To launch this blog, I asked Prashant Panjiar, to choose one of his favorite pictures.
Prashant Panjiar is one of India’s best photojournalists and picture editors. Based in Delhi, he specializes in editorial and documentary photography. He is also actively involved in guiding young photographers through fellowship program and international press photo competition.
The picture that he has chosen is from his book King, Commoner, Citizen published by IndiaPicture in 2007.
“Kunti Devi, child widow, faceless citizen” was shot in 1999 in Bihar.
The picture tells us the story of a victim of ongoing caste war, Kunti Devi. She became a child widow when a landlord’s private army, killed her husband, along with 22 dalits of her village.
King, Commoner, Citizen is dedicated to her.
On the foreground, a small child shows us his back. Immediately, the viewer notices his black shaved head, a central point in the picture. At the back, a woman is sitting in front of a house door. There is a creation of a colored dialogue between the child’s chess board printed tee-shirt and her, shrouded in a purple sari. Furthermore, the shape of the smooth shaven head, symbol of death in Hindou religion, is resonated in the upturned basket lying in the background.
The atmosphere of the picture exudes a sense of timelessness where the faceless child widow seems to be trapped in no-mans-land.
The simplicity of the elements and their efficient organization in the picture make the subject emanate a sense of despair.
The picture has been shot after the journalist working with Prashant interviewed the young widow. If she was already married, she was staying at her mother’s house when the slaughter happened. Because she lost her husband, she knows now that she has no future. Her identity and her private grief is hidden from the outside world as she sits there stubbornly wrapped from head to toe, concealing herself. She resides in an intermediate space between life and death.
She never was a king, her dalit identity refused her citizenship and she is now no longer a commoner also.
Panjiar’s work can be viewed at www.panjiarphoto.com
His recent work focuses on farmers' suicides in Vidarbha and can be seen here:
