Dr. Anurag Sahu, Assistant Professor, School of Mass Communication, KIIT-DU delivered a lively talk on Photography for Social Change at South Asia Development Stories, popularly known as SAD Stories, on the occasion of World Photography Day. Dr. Sahu has more than a decade of academic and industry experience in journalism, dual masters, a PhD, national and international paper presentations, many articles and an interest in development communication.
He briefly talked about his interest and keenness in photography since childhood. He noted how times have changed and today almost everybody is a photographer. He discussed photography and human life to sensitize how photography acts as a powerful tool of human communication and further reminds us about the past. He discussed how still photographs are very powerful and photographers must be cautious how they use that power. He explored how in contemporary society photography is used widely in raising awareness about social causes such as inequality, unfair policies, poverty, homelessness, AIDS, the farm crisis and the environment.
He showed some renowned photos relating to the Indian and International context and the complexity in their meanings. Besides, he showed some of his best photos that the audience overwhelmingly appreciated. In the QA session, there was an active discussion on the ethics, legalities, and responsibilities that relate to photography in which there are human subjects.
Student members of SAD Stories highly appreciated Dr Sahu’s photographs as well as his talk. SAD Stories, a magazine for social change, development and empowerment stories in South Asia is a students’ initiative led by a group of students of Journalism and Communication Studies from India, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.