Koodankulam : In My Backyard – Amirtharaj Stephen

Amirtharaj Stephen is a Tamil photographer based in Bangalore, India. He is currently documenting the anti-nuclear protests around his native village

India –

‘Colorful Guizhou’, the 6th Photo China Original International Photographic Exhibition opened in the Guizhou Province of China on August 16, 2013. Manik Katyal, Editor-in-Chief of Emaho Magazine had nominated 5 photographers from South-Asia for the competition. One of the nominee, Amirtharaj Stephen won the 2nd Prize as well as the cash prize of 10000 Yuan for his series ‘Koodankulam: A Nuclear Plant in My Backyard’.

Organised by China curator Wang Xi, the recommendation panel for this exhibition was headed by Robert Pledge the CEO of Contact Press Images, USA. The other esteemed members of the panel included Pablo Bartholomew – World Press Photo winning photographer , Wang Jingchun – Director of Picture Department of Nanfang Metropolis Daily, Jia Guorong – Sr photojournalist of China News Agency, Lin Tianfu – Chairman, Chinese Photography and Art Exchange Association, Huang Wen – Director, Center of Xihua News Agency and Zhuang Wubin – Curator, Scholar.

“Koodankulam: In my Backyard“ is a set of photographs from the uprising of the local community against the Indian and Russian Government on commissioning of the Koodankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KKNPP). The people have been protesting over 650 days post Fukushima Nuclear Disaster in a non-violent and peaceful manner which have been repeatedly subject to violence by the government forces to clamp down on the protesters. Today, the Koodankulam protests not only create a debate on nuclear energy in India, but also questions the philosophy of “Democracy” on which the world’s biggest democracy India was built.

 

Written and Photography by Amirtharaj Stephen.

Related Posts

Francois Hebel : The Arles Aesthetic

France –  Francois Hebel, one of the most influential man in photography today boasts of a prolific career, spanning 12 ...

Munem Wasif : ‘The notion of educating others is quite boring’

Bangladesh – Through rediscovering his own culture, Munem Wasif aims to raise awareness around the world with compelling images of ...

Ghosts of Genocide : Palash Krishna Mehrotra on Ziyah Gafic

Bosnia : Book Review : Quest For Identity By Palash Krishna Mehrotra By themselves, these are ordinary objects. These are objects that ...

Colin Pantall on Thomas Sauvin’s Quanshen

China –                                     ...

The Yellow River – Zhang Kechun

China – The Yellow River Surging Northward Rumblingly Saying that it is a song might have been a popular joke. ...

Shauna : Sean Lee

THIS STORY CONTAINS EXPLICIT CONTENT Singapore – I have always felt that it is very difficult to argue with a ...

Lens Kumari – Nayantara Gurung Kakshapati

Nepal – BEING NEPALI in the New Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal Tharu. Chhetri. Danuwar. Gurung. Lohar. Newar. The Nepali people ...

Ines Dumig Apart Together

Ines Dumig: “Apart Together” – Regaining the lost Identity

Germany –  According to the International Organisation of Migration, there are over 200 million migrants worldwide and the geographic region ...

Asger Carlsen: From Crime-Photography to Mutilated, Disfigured Human Form

USA – Asger Carlsen’s images consist of mutilated, disfigured and distorted human forms with a typical obscure quality to them. He ...