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Portraits of Happiness

“Don’t need to ask. If you ask, they will say no. Just make a picture.” This is what Nils Heininger's companion said two years ago when both of them were exploring one of the lesser known shantytowns of the country.

Today I happened to read an article written by Nils Heininger who is a photographer, traveller and Anthropology student whose area of focus is Culture of India .As a part of this, he had travelled across the country and lived his life with different communities including the Balmiki Community, a well-known minority group of India. But what captured my attention was his passion towards photography and views on Photo Journalism. 




The article started off with his entry to the world of Travel Photography. According to him, 'Travel Photography' is an overused western term which basically means that a foreigner exploring a place and capturing pictures of exotic people , but Nils's version for the same is entirely different and for him the concept of Travel Photography is all about capturing portraits of everyday life of others. This is in fact what motivates him to stay in a country like India and learn more about the culture and lives of various communities.

I recall an excerpt from the article where is shares his experience about living with the people of Safaikarmchari community for a span of four months. Here he got a chance to cover many faces, hear stories of people who work in trash, witness their never ending cycle of survival and see everyday lives of toil. But despite all these colossal odds, still the people managed to show their best faces and welcoming smiles. All of them were friendly and open to conversations. Even though they had homes that was nothing large than that of a cupboard, it somehow accommodated families of seven or eight .Still they welcomed him home, offered him tea and posed for his clicks and took selfies. But this is not the case with every slum in India, sometimes he faced bad days too. 

I read him quoting like this on his visit to the Belgachia slum "I am still coughing from the burning plastic that invaded my lungs two weeks ago. The slum is located directly next to a giant dumping ground that burns day and night. The smell, smog, and trash are the main part of people’s everyday life."  But all these did not turn him down, a week after this incident he again went to the very same slum and started clicking the photos of the people and their lives. This was part of his Thesis and the area of focus was 'Lives of the lowest class in India'. But the approach to capture the photos was slightly different this time, it was Photo journalism rather than Travel Photography where there will be a single theme or topic and a series of photos related to the same.

But throughout this entire journey Nils had many doubts in his mind like; whether to ask for a permission before clicking a photo? Or How to capture the lives of their hardship with respect? And so on. But Nils was pretty adamant that if someone says a 'No' to any of his clicks, he would not argue or persuade them further (Sorry to his companion who was poles apart). Also, Nils not only wanted a great picture at the end of the day, what he was trying to achieve was to create a bond or a friendly atmosphere with those people. Seeing them, talking to them, listening to what they have to say and maybe ending the day with a cup of tea at their homes. This, in fact helped him to make his pictures more lively and fulfilling.

Here Nils's only motive is to create great photos and memories that make people happy and lighten up their lives. The way he approaches every person or community is unique. And it is because of this very same approach, people show a factor of trust and belief on him. And scrolling through Nils's Instagram account, I am clearly able to see those faces of people narrating their own story through his lenses. Every picture of his has a tale to tell, some are tales of hardship while others are about people who wanted  elevate themselves from a life full of toil, misery, and despair.

-This article is inspired from Nils Heininger’s,"The Ethics of Photographing Slums"

- Lakshmi

 


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