Twitter
Advertisement

Capturing the truth with its essence

A collection of photographs documenting the anti-nuclear protests near Koodankulam.

Latest News
article-main
FacebookTwitterWhatsappLinkedin

‘Koodankulam: In My Backyard’ is haunting to the say least. Dynamically composed, this collection of fifteen photographs by Amirthraj Stephen evocatively capture the mood of a people’s struggle against state tyranny.

“These pictures tell you that something is awfully going wrong here,” says the photographer, who has been documenting the anti-nuclear protests in the villages near the Koodankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KNPP) since 2011.

One of the reasons why Stephen felt compelled to document the ongoing protests against the KNPP was that it was “happening practically in my backyard”, as the title of his project suggests.

Stephen comes from Kavalkinaru village, about 18 km from the KNPP site, and grew up at an Atomic Energy Department’s Township in Tuticorin. Nuclear safety issues began to bother him only after an accident at the Kaiga nuclear plant. Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan after a tsunami in March 2011 shook him and he returned to his village where almost everyone had joined the anti-nuclear protests.

“Idinthakarai, a village located very close to the plant, has been the epicenter of the protest. Another reason I believe that this needs to be documented is because this is the biggest non-violent people’s movement in post-independence India. This is a revolution. It is not just an anti-nuclear protest but it is about democracy, policy making and rights of the common man,” Stephen says.

He vividly remembers the night of September 9, 2012, when thousands of villagers, man, woman and child, slept together on the sea shore to mark their protest. It disturbed him that no representatives from the mainstream media were present that night.

“Next morning, police mercilessly lathicharged the peaceful protestors and arrested many,” he recalls.

Stephen’s photographs answer questions like “Who am I? What is my politics? Where do I stand?” He has placed himself firmly on the side of the people—hapless victims of an authoritarian state’s inhuman policies, as he sees it.

“My photographs simply shows the world what is going on in Koodankulam as I see it. I don’t try to interpret the situation but merely show it as it is,” he says. 

‘Koodankulam: In My Backyard’ is currently on display at Gallery Ske as part of a group show, Trilingual, featuring works of artist Navin Thomas and architect Karun Kumbera. The show will be on till July 5.

Find your daily dose of news & explainers in your WhatsApp. Stay updated, Stay informed-  Follow DNA on WhatsApp.
Advertisement

Live tv

Advertisement
Advertisement