Pictures that speak
Transcriber: Rania Mustafa
Reviewer: David DeRuwe
Hi, I’m Sonali Devnani,
a photographer and an independent
documentary filmmaker.
Wait a minute.
I don’t think that photographer
does justice to the work we do,
so I’d rather be called a storyteller.
In the few years of following my passion
of being in love with the camera,
not only did it make me explore the world
with a different lens every single time,
but also to explore the various facets
that coexist in this world together.
In this vast universe
where we are all made so differently,
I realized a universal language,
a language that brought people together,
even if I didn’t speak their dialect.
a medium where you went beyond
the different form of dressing
or the different traditions.
The camera suddenly was a tool
to make us one with each other.
From the tribes of Myanmar
to the tribes of Chhattisgarh -
different traditions, people living
in absolute different places of the world,
but one single tradition
of tattooing their bodies
From the fishermen of Sri Lanka
to the fishermen of Goa -
fishermen doing their duties
every single morning, but so differently.
I decided to document their stories
and to cherish these memories for life.
Photographs are very powerful.
A single image can take you back
to the beautiful rural
landscapes of Vietnam,
but it can also remind you
of the yummy delicacies
and the rice crackers that were made
by this kindhearted old woman.
How can we not document
this ever-changing world?
How can we not remind ourselves
at every point of how lucky we are
to embrace this multiculturalism?
We indeed are very lucky
to be able to know more of each other
with just a very simple
gadget, the camera.
In the genre of portrait photography,
I get connected to my subjects
beyond their superficial looks,
a deeper bond that connects
me to their souls.
Not only can a picture
speak a thousand words,
but in a flash of a second
you, as a viewer, can look at the image,
and suddenly you have unveiled
the emotion captured,
the struggle my subject has gone through.
Beauty is skin deep,
and my aim was only to bring out
the beauty in this world
through a language of emotions.
Suddenly, with this process
of creating images
and making a bond
between me and my subject,
I learned the entire world
is one big family,
and the only reason why
we were made so differently
is to understand each other
through the value of images,
how we look at some of the images
I have captured on my journey
as a photographer,
bringing together the diversity
and culture of this world.
The lens somehow magnified faith,
showed me how people lived
through hardship, even my life was unfair.
Cities I hadn’t visited earlier,
only because of the camera,
suddenly felt like I belonged there,
be it Varanasi or any city
in the royal state of Rajasthan.
The camera brought me
closer to my country;
the people I met and bonded with
weren’t strangers now.
My bond grew deeper
as and when I met them
again on my journey.
Life lessons were taught to me
by my older generation.
Who knew things would get clearer
when I looked behind that camera screen,
and life looked like it was now in focus.
They say that learning never stops,
and neither does the journey
of photography for me.
I look forward to each travel
like it’s my first.
Every picture I make on a trip
becomes a memoir.
As a photographer, while making
visually appealing images,
providing our viewers with stories
untold and unveiling the truth,
a social responsibility
gets attached to it as well.
And the time spent with my subjects
made me realize that somewhere
the form of media use
can make a big impact
and a huge difference to their lives.
Here we are in the world of numbers
where the number of followers,
the number of likes
and comments on your image,
on your social media platform,
decides your market standing.
I asked myself:
Was it just the number of likes
and comments that I was striving towards?
Was life as a creative person
just to please my viewers?
There was more to it,
and that’s when I realized
with very small efforts,
we can make content that’s not only
visually appealing to you,
but content for a cause.
The social responsibility of us
being a community to help each other
was taught to me by my DSLR camera.
Each one of us today with our fancy
smartphones are photographers.
We all make images.
An image of a child
selling balloons on your street,
a beautiful image
that you would like to capture.
In the world of photography,
the image is on-point
if I captured the lights and the shadows,
and his perfect smile,
but the image goes beyond
when there is a story to tell.
The camera makes you curious:
Who is this child?
Where has he come from?
Why is he selling balloons?
Is he the sole breadwinner of his family?
Why are his parents not around here?
Where does he live?
These are all the questions
that the camera questions,
and these little questions,
and this conversation
with this kid can change his life.
All you have to do is narrate the story,
and maybe he needs help.
Put that up on your social media.
Your friends and family will be the ones
going there to buy balloons from him.
Your social media followers
will be making the video viral
just to help his little boy
who’s trying to make an earning,
And I should say that I have been blessed
with all the followers and my friends
and family who have supported
me in this journey,
where we were able
to buy a house for a family
or bring back a bride from Pakistan
who was going through visa issues,
only with the form
of a small video that went viral.
Let’s not focus
on the exposure of the image
or the balance between
highlights and shadows.
Let’s create the perfect
balance for ourselves
as artists creating the image,
and as human beings,
being a part of the community
to help each other
and make this world a better place.