Putting child drug addicts back into the frame of life

Panaji: "These children are like lotuses emerging from the mud of Dharavi slum," says US-based photographer Zeliha Ozturkkan, describing the recovering child-addicts at an NGO in Mumbai, for whose benefit she has organized an exhibition of her photographs in Goa that begun on January 27.
Ozturkkan's exhibition, titled 'Journey of Spirit', looks at the struggles these children go through in order to get their life back to order.The photographs featured include scenes captured by her from Iceland to Patagonia. "The distance from body to soul is farther than Iceland to Patagonia. These children have to undertake this journey to recovery merely on the basis of faith. Their courage and determination has motivated me to support their cause," said Ozturkkan, describing the exhibition as a journey 'From North to South, From Iceland to Patagonia. From Body to Soul, From Addiction to Faith'. has launched an exhibition of her photographs in Goa on January 27, followed by a series of exhibitions overseas to raise funds for the kids at the NGO.
The 57-year-old Turkey-born photographer started with amateur photography while in college when she was studying chemical engineering. After moving to USA in 2006, she got acquainted with Bryan Mascarenhas, her yoga teacher of Goan origin, through whom she met Fr Joe Pereira of the Kripa Foundation. Hence, a regular visitor to India from 2011 onwards, for annual yoga workshops, Ozturkkan then came across Kripa Foundation's shelter at Dharavi, Mumbai. got acquainted with Bryan Mascarenhas, her yoga teacher of Goan origin in 2006 after she moved to the US, through whom she met Fr Joe Pereira of Kripa Foundation, an NGO that helps children battling chemical abuse. She has been a regular visitor to India since 2011 and that is when Ozturkkan came across Kripa Foundation's shelter at Dharavi, Mumbai. "I was amazed by the kind of work the NGO was doing to help addicts, and that motivated me to contribute in my own way," she said.
A total of 28 pictures will feature at the exhibition at Maquinez Palace, Panaji with a sale limit of 20 prints on each portrait. The exhibition is on till February 5. The minimalistic outdoor and water photographs that will be presented have been shot in Biarritz, Iceland and Patagonia and the prints of the same will be taken on aluminium plates. "This advanced form of photo printing gives them a lifelike effect," adds Ozturkkan but maintains that she is still a fan of the age-old chemical-processing of photographs since they have 'more intermediate colours and tones'. 'Journey of Spirit' will then travel to Turkey, the US and Europe collecting funds all the way. The proceeds of purchased pictures will be donated to the NGO. Nine of the many recovering boys from Dharavi have been invited to Goa for the exhibition.