Why lights

Photo/video essay on “stories of lights”:

The objective of this project is to bring to light, the stories of lights and peoples in India. The project involves shooting and exhibiting a series of photos/videos and stories of peoples and lights from India. This will include the people’s daily life interactions with, and perceptions and practices of ‘light’. 

Diwali: the Indian festival of lights

Lights from various sources will be covered, for example light bulbs, kerosene lamps, torches, solar lamps, generator sets, sunlight, moonlight etc. The photographs will portray peoples and lights in their daily life, at personal special occasions (like weddings) and communal special occasions (like festivals). To give a perspective of the interactions, perceptions and practices, the pictures will carry ‘stories’ with them; stories of light, stories of peoples, stories of actors and networks creating and created by light, and the absence of it. 

It is planned that both, the researcher and the researched will be involved in the shooting of photographs. Participants from the villages will be chosen from among the youth, students and women. They will be given basic training to use digital cameras. Cameras will be given to the participants to photograph their daily interactions, perceptions and practices of light. The photographs will then be discussed with the photographers to understand their reasons and perspectives behind the photographs. Further, the photographs and the photographer’s ideas will be used in focus group discussions, carried out as a part of the project. The views, perspectives and ideas emerging out of the focus groups will be carried along with the photographs. Along with this, the researcher will also click pictures to show the contrast in perspectives of the researcher and the researched.

The photographs will form a part of two exhibitions-cum-panel discussions, one in India and one in Durham. The panel discussion will engage academicians, researchers and practitioners to reflect on the idea and the importance of light. The community photographers will be given due recognition for their photographs both at the exhibitions and on the portal. Some of the photographers from the villages may be invited to participate at the event in Delhi to give them a platform to voice their opinions first hand.

Why Lights:

The evening lamp bringing different things to different people

सुभम करोति कल्याणं आरोग्यं धनसंपदा 

शत्रबुद्धि विनाशाय दीपज्योती नमोस्तुते 

Subham karoti kalyaanam aarogyam dhanasampadaa

Shatrabuddhi vinaashaaya deepajyoti namostute

(I salute the light from the lamp, the one that brings auspiciousness, prosperity, good health, abundance of wealth, and the destruction of the intellect’s enemy)

---- Ancient Indian hymn said while lighting the evening lamp

Light has different meanings for different people. In a country like India, which houses highly heterogeneous communities, the meanings of light increase multi fold. Some see it as purity, some as enlightenment, some security and some prosperity. Light has a special place in the social life of India. It is not only given special emphasis during public celebrations but also has public celebrations like the festival of Diwali weaved around it. Also, different people prioritise light differently at different times. While for some people light is a priority in everyday life, for others it becomes a priority at special occasions like Diwali. Pictures taken during this project will tell stories of how people weave their lives around light and how lights are weaved around their lives. 

special lighting arrangements for festivals or weddings 

Some villagers who were interviewed during a recent TV show based around a lighting project in India said that due to availability of lighting sources in their village, their “respect among their relatives from other villages had increased”. A Bollywood film star, Shahrukh Khan remarked during the same show that “we take light for granted......as if it is our birthright”. People in some parts of India cannot imagine the absence of electricity and protest even if there is a power cut for a few hours. However, darkness is the way of life for several other parts of the country. These are some examples of different perspectives around ‘light’. It is expected that the project will be instrumental in looking at these different perspectives and conveying the importance of lights and energy in our daily lives, which we sometimes take for granted. The pictures will bring out different philosophies, perspectives, perceptions and practices around light.

This initiative is an integrated part of my PhD research, as the photographs will contribute to ethnographic studies being carried out in Indian villages under my PhD project. In my PhD project, I explore the importance of light to answer an important research question, ‘why is light the focus of most rural electrification projects’. This project will have a symbiotic relationship with my PhD research. It will help in formulation and understanding of the perspective of the ‘researched’ thus contributing to the PhD. The ideas, perspectives and understandings developed during the PhD work would be carried in the stories along with the photographs. This project will also be an empirical output of my PhD research as it will help in bringing out stories, priorities and perspectives of the community being researched in my PhD. It is expected that the involvement of the members of the local community in this project will give them an independent voice and critical experience to formulate, analyse and disseminate their ideas, perspectives and stories.