Pick Week

Ashesh Shah is enamoured with the world of children. But his photographs do not portray only the fairy tale pastels of an ideal childhood. A news photographer with India Today, he has captured all realities of an Indian childhood. Where one picture shows two cheeky kids bunking their classes, another reveals the grim existence of child marriage.

With no formal training as such, Ashesh feels that all credit goes to his on-the-job experience at Mid Day. "Whenever I used to go out for an assignment, I would invariably get attracted towards children around me," says Ashesh. A result of two-and-a-half years of sleuthing around, the photographs come from places as far as Dwarka, Ahmedabad and, of course, Mumbai. All the 32 colour snaps are candid ones as Ashesh firmly believes that such photographs come out better than posed ones. As is evident from a picture of a school kid relieving himself on the street. "If not taught now, the child will grow up and do the same," says Ashesh. So he is even crusading for a social cause here. Priced at Rs 2,500, his pictures are open for sale.

At the Stuttgart Hall Foyer, Prince of Wales Museum Annex, till December 16, 1997. Time: 10.00 am to 6.00 pm.