Palani Kumar and Social Documentation
Photography has always remained a “photojournalistic” or “news photography” medium. However, Palani Kumar is a Tamil photographer and activist. He uses photography to document marginalised communities and amplify their voices. For him, photography is more than an aesthetic medium.
Through Palani Kumar’s efforts, underprivileged populations are becoming more visible. He documents the lives of marginalised communities, working women, and fishermen. His photographs draw inspiration from Ambedkarite thought and turn their lived experiences into powerful visual narratives. He has tried to provide them with the knowledge and tools they need to share their tales.
Palani Kumar’s Photography Activism
Palani Kumar uses his camera and the activism it entails to respond to long-standing forms of oppression. These forms of oppression have existed for centuries. They cannot be captured in a single photograph. Palani Kumar documents them through long-term photographic activism.
Official exhibition page: https://www.abirpothi.com/ambedkarite-art-in-communities-of-choice/
Palani Kumar developed an interest in cinema and photography at an early age. He gradually built his career in the field. Later, he trained children from marginalised communities to become photojournalists and visual storytellers.
‘I wanted to bridge that gap and make photography more accessible,’ Palani Kumar himself says. Here, the gap is between the camera’s material resources and the privileged and the deprived. As a result, children gain a deeper understanding of social realities through his photography training classes.
From Engineering to Photojournalism and Activism
The aim of photography is not just to capture a scene, but also to portray social realities and bring them to the public to create awareness. Palani was born into a Dalit community. At his mother’s request, he studied engineering. His mother worked as a fish vendor. In 2015, he assisted on a documentary about manual scavenging and sewer deaths. That experience changed the direction of his work.
If the shooting of that documentary made it clear that the lives of marginalised people are worthless and highlighted how deep caste-based discrimination runs, Palani later focused on paying attention to such marginalised issues. He read the works of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar and Periyar and tried to understand the concept of ‘caste’ more deeply.
As a result, he realised that manual scavenging is normalised in a caste-based social system and that sewer deaths are a failure of that system. From this realisation, his genuine ‘photojournalism’ or activism begins.
Palani Kumar: Understanding Caste Through the Camera
In 2019, Palani organised his first photography workshop for the children of sanitation workers. The workshop encouraged them to understand caste through the camera. Palani’s brave initiatives say that ‘Witnessing is an important process — it documents history for future generations.’
When seen through the seriousness of photography as a medium and as documentation, it is the children who realise how much caste discrimination their parents and community face, and, through them, this awareness also reaches the community.
Palani Kumar at the Kochi-Muziris Biennale
Meanwhile, at the Kochi-Muziris Biennale 2022 the Chennai Photo Biennale showcased Palani Kumar’s photographs. The exhibition attracted strong public interest. I was the art mediator for that show, and I directly observed and understood the audience’s attitude towards those photographs.
It has often been seen that people from the upper class of society don’t even bother to look at it, and this is where the significance of what Palanikumar does lies.
Palani Kumar and Manual Scavenging
The feet and chappals of manual scavengers reveal the harsh realities of their work. They also reflect the social conditions in which these workers live.
The work done by manual scavengers, and what they carry on their bodies, is a filthy, messy reality that some people cannot even bear to look at. In this context, Palani Kumar’s photographs act as a mirror confronting these realities. They are not just photographs; they are images that speak the truth.
Palani Kumar on Sewer Deaths and Hazardous Working Conditions
Manual scavenging is illegal in India. However, many people still depend on it for their livelihood. Every year, many workers lose their lives while doing this work. According to the National Commission for Safai Karamcharis, since 1993, 1,054 individuals have been killed as a result of dangerous septic and wastewater tank cleaning.
Moreover, Suffocation from toxic gas inhalation is the most common cause of death among those who clean sewage and drainage systems without wearing protective gear.
‘You are what you wear’ is accurate to some extent, and by looking at the chappals of those who do manual scavenging, one can understand which class or social strata they belong to in society.
Most photographers specialise in specific areas. Among various genres like landscape, wildlife, portrait, wedding, and fine arts, Palanikumar stands out not just because he focuses on subjects from marginalised communities, but also because he concentrates on topics that, like workers’ feet, hold no market value at all.
Palani Kumar and the Social Meaning of Chappals
‘The chappal of the Worker’ is one of the things that Palanikumar has observed and captured during his travels across India. It is a depiction of their (waste-filled) workplaces, imprinted with the faces of those who have continuously cleaned toilets and drainage systems.
In addition, Cheap, low-quality rubber chappals are part of many workers’ lives. Many workers cannot afford to replace them, even though they cost very little.
Palani tells this story through his camera. Many workers continue wearing damaged chappals because they cannot afford new ones. This harsh reality reflects deep economic inequality.
The Historical and Social Meaning of Chappals
It is a historical fact that at one time, oppressed communities were not allowed to wear shoes. However, That situation has now changed. However, the invisible circumstances have still not changed, as Palanikumar’s documentation ‘Of chappals’ shows.
The feet of the working people and the chapals they wear are by no means a promising sight, and this is especially true for the feet and shoes of those doing scavenging work.
The chapals tell stories not just about the people who wear them, but also something about the society they live in. They reveal how degrading or merciless society has been toward them. But no one other than those who say it will listen.
They are at the bottom of the power structure. It is also a fact that society does not expect them to have a mission greater than cleaning toilets and garbage pits.
Underprivilege, Power and Voice
Underprivilege is not just a lack of money; it is also a lack of power and a lack of voice against ‘being oppressed’. It is the lack of awareness that their situation has been imposed on them and the lack of strength to respond.
Gradually, the voice against it begins to emerge. Here, the backdrop is photography. Looking through the camera’s viewfinder, children from the manual scavenging community and others are documenting their own lives with greater focus, framing them and displaying them. That’s how they try to escape from it and overcome it.
Who Keeps the Cities Running?
Drainage systems in cities often get blocked. Who cleans the clogged drainage systems and restores urban life to normal? For that, we, who consider ourselves an advanced society, create and maintain ‘communities’ at multiple levels.
It is those who are rendered untouchable by this so-called advanced society whose lives become the subject and focus here.
Palani Kumar uses images that have ten times more power than words. The range of meanings that images can convey is vast. That is what is being utilised here. The vision and perspective that merge into a single view are evident in Palani Kumar’s photography and activism.
Visibility, Social Norms and Exclusion
People wearing torn chappals and those without any footwear are all part of our society. Sometimes, it is pitiful to live in a supposedly progressive society that has turned into ‘norms’ where people are identified and segregated based on what they wear, to the extent that there isn’t even space at the edges.
Newspapers, media, or art galleries that focus solely on the ‘political ambitions’ of the elite leave no room for expressions of that untouchability. It is here that Palani Kumar’s long-term efforts, though gradual, begin to make an impact.
‘To Walk a Mile’
The ‘worn-out shoes’ in the series ‘To walk a mile’ speak not only to those who wear them but also about us. Who can slip away, saying that the existing social structure is not their responsibility?
Can one let go of it, claiming it as a historical construct? If a historical structure is inhumane, dismantling it is a responsibility of those living in this era! This truth is what Palani’s ‘photography activism’ speaks of.
Paulo Freire and the Experience of Oppression
Paulo Freire, in his book ‘Pedagogy of the Oppressed’, argues that dehumanisation is not only an ontological possibility but also a historical reality.
‘Oppressed’ is a process; while it is an ontological process that one may not recognise in oneself, it is also the historical reality of an oppressed life. Freire asks, ‘Who suffers the effects of oppression more than the oppressed?’ and emphasises the need to see it in multiple dimensions.
Worn-out shoes tell one story. Clothing, food, utensils and living conditions tell many more. Together, they reveal the experience of oppression.
Being ‘oppressed’ is the experience of dehumanisation, the process of being made less than human while being human. There are many forms of these processes.
Prescription, Power and Deconstruction
Paulo Freire writes, “One of the basic elements of the relationship between oppressor and oppressed is prescription.” This idea provides a useful framework for understanding Palani Kumar’s story of the chappal.
The term “prescription” deserves careful reflection. It has survived for centuries because it served the economic and social interests of powerful groups. This prescription may not only be written in some book but may also have become a norm maintained over time.
Therefore, action must be taken against that prescription. That prescription also needs to be deconstructed. Various media and methods will be needed for that. There is no doubt that Palani Kumar’s photography is among the most powerful.
Contributor
