What is the common image that comes to our mind when we think of fishing communities? We tend to picturise a fisherman as a person with dark skin, sitting on a small boat throwing the net to get the catch of the day.
Somasundaram and Aabha Muralidharan, have photo-documented the lives and livelihoods of Tamil fisherfolk
Chennai:
Somasundaram is a trained visual communicator who believes that visuals are the most effective mediums of storytelling. “The photographs are largely about the less spoken aspects of fishermen’s lives and livelihoods which also includes various social structures and cultural practices of fishing communities. When it comes to addressing issues of minor communities, we tend to miss little details. But we have unearthed beautiful stories about their lives. Aabha and I travelled with the fishermen on the boat to the sea and watched them fishing so closely. That way we got to spend more time with them and understood them better,” he says.
While working in Cuddalore, Radhika Ganesh, the founder of Kaani Nilam, and team encountered very intriguing stories about the fishing communities in that coastal belt. There were a lot of power dynamics — while a few were politically mobilised, a few stayed poor. “During a discussion with the Department of Fisheries, we realised there isn’t any study as far as the socio-cultural aspect of these communities is concerned. That’s how the idea of photo-documentation came. Our intention was to try and bring out as many narrations as possible for a story that we unilaterally understand,” shares Radhika.
Aabha Muralidharan, another photographer involved in the project, says, “We travelled from Ennore to Thoothukudi to bring out multiple narratives of the incredible lives of the Neidhal people. We have gone in search of stories that have not yet been told through words or imagery, for they may have already created opinions.”
The duo along with the collective will be holding a photo exhibition, Kadalaadu Kaadhai, at Chetpet Ecopark from November 21 to 25.
But there are definitely more aspects than what meets the eye. This led two youngsters Somasundaram and Aabha Muralidharan to travel across the coastal areas in Tamil Nadu and photo-document various fishing communities. This is an initiative curated by the activist collective Ek Potlee Ret Ki or Kaani Nilam.
Somasundaram is a trained visual communicator who believes that visuals are the most effective mediums of storytelling. “The photographs are largely about the less spoken aspects of fishermen’s lives and livelihoods which also includes various social structures and cultural practices of fishing communities. When it comes to addressing issues of minor communities, we tend to miss little details. But we have unearthed beautiful stories about their lives. Aabha and I travelled with the fishermen on the boat to the sea and watched them fishing so closely. That way we got to spend more time with them and understood them better,” he says.
When quizzed Somasundaram about an interesting incident, he says, “It’s tough to pick one. The people we came across were so fascinating. They celebrated every occasion together and we could notice the community strength. From the beginning itself, we wanted to try and show visuals that haven’t surfaced yet. So finding such stories was the only challenge we faced during our entire journey.”
While working in Cuddalore, Radhika Ganesh, the founder of Kaani Nilam, and team encountered very intriguing stories about the fishing communities in that coastal belt. There were a lot of power dynamics — while a few were politically mobilised, a few stayed poor. “During a discussion with the Department of Fisheries, we realised there isn’t any study as far as the socio-cultural aspect of these communities is concerned. That’s how the idea of photo-documentation came. Our intention was to try and bring out as many narrations as possible for a story that we unilaterally understand,” shares Radhika.
Aabha Muralidharan, another photographer involved in the project, says, “We travelled from Ennore to Thoothukudi to bring out multiple narratives of the incredible lives of the Neidhal people. We have gone in search of stories that have not yet been told through words or imagery, for they may have already created opinions.”
The duo along with the collective will be holding a photo exhibition, Kadalaadu Kaadhai, at Chetpet Ecopark from November 21 to 25.