Portraits Of Youth: 5 Homegrown Photographers Documenting The Many Faces Of Young India

On a recent photo walk, Mumbai-based filmmaker and documentary photographer Avinash Jai Singh stumbled upon four boys at the beach, enjoying some downtime with selfies and laughter after their routine prayers, their formal attire starkly in contrast with their playful youth. For Avinash Jai Singh, it was "a moment that encapsulates the simple joys of life."

When I came across Singh's photoseries on Homegrown's homepage on Instagram, it immediately made me think about photographers' age-old fascination with the young as a subject. What is it that makes us turn our lens to the young? Is it simply because we see our younger selves in them? Or is it because photographing the young allows us to see the world with kindness and compassion? Or is it because, as creative director and strategist Monica Radulescu puts it, "Youth is honest, courageous, and innocent, which makes it impossible for the photographer to be anything else when photographing it?"

Whatever the reason, youth, and the young have been an enduring theme in photography. From fashion photographers to photojournalists, here are five homegrown photographers who have engaged with and documented the many faces of young India:

Avinash Jai Singh is a commercial and documentary photographer with a deep passion for capturing the untold stories of the heartland. While his work spans advertising and brand campaigns, his true calling lies in documenting the quiet, intimate moments that define urban life. From the early stirrings of a city waking up to the spontaneous celebrations and moments of stillness, Avinash’s lens finds beauty in the everyday.

On a recent photo walk in Mumbai, Avinash stumbled upon four boys at the beach, enjoying some downtime with selfies and laughter after their routine prayers, a moment that encapsulates the simple joys of life.

Follow Avinash Jai Singh here.

Altaf Qadri is an award-winning photojournalist who has been at the cutting edge of international photojournalism for the last 15 years. Altaf started out covering news and feature stories for the European Press Photo Agency (EPA) in the Kashmir region before moving on to the Associated Press. Throughout his career, he has covered everything from political turmoil and cultural interest stories to major natural disasters. Altaf is also an experienced conflict photographer who has documented everything from deadly street battles in his native Kashmir to full-blown international and civil wars such as those in Afghanistan and Libya, where in 2012 he spent around two days hiding behind the lines of General Gadaffi's advancing forces.

Altaf's photo series 'School for Less Fortunate' shed light on how Rajesh Kumar Sharma, an Indian man along with his friend, founded a free school for underprivileged children under a metro bridge in New Delhi. The series spurred both international and local action to support the school and its students.

Follow Altaf Qadri here.

Born and brought up in Imphal, Manipur, photographer and creative director Suraj Nongmaithem is dedicated to creating stories that explore India's youth cultures, gender identity, and more. He is currently based in Mumbai.

In 'New Blood of India', photographer Suraj Nongmaithem and stylist James Lalthanzuala capture this cultural movement, portraying clothing and style as not just adornments, but as symbols of defiance and liberation.

Follow Suraj Nongmaithem here.

Tanmoy Bhaduri is an Independent photojournalist based in Kolkata. He covers under-reported issues on development, human trafficking, women and child rights, insurgencies, climate change, land rights, conflicts and natural disasters in Central and North-Eastern India. His works have appeared in national and international publications, bringing to the fore many stories of children across India and the North East.

Follow Tanmoy Bhaduri here.

Smita Sharma is Delhi based award winning photojournalist and visual storyteller reporting on critical human rights, gender, social justice and environmental issues in her own community as well as in the Global South on assignments for Human Rights Watch, National Geographic Magazine, TIME and other publications.

From documenting the effect of pregnancy on girl’s education in Kenya to child marriage in Nepal, and sex-trafficking in South Asia, Sharma is committed to representing people with dignity and telling underrepresented stories with impact. 

Her project 'We Cry In Silence' is an eight-year long investigation on cross-border trafficking of minor girls across India, Bangladesh and Nepal for sex work and domestic servitude. The project unveils the vulnerability of these girls and highlights the reasons of what make them easy preys to the designs of the traffickers. The goal is to scrutinize and try to understand this complex global issue and to open a dialogue that would hopefully galvanize more people to work towards some solutions.

Follow Smita Sharma here.

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