17 July,2011 10:51 AM IST | | Yoshita Sengupta
Curious to figure out the answer to that question, five young photographers have set out on a unique 387-kilometre journey on foot, to visually document and retrace Mahatma Gandhi's historic Dandi March of 1930
Five passionate photographers clad in shorts, their legs exposed just like those of the man who made this walk 81 years ago, carry heavy backpacks filled with medium format and large format film cameras, as they walk on a historic route. The five are currently in Buva, in Gujarat's Bharuch district.
They have reached there after walking for 10 days and covering over 120 kilometres on foot, but are still some
distance away from their final destination.
Indian freedom fighter Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (centre) is pictured
with his followers in this March 1930 photo during the famous salt march
to Dandi in Gujarat. pic/ afp photo
The route they are on is no ordinary one, the villages they are stopping by in, no ordinary villages. These men are attempting to document and recreate what was arguably the turning point in India's freedom struggle. They are attempting to walk the same path that Mahatma Gandhi did. Their destination is Dandi, a small coastal village in the district of Navsari.
The idea, say the five photographers who are retracing Gandhi's historic
walk, emerged after they realised that visual documentation of events is
absent in India. pics/salt prints
Ajit Bhadoriya, Edson Dias, Chaitanya Guttikar, P Madhavan and Vinobha Nathan are in the middle of what they call The Salt Prints, a project that aims to photo-document and retrace the historical Dandi March, a 387-km walk from Sabarmati to Dandi, which they began on July 6.
"The idea is not to walk from point A to B to prove a point. We took this up because we realised that visual documentation of events is mostly absent in India. We wanted to collect and capture photographs that we could develop as a visual narrative of people's memoirs of Gandhi," says Madhavan, participating photographer and Executive Director of Goa Centre for Alternative Photography (or Goa Cap).
The five photographers, who are retracing Gandhi's Dandi March, will teach
basic camera skills to four children in each village where Gandhi rested for
the day (21 villages). The intention is to give the youth an opportunity to
represent their villages, and ignite a passion for self-expression;
(Below) Holding a baby with equal care as the camera
What sets this group apart, according to Madhavan, is that "Each one of us has a different perspective on Gandhi and his teachings, and a different agenda".
Dias, 40, the oldest member of the group, and one of the founding directors of the Goa CAP, is honest while admitting that he hasn't read a lot on Gandhi. "I intend to learn about Gandhi by interacting with people, and
understanding how relevant his philosophy is to me," Dias says.
Chaitanya Guttikar attempts to capture girl students in their classroom in
Bareja village on Day 2 of their expedition. The girls, after class, queued
up for a workshop in basic photography and saw the world through the
eyes of the five artists.
For Bhadoriya, the project means understanding "Bapu's thought process behind the unique strategy to challenge the establishment, and eventually bring it to bear on the field of visual arts, to provoke debate in ideologies prevalent today."
And for Madhavan, the project is simply one that lets him "travel through the transformed landscape that once accommodated and shaped the Non-Violence movement."
The journey, however, is not only about individual experiences.u00a0
The five artists have made a commitment to teach basic photography skills to four children in each village where Gandhi rested (21 villages). The intention is to give the youth an opportunity to represent their villages, and ignite a passion for self-expression.
"When Gandhi halted at villages, he would speak to people about non-violence. As photographers, we will tell villagers about what we know. The intention is to introduce photography at a grassroot level. Today, everyone has the means to click pictures via a camera or a cell phone. But only the instrument has been democratised, not the technique. That's what we wish to pass on to people," Madhavan says.
So far, one conclusion seems evident from all the villages they've visited ufffd "Gandhi stays very far away from cities and towns. He stays in the villages."
And the welcome they usually receive is overwhelming. "People have been forthcoming; they offered us food and a place to stay. Unfortunately, we can't say the same about city dwellers," rues Madhavan.
And then there are some villages where Gandhi didn't stop but the photographers did.
"Gandhi was quick on foot, he had an aim and knew where he would stop. Sometimes, we get tempted to stop at spots when we come across a beautiful sight, or when locals invite us for a chat," says Dias.
Whether these artists will complete the walk in 24 days like Gandhi did, or not, we'll soon find out. One thing is for sureu00a0-- the final product, an exhibition of the visual documentation and a subsequent booku00a0-- will be nothing short of extraordinary.
The group is inviting volunteers to donate in cash or kind (films, developing chemicals, etc) for the post-production of the book and exhibition. All donors will receive a set of four signed limited edition 5x7 prints. The project website and the book will acknowledge contributions.
To find out more, visit: https://www.saltprints.org
