Ami Gupta

Anyone and everyone deserves respect.

“Buri Nazar wale, tera muh kala”

If you look at me with eyes full of bad intentions, may your face turn black!

This is the theme I have chosen for my photography project. After very interesting conversations and discussions, on a complex topic like Role Models and Power Relations, we were trying to look at the plight of the middle class Indian woman today. Whether she is bold or submissive, she is often subject to men who look at her in a way that completely objectifies her. She often becomes a ‘thing’ to gaze at, a ‘thing’ to touch and tease. Men look at her in a way that makes her feel completely exposed even while she is fully clothed. While she is so vulnerable at times, when going back home from work or even if she is going to the market… she has to be wary at all times. 

So the photos I have worked on, depict girls traveling by bus, or a share auto, or sipping on tea at the local tea shop and how they are ‘eyed’ by certain men with ‘buri nazar’ and its like she curses them ‘terah muh kaala’ (may your face turn black). If only it would happen in real life! 

Ami Gupta