ET OnlineIndian photographer Ronny Sen is one of the three winners of the second annual Getty Images Instagram grant. The grant fetes photographers who document stories from under-represented communities around the world using the platform of Instagram.
Sen, who is based in Kolkata, has won a grant of US $10,000 for his project "The End" that looks at life in Jharkhand's Jharia coal mines. His work will be showcased at the Photoville festival in New York from September 21, along with the work of the other winners of the grant – Christian Rodriguez of Uruguay and Girma Berta of Ethiopia.
Jharia, known for high-quality coal reserves, over the years has also become infamous for its long-burning fires. The first fire was reported in the region in 1916 and since then there have been unsuccessful attempts at dousing the flames completely.
In an e-mail interview, Sen says why he chose Jharia and the repercussions that it has on the national consciousness.
Q. Congratulations! You must be feeling on top of the world after bagging the second annual Getty Images Instagram grant of $10,000.
Ronny Sen: It's overwhelming. Instagram has the reach like no one else. So the work is reaching millions which I had never thought about before.
Q. You won US $10,000 for your work on the dusty coal town of Jharia in Jharkhand that has been ravaged by underground fires for more than 100 years. Why Jharia?
Ronny Sen: My attempt is to look at a post-apocalyptic world which is at the edge. What does it look like when we have extracted everything from the earth? What remains is what I am interested in. The basic premise of my work is the imagination of the last day of the world's existence, a doomsday.
Q. Your frames capture the displacement and the rural-urban divide. It shows the effects of a long trail of destruction too. How long did it take you to process this project, from the start to the end?
Ronny Sen: It's madness in Jharia. Many villages which were once thriving with life don't exist anymore. They have simply vanished. While some people have left these areas and shifted elsewhere for better jobs and opportunities in other cities, there is a big population which calls Jharia home and keeps on shifting along the blasting mines. They are mostly dependent economically on this huge coal industry. They don't have any other skills. So, even if there is fire and subsidence, they don't have any other choice but to keep moving along the mines.
Various small, and, at times extremely ambitious projects, were initiated to rehabilitate these people affected by the fire. But nothing substantial has been achieved so far.
Some houses were built for some of these affected people as a part of the rehabilitation and resettlement project which were far away from the mines. The one-room apartments were extremely small for these families, and on the other hand, there was no livelihood opportunity for them. So, people who were shifted, started moving back to different mines again.
This is a place where historically literally everyone has failed, the Maharajas, the British Raj, the Government of India, the Communists, the Mafia, and now is the turn of the multi-national corporations who will also eventually fail. I have imagined this space to be at the end of the world after everything has been extracted. What remains after that is what I am interested in. So, the basic premise begins with the future.
I want to share my concerns with a larger audience. Because, the story is not only specific and limited to India at all. It is just a coincidence that Jharia is here. It's an economic, environmental and deeply political problem that is predominantly visible all across the world. This is a complex issue and doesn't deal with only mining but the way it is done and abut the people who are the most affected by it. I hope that this can initiate a dialogue and give people a glimpse of the future.
Q. What do you plan to do with the grant funds?
Ronny Sen: I want to continue the project through Instagram.
Q. What is your message via this project?
Ronny Sen: Powerlessness and a possible future that's near. The apocalypse and the doomsday after everything has being extracted and what remains after that.
Q. How did you choose Jharia?
Ronny Sen: Jharia is in the Dhanbad district of Jharkhand which is not very far from Kolkata. There have been films like ‘The Gangs of Wasseypur’ which have been themed around the coal mines. So there was a lot of material available.
I knew about Jharia but my first visit happened when I started working as a translator with french filmmakers Jean Dubrel and Tiane Doan Na Champassak. The duo were working in Jharia and they had asked me to help them.
Q. What else keeps you going apart from photography?
Ronny Sen: Music and Motorcycles.
Q. Who has been your inspiration?
Ronny Sen: Many people, mostly friends, have inspired me. No one really cares about photography - so photography is only for photographers. A photographer can't live without music or literature but they can without photography! So, it's mostly friends and people I am very close to who have been my muse. I am grateful to have all these special people in my life.
Q. What is your next project?
Ronny Sen: I have been working on my first feature film. We hit the floors this January. It's a work of fiction I have written and I am directing it. It's an Indo-British production.
Sen, who is based in Kolkata, has won a grant of US $10,000 for his project "The End" that looks at life in Jharkhand's Jharia coal mines. His work will be showcased at the Photoville festival in New York from September 21, along with the work of the other winners of the grant – Christian Rodriguez of Uruguay and Girma Berta of Ethiopia.
Jharia, known for high-quality coal reserves, over the years has also become infamous for its long-burning fires. The first fire was reported in the region in 1916 and since then there have been unsuccessful attempts at dousing the flames completely.
In an e-mail interview, Sen says why he chose Jharia and the repercussions that it has on the national consciousness.
Q. Congratulations! You must be feeling on top of the world after bagging the second annual Getty Images Instagram grant of $10,000.
Ronny Sen: It's overwhelming. Instagram has the reach like no one else. So the work is reaching millions which I had never thought about before.
Q. You won US $10,000 for your work on the dusty coal town of Jharia in Jharkhand that has been ravaged by underground fires for more than 100 years. Why Jharia?
Ronny Sen: My attempt is to look at a post-apocalyptic world which is at the edge. What does it look like when we have extracted everything from the earth? What remains is what I am interested in. The basic premise of my work is the imagination of the last day of the world's existence, a doomsday.
Q. Your frames capture the displacement and the rural-urban divide. It shows the effects of a long trail of destruction too. How long did it take you to process this project, from the start to the end?
Ronny Sen: It's madness in Jharia. Many villages which were once thriving with life don't exist anymore. They have simply vanished. While some people have left these areas and shifted elsewhere for better jobs and opportunities in other cities, there is a big population which calls Jharia home and keeps on shifting along the blasting mines. They are mostly dependent economically on this huge coal industry. They don't have any other skills. So, even if there is fire and subsidence, they don't have any other choice but to keep moving along the mines.
Various small, and, at times extremely ambitious projects, were initiated to rehabilitate these people affected by the fire. But nothing substantial has been achieved so far.
Some houses were built for some of these affected people as a part of the rehabilitation and resettlement project which were far away from the mines. The one-room apartments were extremely small for these families, and on the other hand, there was no livelihood opportunity for them. So, people who were shifted, started moving back to different mines again.
This is a place where historically literally everyone has failed, the Maharajas, the British Raj, the Government of India, the Communists, the Mafia, and now is the turn of the multi-national corporations who will also eventually fail. I have imagined this space to be at the end of the world after everything has been extracted. What remains after that is what I am interested in. So, the basic premise begins with the future.
I want to share my concerns with a larger audience. Because, the story is not only specific and limited to India at all. It is just a coincidence that Jharia is here. It's an economic, environmental and deeply political problem that is predominantly visible all across the world. This is a complex issue and doesn't deal with only mining but the way it is done and abut the people who are the most affected by it. I hope that this can initiate a dialogue and give people a glimpse of the future.
Q. What do you plan to do with the grant funds?
Ronny Sen: I want to continue the project through Instagram.
Q. What is your message via this project?
Ronny Sen: Powerlessness and a possible future that's near. The apocalypse and the doomsday after everything has being extracted and what remains after that.
Q. How did you choose Jharia?
Ronny Sen: Jharia is in the Dhanbad district of Jharkhand which is not very far from Kolkata. There have been films like ‘The Gangs of Wasseypur’ which have been themed around the coal mines. So there was a lot of material available.
I knew about Jharia but my first visit happened when I started working as a translator with french filmmakers Jean Dubrel and Tiane Doan Na Champassak. The duo were working in Jharia and they had asked me to help them.
Q. What else keeps you going apart from photography?
Ronny Sen: Music and Motorcycles.
Q. Who has been your inspiration?
Ronny Sen: Many people, mostly friends, have inspired me. No one really cares about photography - so photography is only for photographers. A photographer can't live without music or literature but they can without photography! So, it's mostly friends and people I am very close to who have been my muse. I am grateful to have all these special people in my life.
Q. What is your next project?
Ronny Sen: I have been working on my first feature film. We hit the floors this January. It's a work of fiction I have written and I am directing it. It's an Indo-British production.
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