Change in her viewfinder

If the camera set right the focus for Yasmeen,for Heena,it was a source of power. Something the amateur photographer realised when she was scouting around for subjects to click near her home,and stumbled upon a man beating up his wife. Some months ago,Heena would have turned away from a scene that would remind her of the abuse she,too,suffered at the hands of her husband. But that day,she whisked out her camera and started clicking. The man froze,and in seconds,disappeared from the scene. “I realised I had a weapon in my hands,” says the 30-year-old mother of four,who married at the age of 15 and divorced a few years later. Now,she’s part of a group of 12 Muslim women,many of them divorcees or victims of domestic violence,who learnt photography at a three-month workshop two years ago,and now lead very different lives.

Haseena Khan,who has been associated for many years with Awaaz-e-Niswaan,an organisation working for Muslim women in Mumbai,and has helped form the group,says,“What do most people do to empower a woman? They teach her embroidery or knitting,but that also confines her to the four walls of her house,and keeps her under the supervision of her family. We wanted to do something that would make these women step out of their homes and broaden their vision.”

In 2009,Khan,along with Vishakha Datta of another NGO,Point of View,got in touch with photographer Sudhakar Olwe to implement the idea of empowering women through photography. “We had done a similar workshop in UP and the results had been great. Only here we were dealing with a conservative community,so it was a little tricky,” says Olwe.

Awaaz-e-Niswaan chose 16 women (only 12 completed the workshop) who they thought would be apt for the workshop,while Olwe roped in three colleagues to assist him in the effort. Mexy Xavier,who’s been shooting for 17 years and “has always been close to women’s issues”,was one of them. She showed the women photographs she had taken of other women who had reached the top in their field of work. After attending the classes,they were asked to click photographs of the life they saw around them — in their homes and community. Then,they were taken on trips to Dhanu,Pune,Udaipur and Bikaner. “Many were stepping out of Mumbai for the first time,” says Xavier. And that became an issue in their homes. “The father of one of the girls,Ayesha,refused to let her go on a trip to Bikaner. She pleaded with him but he was adamant. He even beat her up,and gave her an ultimatum — this trip or his home for her. Finally,Ayesha decided that if she didn’t take a stand,all she was learning at the workshop would come to zero. She walked out of her home and ran all the way to the station,as she had no money to take any transport. She managed to reach just a minute before the train was to leave,” recounts Khan.

Opposition from home was just one of the many obstacles they had to encounter. Paigambari Ansari,a 26-year-old divorcee,for instance,heard more barbs for taking up the camera than she did when she got divorced. “Whenever I would wear my burqa and step out with my camera,I would have to hear scathing remarks. Once,someone remarked that the burqa was a cover under which I hid all my unscrupulous deeds. The next day,I took off the burqa and went out with camera in hand to prove that I did not need to hide anything I was doing in my life — certainly,not photography,” she says .

Not only did the girls drop the burqa one by one,they also learnt to let go of their diffidence. “I used to be reserved. I would hardly speak,” says Reshma Pawaskar,the most garrulous of the lot today. “When I joined the workshop,it was like magic for me. I thought I could capture the world in my camera now,” says the 30-year-old divorcee who has photographed orphanages and exposed the lack of care given to children there. Another participant,21-year-old Sabrina Sheikh,did a project on the lack of water in a Mumbai suburb,forcing municipal authorities to take notice of the situation. Having exhibited their works twice at the Kala Ghoda festival,they are currently clicking a series on the Muslim community,with digicams that Awaaz-e-Niswaan gave them on completion of the course.

Two years after the workshop altered their perspectives on life,though,most women are still struggling to make a career out of photography. Except for one girl,who is working with a media company as a photographer,others are still taking baby steps — taking pictures at weddings,community get-togethers and family functions,for which they are sometimes paid a nominal sum. But that doesn’t discourage them. “Even if it takes time,we all are geared to get there. Also,what we have gained in these two years is probably much bigger,” says 39-year-old Saira Hussain Alam,a coordinator at Awaaz-e-Niswaan and a victim of a bad marriage,who has clicked pictures of policemen patrolling the areas targeted on 26/11,such as around Nariman House. “We can see the change not just in ourselves but also around us. From criticising us when we took the camera in our hands,people in our localities are now wary of us. They feel we can capture their misdeeds on camera. Half-a-dozen of us have been able to stop wife-beating by threatening to take pictures and report the matter,” she says.

Xavier agrees that the personal transformation of the girls has been the biggest pay-off of their efforts. “From shy,diffident girls,they have blossomed into confident women. What more can any initiative ask for?” she says. Probably,that explains why the workshop has outlived its stipulated time. “It’s been almost two years and the enthusiasm to click has only grown amongst the women. I still meet them twice a month and guide them. They are managing to sustain their passion through the small grants they get or the little work they do,” says Olwe,who has suggested they set up an agency that could specialise in images from the Muslim world. “They know their community better than anyone else,and it could well become an initiative that does not have to end,” he says.