In her book 'On Photography,' Susan Sontag argues that photography is deeply tied to power, and that every photograph carries a disparate relationship between the person holding the camera and the person being photographed. For her, to photograph people is to violate them because the act turns them into objects that can be 'symbolically possessed.' Even historically, images of marginalised communities have often been produced by outsiders and the people in the photographs had little control over how they were represented, where the images circulated, or the stories attached to them.

Founded by photographer and documentarian Palani Kumar in Chennai, the People's Photography Collective aims to change that. The collective provides free photography and journalism education to students from socially and economically disadvantaged communities, helping them document their own families, neighbourhoods, livelihoods, and everyday realities. Through workshops, mentorship, exhibitions, and access to equipment, it is creating opportunities for young people to become authors of their own visual histories.

Hailing from Jawaharlalpuram village in Madurai district, Palani studied engineering before turning to photography, purchasing his first camera through a loan while still a student. Over the years, he became known for documenting the lives of manual scavengers, working-class women, fisher communities, and other marginalised groups across India. He worked as cinematographer on 'Kakoos', a documentary which examined the lives of manual scavengers in Tamil Nadu, and later joined the People’s Archive of Rural India (PARI) as a staff photographer. His work has consistently focused on questions of caste, labour, dignity, and representation. Palani has often spoken about the importance of creating more photographers from Dalit, Adivasi, Muslim, and other underrepresented communities so that people can document their own realities and histories.

The collective currently works with more than 50 marginalised students from Tamil Nadu and Odisha and runs continuing programmes in Ramanathapuram and Pulianthope in Chennai, including projects with the children of palm farmers. Workshops have also been organised in rural regions of Maharashtra, Nagpur, and Odisha. Beyond teaching camera techniques, these programmes encourage students to explore and document their families, communities, livelihoods, and everyday experiences through visual storytelling. Participants learn the technical aspects of photography while also engaging with the roots of storytelling, creating work that reflects their own lives and surroundings. The workshops often culminate in public exhibitions where students present their photographs and share their narratives with wider audiences.

Several of these exhibitions have gained significant attention. Projects such as 'Reframed – North Chennai Through The Lens Of Young Residents', 'Our Street Our Stories', 'Chronicle of Tides', 'Unseen Perspective', 'Hope', and 'Everydayness' have brought together photographs made by young residents, fisherwomen, government school students, children of conservancy workers, and photographers documenting Dalit experiences. Our Street Our Stories in particular drew attention for presenting photographs across the streets and walls of North Chennai, allowing local communities to engage directly with the work and challenge long-standing stereotypes associated with the area. The collective has so far conducted more than ten grassroots workshops and organised over six exhibitions, while student work has travelled to national and international platforms, including the Kolam exhibition in England.

Alongside group workshops, the collective also offers one-on-one mentorship through online meetings. Students receive personalised guidance in photography and journalism, access to cameras, and support in building portfolios for higher education. It also provides accommodation for students from different districts who move to Chennai to study journalism and photography. A library filled with books on visual communication, photography, and journalism further supports students in developing their skills and broadening their understanding of the field.

Nine students associated with the collective are currently pursuing journalism degrees in Chennai. Four are working as student reporters with Vikatan, one has interned as a student photojournalist with The Wire, and another recently completed an online photography programme at the VII Academy. These outcomes are significant, but the collective continues to work with serious limitations. It currently has only around 20 cameras for more than 50 students, and none of the students own laptops, making it difficult for them to complete college assignments, edit photographs, work on field documentation, and stay engaged in their academic work. The collective also needs more cameras, photo books, computers, and funding to run classes in multiple places at the same time, support student travel across Tamil Nadu, and organise more workshops and exhibitions. For Palani Kumar and the People's Photographers Collective, the work remains part of a larger effort to create visibility, expression, and opportunity for communities that have long been overlooked. Through photography, mentorship, and education, the collective continues to build a space where young people can document their own worlds and carry those stories into newsrooms, exhibitions, classrooms, and public conversations.

Follow and learn more about how to support the People's Photographers Collective here.

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