Helena Dahms, Katja Lanius and Ksenia Disterhof arrived in Hyderabad early September on a three-month project supported by Goethe Zentrum. They explored the city and interacted with women to understand how they navigated public spaces and worked around gender norms. “It was overwhelming at first. But that was a part of the learning process,” says Katja, as their exhibition of photographs ‘Women in public spaces in Hyderabad’ and short film went on view at Goethe Zentrum.

The photographs are in two sections. The first has sets of two photographs of each woman they’ve interviewed — a profile and an image of the woman in a public space. The second section has unobtrusive and in-the-moment snapshots from the streets — women who’re vegetable or flower vendors, women commuting by bus, auto or the metro, walking the streets or taking a selfie at a mall.

These images are captured from a side angle or a backshot so as to not reveal identities. Ksenia who shot the photographs, reasons, “Women are always being observed in public spaces, I didn’t want to make use of their vulnerability for our project.” She shot from a distance, images of women worshipping at a dargah, temple, or unwinding at Public Gardens.

This project made the trio understand a few differences between Germany and Hyderabad. “We noticed that one has to pay to enter some of the public parks, which isn’t the case in Germany,” Ksenia points out.

On display is also a lone image of an Irani café teeming with men. Ksenia observes, “We went to a few chai places where there were no women. I felt a sense of not belonging there, not because I am European, but as a woman. That’s something other women in Hyderabad spoke to us about — the feeling of not belonging to spaces dominated by men.”

While embarking on the project, the trio had read the book Why Loiter? Women and Risk on Mumbai Streets by Shilpa Phadke, Sameera Khan and Shilpa Ranade to get an idea of an Indian city. In the light of the #MeToo movement, they wanted a deeper gender discourse and spoke to women about self-regulation and social power structures.

An image from ‘Women in Public Spaces’ on display at Goethe Zentrum, Hyderabad   | Photo Credit: By arrangement

A young woman stated that she felt comfortable while at a café or a mall, but stayed alert and watchful on the streets. Though she likes to plug in her earphones, she keeps the volume low to be able to hear the sounds around her; she counted the shadows that followed her. Another woman chooses not to wear sleeveless clothes and makeup when she takes the bus. A volunteer at an NGO laments the lack of public toilets, which inconveniences her on her journeys through the city. There are other personal stories as well.

Helena, Katja and Ksenia hit occasional roadblocks where language was a barrier. An interpretor was roped in. “This is where we weren’t able to connect at a personal level,” says Helena. “We learnt our limitations,” adds Katja.

As Ksenia photographed and filmed, Helena and Katja took stock of the information and put things in context. The trio also interviewed professor Usha Raman, Anant Maringanti of Hyderabad Urban Labs, among others to understand gender issues in the city. “We had seven hours of video footage, which we narrowed down to a 16-minute short film,” says Ksenia.

An image from ‘Women in Public Spaces’ on display at Goethe Zentrum, Hyderabad   | Photo Credit: By arrangement

The more they listened in, they wanted to unravel further. “We’ve barely touched the surface,” says Katja. Helena adds, “Three months is too short for such a project.”

In these three months, did the trio feel threatened navigating Hyderabad? Helena holds forth, “There were uncomfortable moments when someone was staring at me or said something. But this can also happen in Germany. I know certain routes around Hyderabad and have devised my way of travelling.”

‘Women in public spaces in Hyderabad’ will be on view at Goethe Zentrum till December 6.