फ़ोटोग्राफ़ी का मतलब धैर्य रखना है। मैं शांत रहती हूँ, स्थिति को देखती हूँ। मैं चीज़ों को अपने आप होने देती हूँ और जब वे होती हैं, तब उनकी तस्वीर लेती हूँ; यही मेरा नज़रिया है, हालांकि बहुत सारे लोगों से भरी पार्टी में पहले से अंदाज़ा लगाना कि आगे क्या होगा, काफी मुश्किल होता है।
Photography is about being patient. I'm quiet, I watch the situation. I let things happen and photograph them when they happen; that's my approach, although trying to anticipate events at a party with lots of people is hard.
Photography is about being patient. I'm quiet, I watch the situation. I let things happen and photograph them when they happen; that's my approach, although trying to anticipate events at a party with lots of people is hard.
फ़ोटोर्नलिज़्म ऐसी फ़ोटोग्राफ़ी है जिसमें कहानी कहने का अंदाज़ ज़्यादा होता है। एक अकेली तस्वीर भी अद्भुत और नाटकीय हो सकती है। मैंने अलग-अलग तस्वीरें खींचकर शुरुआत की थी, लेकिन मुझे महसूस हुआ कि मैं अपनी एक अलग आवाज़ चाहती थी: कुछ ऐसा कहना चाहती थी जो सार्थक हो। मैं लंबे समय तक कुछ ज़्यादा व्यक्तिगत और अपने अंदाज़ में करना चाहती थी।
Photojournalism is photography with more story telling. A single image can be amazing and dramatic. I started out shooting individual images, but I found I wanted to have more of a voice: to actually say something. I wanted to do something more personal over a long period of time, with more authorship.
Photojournalism is photography with more story telling. A single image can be amazing and dramatic. I started out shooting individual images, but I found I wanted to have more of a voice: to actually say something. I wanted to do something more personal over a long period of time, with more authorship.
सऊदी अरब जैसी जटिल जगह पर आपको यह तय करना होगा कि लक्ष्मण रेखा कहाँ खींचनी है। मैं इस जगह को लेकर इतनी उलझन में थी - यहाँ कोई सीधी-साधी कहानी नहीं है। यह एक ऐसी जगह है जो इस बात को लेकर बेहद संवेदनशील है कि इसके बारे में क्या राय बनाई जाती है, खासकर पश्चिमी देशों के लोगों द्वारा। इसलिए अंत में मैंने सोचा: मैं बस पाठक को अपने इस सफर पर ले जाऊँगी ताकि इस अजीब सी जगह को समझने की कोशिश कर सकूँ।
You have to decide where the line is in such a complicated place like Saudi Arabia. I was so confused by the place - there's no simple story. It's a place that is really sensitive to how it is judged, particularly by people from the West. So in the end I thought: I'm just going to take the reader on my journey to try and understand this odd place.
You have to decide where the line is in such a complicated place like Saudi Arabia. I was so confused by the place - there's no simple story. It's a place that is really sensitive to how it is judged, particularly by people from the West. So in the end I thought: I'm just going to take the reader on my journey to try and understand this odd place.
जब मैंने पहली बार महिलाओं के घरों पर जाकर उनकी तस्वीरें लेने के लिए कहा, तो मैं अपने पेशेवर कैमरे का इस्तेमाल कर रही थी और मुझे तस्वीरें लेने में बहुत संघर्ष करना पड़ा क्योंकि मैं तब भी पूरी तरह से एक फ़ोटोग्राफ़र की भूमिका में थी। फिर अगली बार जब मेरे पास यह छोटा सा डिजिटल कैमरा था, तो उनके बात करने का अंदाज़ बिल्कुल अलग था - मैं एक दोस्त बन गई थी और मुझे नए तरह की तस्वीरें मिलीं। मैं हमेशा एक फ़ोटोग्राफ़र और एक दोस्त के बीच की बारीक सीमा पर चलती रही।
When I first asked to take pictures of women at their homes, I was using my formal camera and I struggled to get the shots because I was still very much in the role of the photographer. Then the next time I had this little digital camera and their response to me would be completely different - I was a friend and I got new kinds of pictures. I was always treading a line between photographer and friend.
When I first asked to take pictures of women at their homes, I was using my formal camera and I struggled to get the shots because I was still very much in the role of the photographer. Then the next time I had this little digital camera and their response to me would be completely different - I was a friend and I got new kinds of pictures. I was always treading a line between photographer and friend.
मेरे करियर की शुरुआत में, एक सीनियर फ़ोटोग्राफ़र ने मुझे महिलाओं की कहानियों पर काम करने की सलाह दी थी और मैं ऐसा नहीं करना चाहती थी। लेकिन मैंने भारत में ढाई साल बिताए और महिलाओं से जुड़ी कहानियों पर काम करने का फैसला किया क्योंकि उनके साथ होने वाले बर्ताव ने मुझे झकझोर दिया था। मध्य पूर्व और यूरोप-एशिया की सीमा पर की गई मेरी कहानियाँ भारत में बिताए गए मेरे समय की प्रतिक्रिया थीं। वे किसी नारीवादी विचार से प्रेरित नहीं थीं, लेकिन जब आप इन देशों में महिलाओं के मुद्दों से आहत होते हैं, तो अनजाने में आप कहीं न कहीं नारीवादी बन ही जाते हैं।
At the beginning of my career, a more senior photographer told me to shoot stories on women and I didn't want to. But I spent two and a half years in India and chose to do stories about women because I was shocked by their treatment. My stories in the Middle East and on the border of Europe and Asia were a response to my time in India. They weren't driven by a feminist idea but when you're moved by women's issues in these countries you can't help becoming a feminist somehow.
At the beginning of my career, a more senior photographer told me to shoot stories on women and I didn't want to. But I spent two and a half years in India and chose to do stories about women because I was shocked by their treatment. My stories in the Middle East and on the border of Europe and Asia were a response to my time in India. They weren't driven by a feminist idea but when you're moved by women's issues in these countries you can't help becoming a feminist somehow.
सऊदी अरब बहुत रूढ़िवादी देश है। शुरुआत में मैंने महिलाओं की कुछ ऐसी तस्वीरें ली थीं जिन्हें मैं प्रकाशित नहीं कर सकती थी - बिना अबाया के महिलाओं की तस्वीरें। इसलिए मैंने उन चीज़ों के बारे में छोटे-छोटे संस्मरण लिखने शुरू किए जिनकी मैं तस्वीर नहीं ले सकती थी और उन्हें एक धुंधली सी तस्वीर के साथ पिरोकर नाम दिया "वे पल जो छूट गए"। मुझे एहसास हुआ कि ये शब्द तस्वीरों जितने ही असरदार साबित हुए। ऐसे कई फ़ोटोग्राफ़र हैं जिन्हें लगता है कि कहानी सिर्फ तस्वीरों में होती है, लेकिन मैं वाकई तस्वीरों के साथ अर्थपूर्ण शब्दों को जोड़ने में विश्वास रखती हूँ।
Saudi Arabia is so conservative. At first there were photographs of women I took that I couldn't publish - of women without their abayas. So I started writing out little anecdotes about things I couldn't photograph and wove it in with a more obscure picture and called it "moments that got away". I realised these worked as well as the photographs by themselves. There are a lot of photographers who feel the story is all in the photographs but I really believe in weaving in complementary words with the pictures.
Saudi Arabia is so conservative. At first there were photographs of women I took that I couldn't publish - of women without their abayas. So I started writing out little anecdotes about things I couldn't photograph and wove it in with a more obscure picture and called it "moments that got away". I realised these worked as well as the photographs by themselves. There are a lot of photographers who feel the story is all in the photographs but I really believe in weaving in complementary words with the pictures.