined, telling a story that is more than just about the “vibrant colours for which India is known.” In selecting this photograph, I hope the photographer will be able to complete her project-in-progress in collaboration with anthropologist Apoorva Dixit and raise awareness to this ongoing fight for human rights.” – Judge Marion Tandé
