The exotic elements of life in Rajasthan have been a popular draw for photographers across the world: veiled women balancing pots on their heads, turbaned men smoking hookahs, silhouettes of cattle grazing against the rugged backdrop of the majestic Aravalis.
But those are most often an outsider’s perspective of life in the state. A more lived experience was showcased in “Footprints of Change”, an exhibition at Jaipur’s Jawahar Kala Kendra from January 31 to February 2. It brought together powerful photographs taken in the 1970s, ’80s, and ’90s by untrained photographers of Tilonia village in central Rajasthan.
In addition to capturing the essence of the grassroots initiatives and community-led development undertaken by Barefoot College, Tilonia, and offering a glimpse into its work, the photographs hold together the intricate details of life in rural Rajasthan of that time.
The photographers were workers at Barefoot College, the institution rooted in Gandhian ideology founded 53 years ago by Sanjit “Bunker” Roy. The institution attempts to bring together indigenous knowledge and sophisticated technology to create livelihoods and empower rural communities.
Barefoot College trains semi-literate women to be solar engineers, creates innovative educational spaces, works for water conservation, protects the ecology and revives local arts. It is where learning by doing is valued over formal degrees.
One initiative involved giving simple film cameras to the people who worked at the college to document the work being done by the organisation and to capture whatever they saw around them – their own experiences of life.
At the entrance of the exhibition, visitors were greeted by a panel of pictures of the Barefoot photographers creating filmstrips. These images by Pablo Bartholomew offered a glimpse into the innovation and art that went into developing photography as a visual documentation in a time it was not common – especially in Indian villages.
Each of the 76 images on display told a story beyond the frame: the women and their detailed lehengas; the many intricacies of the most important activity of the day: fetching water; sustainability woven in the act of rope-making; lessons in water conservation through the construction process of tanks and reservoirs; folk performances by the nomadic communities; a lantern lighting up perspectives in education during a night class; a moment of rest during the day’s work as a farmer sits by her baby’s makeshift cradle.
Very often, in work with rural communities, it is assumed that urban people “bring the change” to them. In reality, the drivers of change are the communities themselves. Their cameras may have been basic but the images have the rhythm, movement and diversity of contemporary candid photography.
This was, the photographer Bartholomew said, “the Instagram of the 1970s”.
From action pictures like one of a game of rumaal jhapatta (dog and the bone) to the animated face of a Gavri performer that brings out many shades of red to moments of calm in a sunset silhouette – an entire universe of experiences spoke through the images.
The manner in which the photographs were taken represents Barefoot’s philosophy of learning by doing. “Even when it came to documentation of our work, Bunker [Roy], our founder, said, ‘You are the one going to the field; you don’t need a separate cameraperson to document your work. You know it best’,” said Shakar Singh, an alumnus of the institution. “What we saw with our eyes, we captured in the camera.”
He showed a picture of his mother holding a shovel while balancing a tagadi (metal pan) on her head as she got on with her day’s work sometime in the early 1980s. Another picture in the show is of his young son joyfully trying to play a drum while a loving elder watches on.
The pictures provided the opportunity of residents of Tilonia and villages nearby to discuss the practices of the times. “It is heartening to hear these conversations around these pictures,” said Vinit Agarwal, who co-curated the exhibition along with Shweta Rao. “After all, this is like a document of their own lives. It is their exhibition and a very important material reminder of life in the times.”
Ramnivas, a member of the communication team of Barefoot College, recalled many poignant moments in the frames. One of them from the mid-1980s featured a large gathering of women in Tilonia where he was passing on cups of tea.
“Caste distinction was rampant in my village, and as my family belonged to a lower caste, I was discriminated against,” he said. “But when I came to Barefoot College, I saw that the ideals here were very different. Everyone was treated equally. I was not forbidden from entering kitchens and other spaces, unlike the world I had known.”
Ramnivas also reflected on a picture of Dhanni Bua, a senior woman, who was very active in women’s mobilisation. “She seems to be saying to the younger woman here, ‘I am there for you; we will work together,’” he said.
Co-curator Shweta Rao said that many asked how these rural photographers acquired so much aesthetic sense. “...You don’t need to be a certified designer to know aesthetics,” she said. “Look at the embroidery on their outfits and the way they use different colours and motifs. Aesthetics is woven into their lives.”
The photo exhibition was inaugurated by International Booker Prize 2024 awardee Jenny Erpenbeck. This exhibition was held for the first time in 2005 at the Brunei Gallery in London.
In a message to the people whose images were part of the “Footprints of Change” exhibition in Jaipur, photographer and author Sunil Gupta wrote, “The history of art and photography is essentially a collection of stories, usually of the ruling elite. I thought your stories should also be in there and often find that they aren’t. It’s going to be up to you to ensure that your communities are documented and represented through your own vision.”
Shefali Martins is an independent journalist and communications educator based in Ajmer. Her work focuses on art, education and livelihoods.
