We must do something, says man behind Photographers for Farmers | India News, The Indian Express

The initiative has been well-received by the photographer fraternity. Within the first week of posting details on Facebook, Olwe started getting calls and messages from across the country. Eminent photographers like Dinesh Khanna and Ram Rahman from Delhi and S Satish from Tamil Nadu have also expressed their wholehearted support for this move.

Dinesh Khanna, the co-founder of Delhi Photo festival, welcomed #PhotographerForFarmers initiative saying that he has always appreciated Olwe’s work. He further said that while a journalist or a photographer was always there to cover such movements, what is different now is the impact of social media. The reach of social media is huge and it certainly helps in reaching out to a larger audience, Khanna added.

DCP Expeditions, a Mumbai-based photography group, made a small film urging all photographers to be a part of the initiative as farmers march from across India to Delhi to demand a special session of Parliament on the agrarian crisis and passage of Kisan Mukti Bills.
Olwe said that visuals play a major role in reaching more people easily as it documents the harsh realities of life. (Source: Sudharak Olwe)

For Olwe, the journey to becoming a photojournalist had been tough. Olwe had earlier told The Indian Express that caste discrimination was a reality. “I knew it existed but never sensed it.”, he had said.

From capturing the lives of conservancy workers in Mumbai to atrocities against Dalits in Gujarat, Olwe has travelled the length and breadth of the nation to document heart-rending stories from around India.

Since 1988, Olwe has worked with some leading news organisations and has won several awards including the Padma Shri in 2016 for using photography as a tool for social change. His photoessay called ‘In Search Of Dignity And Justice: The Untold Story of Mumbai’s Conservancy Workers’, won him the ‘All Roads Photography Program Award’ from National Geographic in 2005.

The Padma Shri awardee has worked with many NGOs and their stories of bringing change in the society. (Source: Sudharak Olwe)

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As an artist, one has to keep an eye around his surroundings, primarily things which affect the people and their upliftment. Keep working for causes and highlight pertinent issues through your work.” This is Olwe’s advice to budding photojournalists.

Source: We must do something, says man behind Photographers for Farmers | India News, The Indian Express