- NET Web Desk
The native designers and photographers from Northeastern regions – Assam, Sikkim, Manipur and Nagaland recently participated in a thought-provoking and interesting workshop determining the various approaches of showcasing one’s culture through the medium of photography.
Organized by the Tribal Design Forum – India’s only community of designers and creative professionals of tribal origin, the session dealt with exchanging ideas and knowledge to explore the role of design into the tribal communities of the nation.
It aims to providing a voice to the marginalized communities, by portraying their opinions through the representation of pictures.
Joined by experts from Nigeria and Cook Islands, the session delivered attention on often ignored subjects of indigenous communities.
Nigeria’s first World Press Photo Award winning former Reuters photographer & visual anthropologist, Akintunde Akinleye termed photography as an integral part to capture the values of these communities.
He also shared about recording history, through his work at Makoko – a settlement of indigenous communities on water in the heart of Lagos, Nigeria.
Besides Alex King, an expert from the Cook Islands shared about rediscovering her identity as a Maori and a Polynesian indigenous person.
This practice of recording the moments helped her reconnect with folks, art, culture and belief systems linked with nature.
Currently serving as a member of Board of the Indigenous Advisory Council for the Photographers without Borders – an international organization with the mission of make storytelling more accessible for communities around the world, Alex shared her experiences of covering the effects of globalization on the local ecology, wildlife and indigenous communities of Indonesia.
“It is interesting to learn from the experts how healing and compassion plays an important role in the process of documenting any culture, especially the marginalised tribal and indigenous communities,” noted Charles Tirkey, a photographer and one of the participants.
