Photo-Essay: Womaniya

By Yudhajit Basu and Ipsita Deb

“…there is, at this time, no general woman, no one typical woman… Women’s imaginary is inexhaustible, like music, painting, and writing: their stream of phantasms is incredible.” – Helene Cixous, The Laugh of Medusa 

In a heterogeneous place and space called “India”, capturing the essence of ‘New Woman’ in the profound diversity leads the visual practitioners into a problematic domain as representational arts always call for the unavoidable stripping off the problems of onlooker’s ‘gaze’. So, the photographers, here, have tried to remain as observant as possible and focused mainly on capturing women in broadly the rural and the urban milieu in the mode of an actuality report. The shots of women in diverse spaces from the tea gardens of North Bengal to the Nouvue Cafes  of the metros have been generated like visual staccatos and the montage of them have been based on the photographers’ personal association (in some cases) with them  rather than any grand/ predetermined narrative in mind. Such a personal montage, if at all succeeds in evoking the narrative of the NEW WOMEN of India today, then, it would be more than a delightful surprise for the collaborators.

‘MEDASTOMOSIS’; NBMC CONVOCATION, 2018 Medicos taking oath

The woman who refused my camera on her way home after collecting firewood. Somewhere near Dowhill, Kurseong, 2018

Faces lit up by the amber light of the café while it rains outside on a dull autumn afternoon. Kolkata, 2018

An Arabic woman sitting in a Kolkata café. I remember the sound of her incessant scribbling.

A lady selling fruits near Junction, Siliguri. She has been doing this for the last 7 years and is independently piloting her family. Siliguri, 2018

A woman busy selling Sabji in the morning, Surya Sen Market, Medical, Siliguri, 2018

Kurseong, 2018: A woman running a shop in her shop cum house. She and her daughter run the shop

“It’s the fire in my eyes, And the flash of my teeth, The swing in my waist, And the joy in my feet I’m a woman Phenomenally, Phenomenal woman, That’s me” Kolkata, 2018

Dagapur tea garden, Siliguri, 2018: A woman plucking tea leaves.

What lies ahead of women is a trail through bends… Kurseong, 2018

Bios:
Yudhajit Basu, to the utter dismay of his parents and kins, has devoted his sun to moon to cinema. His ardent passion has landed him in FTII, Pune.

Ipsita Deb‘s love for visual arts drew her to still photography. She’s currently teaching in a college as a guest lecturer and likes to travel and click around.

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