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Photographing the truth of Mumbai’s slums

Armed with his camera, Atul Kasare, son of a conservancy worker, has been photographing the truth of the city’s slums. He speaks to Pooja Patel about his dreams and difficulties in making it till here

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Courtesy: Atul Kasare
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Twenty-one-year-old Atul Kasare, who'll soon complete his BCom, has a passion for photography and aspires to become a photojournalist. Sounds like a regular young man, excited to start his career, no? Kasare's life has been anything but regular. Belonging to the scheduled caste, Kasare hails from a family of conservancy workers, where dreaming big, is almost a taboo. In fact, becoming anything apart from a safai karmachari is unthinkable.

"My father, who's a second-generation safai karmachari, tried to give me the best possible education, so I can pursue a profession of my liking. As a result, I haven't only completed graduation, but also learnt photography." Atul was introduced to a camera when he was 10; since then, there's been no looking back. Mentored by renowned photojournalist, Padma Shri Sudharak Olwe, Founder of Photography Promotion Trust (PPT), he has groomed Kasare into a fine photographer.

Kasare got his big break when four of his photographs were showcased in the Right to City: Whose City, Whose Rights? exhibit at Kala Ghoda Arts Festival 2017, for which NGOs PPT and CORO India came together, to highlight the living conditions of the city's marginalised communities living in slums. His images depict the stark truth about health, garbage, water, electricity and lack of washrooms as well as other basic human rights of slum-dwellers. A delighted Kasare, says, "I was extremely happy that my photographs were selected. I worked on this theme for two years, going across the city's slums to understand the plight of people living there and capture this in photographs."

Kasare's inclination towards it stemmed from his own humble background. His parents tried really hard to hide his father's work from him, but at age five, Atul saw his father at the workplace – gullies in South Mumbai, picking up unsegregated trash, without gloves or a mask, looking miserable. "That moment left an impact on me and ever since I've been using this art form to show the world the realities and difficulties of various working communities," shares Kasare, who is part of his college drama team, and has acted in plays to highlight these social issues.

"My father told me the ordeals of his work and wants my younger brother, Aditya and me to study well and succeed." Assuming the responsibility of an elder brother, he counsels Aditya, who aspires to be an IAS officer, to appear for the UPSC exams. Whereas for him, "I'm looking forward to April, when exams get over, so I can start working as a photojournalist," says Kasare.

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