Of Mongrels And Their Keepers

The sun, the sea, a dog, a tree; click-click-snap-snap. A camera, a cup of tea, a young spirit, wishing to be free; click-click-snap-snap.

23-year old Parizad D’s humble venture into photography began like any other eager teenager bestowed with a camera in their hand. A graduate in literature from Mumbai, she transitioned into the world of commercial photography as a freelancer after a year of training. A hobby emerging into a fruitful profession, her exhaustive list of clients now includes MTV, Sony Music, Rolling Stone Magazine, Only Much Louder and the like.
However, Parizad has managed to string her commercial projects with what she truly loves, striking a unique balance which reflects in her varied styles of work. As a child, she volunteered with her sister at Welfare of Stray Dogs, helping stray animals become more adaptable to humans before they are ready for adoption. “There are dogs that wouldn’t even let us touch them,” recalls Parizad, reiterating the need to befriend the animals in order to make them feel comfortable in our space.
The ward boys, cleaners and other staffers at WSD spend plenty of time with the strays – taking care of them in the kennel, initiating first aid and even conducting sterilisation drives. There’s a fairly unspoken yet intimate relationship formed between the animals and their keepers, and Parizad brought full justice to it in her elaborate photo series titled the same. “From the outside, it may seem a little harsh to see a man struggling to keep a dog’s mouth shut when it gets aggressive, but he’s doing it for its own benefit,” she believes. The starkness of portraits, with the rather darker tones, is perhaps Parizad’s signature style, a pattern that is well exhibited in all her beats – from fashion to music.
Here’s the portrayal of this intricate relationship, seen through Parizad’s eyes, but open for self-interpretation.

“Down the road from a bustling train-station, surrounded by a multitude of laundrymen on one side and fisherwomen on the other- lies a quaint little piece of land, filled with abandoned, lovelorn mongrels; and their keepers”