A picture is worth a thousand words, they say. Clichés, at times, make the job easy to define certain things. This new and emerging storytelling technique needs something of this sort to precisely explain what it is. With just two viral photo series hitting social media, storytelling photography has taken the internet by storm. It’s high time you unlearned the older lessons of appreciating photographs and sit with a fresh mind to enjoy the frames. Draupadi, having actor Nimisha Sajayan in focus, and Gayathri’s coming out tale, with transwoman model Maya Ann Joseph, have proven to be trendsetters for photography in Kerala.
Surprisingly, the photo artistes behind both were inspired by Arjun Kamath, who told the tale of the dark underbelly of matriarchy through Avani (touted to be a first in India in this genre). If the spark of an idea to narrate the life of Gayathri came to Vishnu Parameswar through his wife Lipika Ayyappath, it’s a big moment of epiphany for Cyril Syriac, who had been harbouring the dream of doing a photo story right from whe he was a student. Nothing excited filmmaker Cyril to start his tryst with photography like a street. The glam world had little to amaze him and his dalliance with the coarse and real was going unperturbed until one day he discussed the long-standing dream with actor Nimisha Sajayan, who studied with him in the same campus. Cyril’s choice and Nimisha’s preference for a no-makeup avatar worked well.
“Not for a single shot had I stood still. I was acting and he went on clicking the photographs. It didn’t make me feel like I was shooting for a medium other than cinema. It was his idea that we worked on. Whereas, I only wanted some photographs to add to my portfolio,” says Nimisha. Draupadi, is about child abuse, which shifts the focus to the mother of a kid who was molested and killed. She is likened to Draupadi in the epic, who stood by her pledge until all her abusers were eliminated from the face of the earth. “I can’t keep calm about anything that disturbs my mindset and my way is to react as vigorously as I can. Child abuse is one thing that has been stirring me up for quite long. It just poured forth through the images,” says Cyril, the lensman. This is also an outcome to satiate the feminist mindset of his.
Cyril Syriac
“Many mothers who saw the series could emotionally connect to the photographs. I wanted to do something towards women empowerment. I have heard Hollywood cinematographers calling photography a difficult medium. The 24 frames extravaganza is restricted here to just one, in which we need to tell many things at once,” he explains. The story was complete through 30 images. He thanks art director Anfin and chief associate director Antony Paul for realising this project. There was a team of content writers with his firm, Idea Roots Creative, to caption the pictures. Maya, a professional model, approached Vishnu to click a few snaps for her portfolio.
Vishnu and Lipika
“She is good at her job and my challenge was to do something that was a class apart. My wife, Lipika, instantly came up with the idea. It’s her work actually. She directed and created the script along with Priya, her friend. My camera and I only acted upon her instructions,” explains Vishnu. The story, set in a traditional household in Kerala, narrates the past and present of Gayathri, through a structured flashback and flashforward. She was born and raised as a boy in a tharavadu in Kerala.
In the growing up years, through a sort of realisation, ‘she’ comes out to her real ‘identity’ and wins the man of her choice. Even if society had a paradigm shift in the approach towards the transgender community, Vishnu and team had to face the unpleasant in their hunt for a location. “A sacred grove is part of our story board. Our demand was displeasing to many whom we approached, until we created a set in a 60-acre forest in Iringolkavu. We also captured the interiors at Varikkassery Mana,” he explains. Going by the response, it seems netizens are eager for more. More to come, perhaps.
