Leading The Way

American photographer Mick Minard records voices of ordinary Indian women who are leading their communities extraordinarily.

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American photographer Mick Minard in India.

Her head carefully covered, the bindi and sindoor in place, Meena Bhati comes across as one of the numerous other women in Pali district in Rajasthan. One look at her, and she seems complacent in the confines of her home. But that is sheer appearance. The 43-year-old has never adhered to convention.

Considered a rebel for stepping out of home, she had doors slammed on her when she attempted to persuade parents to educate their daughters. “But when I negated this resistance by not giving in and continuing to move forward, many other women came forward to work,” recalls Bhati. She had the support of her husband, a teacher, who understood the importance of education and encouraged her to complete her post graduation after marriage.

The communications manager at the NGO Educate Girls, working in Sirohi, Pali and Jalore districts in Rajasthan, Bhati has not looked back since. Her success story is well chronicled. So it didn’t come as a surprise when she had a keen visitor from the US interested in documenting her work. American photographer Mick Minard called on her in Pali, where she followed Bhati for a day, accompanying her to home visits. “The fact that there was a woman there who had come from the community that she was serving and had risen through the ranks, who inspired not just women in the village but also girls to go to school, she could just say look what I have achieved because I was educated,” says Minard. The photographs will be part of her exhibition “The Poetry of Purpose: A Portrait of Women Leaders of India” that will take place in Delhi, March 25 onwards. Book of the same title, co-authored with Dr Shashi Gogate, a medical practitioner based in the US, will also be released.

“Often struggling in the face of their own social, political, familial and economic challenges, these women are scaling the heights of human spirit and improving lives of ordinary people in extraordinary ways…We selected women leaders who conveyed an honest and inspiring portrait of human potential — where body, mind and spirit, each have been awakened,” says Minard. The writer, photographer, and an experienced strategy consultant specialising in program design, marketing communications, and impact assessment, the 42-year-old serves as a representative to the United Nations on behalf of the International Federation of University Women (IFUW) to advocate for the empowerment of women and girls through life-long education.

In a span of over two years, Minard and Gogate travelled from Mhaswad in Maharashtra, where the duo met Chetna Gala Sinha, founder of Mann Deshi Bank for women, to the small village of Maulya in Alwar district, where they photographed Lakshmi Jatwa, smallholder farmer and Krishi Sakhi (farmer’s friend). Their protagonists range from Anar Patel, daughter of Gujarat Chief Minister Anandiben Patel who has carved a niche as co-founder of Gramshree and Manav Sadhna, an organisation that works for the development of handicrafts and assists children from slums, to Jagmati Sangwan, general secretary of AIl India Democratic Women’s Association and a former volleyball player. “Our aim in shining a light on these women and their stories is to demonstrate one thing. Despite such difficult realities, there is cause for optimism,” adds Minard.

Curated by Alka Pande, the exhibition will be on at India Habitat Centre, from March 25 to March 3. Contact: 24682002

Vandana Kalra

Vandana Kalra is an art critic and Deputy Associate Editor with The Indian Express. She has spent more than two decades chronicling arts, culture and everyday life, with modern and contemporary art at the heart of her practice. With a sustained engagement in the arts and a deep understanding of India’s cultural ecosystem, she is regarded as a distinctive and authoritative voice in contemporary art journalism in India. Vandana Kalra's career has unfolded in step with the shifting contours of India’s cultural landscape, from the rise of the Indian art market to the growing prominence of global biennales and fairs. Closely tracking its ebbs and surges, she reports from studios, galleries, museums and exhibition spaces and has covered major Indian and international art fairs, museum exhibitions and biennales, including the Venice Biennale, Kochi-Muziris Biennale, Documenta, Islamic Arts Biennale. She has also been invited to cover landmark moments in modern Indian art, including SH Raza’s exhibition at the Centre Pompidou in Paris and the opening of the MF Husain Museum in Doha, reflecting her long engagement with the legacies of India’s modern masters. Alongside her writing, she applies a keen editorial sensibility, shaping and editing art and cultural coverage into informed, cohesive narratives. Through incisive features, interviews and critical reviews, she brings clarity to complex artistic conversations, foregrounding questions of process, patronage, craft, identity and cultural memory. The Global Art Circuit: She provides extensive coverage of major events like the Kochi-Muziris Biennale, Serendipity Arts Festival, and high-profile international auctions. Artist Spotlights: She writes in-depth features on modern masters (like M.F. Husain) and contemporary performance artists (like Marina Abramović). Art and Labor: A recurring theme in her writing is how art reflects the lives of the marginalized, including migrants, farmers, and labourers. Recent Notable Articles (Late 2025) Her recent portfolio is dominated by the coverage of the 2025 art season in India: 1. Kochi-Muziris Biennale & Serendipity Arts Festival "At Serendipity Arts Festival, a 'Shark Tank' of sorts for art and crafts startups" (Dec 20, 2025): On how a new incubator is helping artisans pitch products to investors. "Artist Birender Yadav's work gives voice to the migrant self" (Dec 17, 2025): A profile of an artist whose decade-long practice focuses on brick kiln workers. "At Kochi-Muziris Biennale, a farmer’s son from Patiala uses his art to draw attention to Delhi’s polluted air" (Dec 16, 2025). "Kochi Biennale showstopper Marina Abramović, a pioneer in performance art" (Dec 7, 2025): An interview with the world-renowned artist on the power of reinvention. 2. M.F. Husain & Modernism "Inside the new MF Husain Museum in Qatar" (Nov 29, 2025): A three-part series on the opening of Lawh Wa Qalam in Doha, exploring how a 2008 sketch became the architectural core of the museum. "Doha opens Lawh Wa Qalam: Celebrating the modernist's global legacy" (Nov 29, 2025). 3. Art Market & Records "Frida Kahlo sets record for the most expensive work by a female artist" (Nov 21, 2025): On Kahlo's canvas The Dream (The Bed) selling for $54.7 million. "All you need to know about Klimt’s canvas that is now the most expensive modern artwork" (Nov 19, 2025). "What’s special about a $12.1 million gold toilet?" (Nov 19, 2025): A quirky look at a flushable 18-karat gold artwork. 4. Art Education & History "Art as play: How process-driven activities are changing the way children learn art in India" (Nov 23, 2025). "A glimpse of Goa's layered history at Serendipity Arts Festival" (Dec 9, 2025): Exploring historical landmarks as venues for contemporary art. Signature Beats Vandana is known for her investigative approach to the art economy, having recently written about "Who funds the Kochi-Muziris Biennale?" (Dec 11, 2025), detailing the role of "Platinum Benefactors." She also explores the spiritual and geometric aspects of art, as seen in her retrospective on artist Akkitham Narayanan and the history of the Cholamandal Artists' Village (Nov 22, 2025). ... Read More

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