From time immemorial, conventional standards of beauty have been synonymous with the notion of what is considered ‘ideal’ or ‘perfect’. More often than not, superficiality has governed the parameters of how a person ought to look, making it difficult to truly love the skin we live in. How does one, then, in such an environment embrace themselves for who they are?
In the recent past, many have questioned these unrealistic benchmarks that have been set based on depictions by the media. While human anatomy is yet to find complete acceptance in the larger Indian art world and our society, there are artists out there who are continuing to explore its beauty, shape and shadows in all its forms. Through their work, they have and still are trying to change how we view the human body and our deep-rooted conditioning of what it should ‘ideally’ look like.
Everyone’s body is different and beautiful with all its flaws and folds. Today we tip our hats to Indian photographers that have celebrated the human body through their lens and made us love ourselves for who we are.
Through her Instagram project BrownGirlGazin, Anushka Kelkar is very successfully broadening the narrow lens through which women’s bodies are usually viewed. She is breaking past society’s stereotypical standards of beauty, one photograph at a time. The 21-year-old does not shy away from depicting the female form for what it is, complete with all that is considered ‘distasteful’ and imperfect — stretch marks, body hair, cellulite and everything moderately real.
View more from the series on Instagram here.
II. Roshini Kumar
A fashion photographer, Roshini Kumar is quite literally stripping the industry off of all things superficial. Her photo series titled ‘BARE’ is an unabashed celebration of the human body in its entirety. Propagating the idea of embracing body differences, Kumar’s voice for body positivity is being heard loud and clear. In a world of filters, for every kind of supposed bodily flaw, Kumar uses a stark nude colour palette in BARE, as a way for people to feel more comfortable with their ‘natural selves.’
She has now even launched Revolution Magazine, a body positive and inclusive magazine aimed at triggering change through fashion, art and photography.
III. Rohan Tulpule
‘Plus So What’, ‘Motion Plus’ and ‘Raw Plus Size’ are just a few projects executed by Rohan Tulpule, but are enough to give you an insight into the change he aims to bring about through his photography. Tulpule steers as far away as possible from conventional representations of beauty. His approach towards capturing raw beauty is a much-needed advancement that present-day photography needs.
IV. Gaurav Hingne
Doing everything but conforming to the taboos surrounding nudity, Gaurav Hingne’s love for manipulating and capturing light is beautifully translated into messages of self-love through his work. Hingne does not consider skin colour, body size or other such prescribed notions of beauty as parameters to define the work he produces. He aims to depict beauty in its purest form and subsequently propagate the idea of body positivity.
Follow his work here.
V. Palak
Palak, popularly referred to as Manmarziya (her Instagram name), couples words with photographs to spread messages of self-love and body positivity. Beautiful shots of bare bodies paired with words that add to the masterpiece that is the human form. Her approach towards tackling nudity tastefully is what makes Palak a photographer to take note of.
Follow her work here.
“Indian women as subjects of photographic representation have never been seen as anything other than exotic models of attractiveness... its current avatar being the one dimensional Bollywood stereotype. And that, ironically in an age where women’s accomplishments in practically every arena have far surpassed their male counterparts. These are portraits of urban Indian women, selected for their interestingness rather than their physical charms, drawn from a variety of disciplines, sometimes conforming to gender stereotypes and sometimes defying them.”
In 1996, with his book titled Women, Prabuddha Dasgupta became one of India’s first photographers to challenge issues of patriarchy and female sexuality through photography. His series ‘Urban Women’ challenged stereotypical gendered roles prescribed by the society, both aesthetically and responsibly.
You can see more of the master’s work on his website.
VII. Soumya Iyer
“Art has always been a part of my life. My love for painting began much before photography. Even when I was studying fine art, sketching the human anatomy was a subject that was close to my heart. I was fascinated by the beauty of the human body, and it would puzzle me when human minds associated it with vulgarity.”
Soumya Iyer’s artistic inclination and appreciation of the human body is wonderfully translated into her project titled Gender of Beauty. An amalgamation of fluid movements and bold bursts of colour, this series of photographs is Iyer’s attempt at an honest portrayal of personal issues, which subsequently aims at helping others struggling with their body image too.
VIII. Pulkit Mogha
Pulkit Mogha is one of the rare Indian photographers who propagate body positivity among men. By documenting the male form, Mogha challenges taboos and stereotypes centred around homosexuality and expression of sexuality at large. His photography project SkinType India aims at “Pushing the Homosexual Agenda on Pure, Saffron Minds.” Captions of all photographs included in this project are Hindu names, which attempt to highlight the Indianness attached to the subjects and bodies in question.
Feature image credit: (L) Roshini Kumar & (R) Pulkit Mogha.
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