A retake on representation

Celebrating models beyond class, caste and ability, and breaking heteronormative expectations is the country’s first diversity calendar by photographer Rishab Dahiya
A retake on representation
A retake on representation

Art is not what you see, but what you make others see.’ The French Impressionist artist Edgar Degas articulated this sentiment sometime in the 19th century. In the now and here, it is photographer Rishab Dahiya who is putting it to work through his art. What does he want to make others see? The idea that beauty has never been within the confines of a heteronormative, ableist box. He brings this grand idea of life through the aesthetics of his signature calendar. And results are just as good as you would imagine.

Taking it forward

This was the natural progression from last year’s calendar that featured people with disability, says Rishab. “I was planning to do another shoot about decolonising beauty. We wanted to challenge the definition of beauty set by society, which is problematic in so many ways — it is classist, casteist, homophobic, fatphobic, transphobic. That was the basic idea that I started with. After a whole year, it developed into this calendar about diversity, inclusivity and representation. The people featured in this calendar are from marginalised castes, classes, gender, sexuality, and people with disability,” he shares. 

And so we have Snehashish — ‘Here I am, a Bahujan person, with a promise’ — who goes by “they/them and everything else”, Jyoti — ‘Contrary to what the world wants you to believe, people can be disabled and beautiful’ — who lives with a spinal cord injury and is currently pursuing a PhD at the Delhi University, and Pramod, who is living with locomotor disability, adorn the pages. Each of them gets to script their note for the month as well, lending more space for their representation. While Raam Singh Guru has been a part of fundraisers and such, he had not had much of a chance to put himself out in a public forum.

That the calendar found a space for the representation of visual impairment offered him a new avenue for his work. Kamna, a PhD scholar working on Dalit women’s autobiographies and exploring the representation of Dalit bodies in Indian cinema, the calendar project allowed her to combine her research with her interests and value system on a platform as exclusive as fashion. “I have worked on a project with Rishab with respect to skin tone in fashion, seven-eight years. Now, my skin tone has become a mainstream requirement for the industry but I doubt my caste identity will ever be ‘mainstream’. This is just the beginning — the conversation on the idea of beauty beyond stereotypical representations,” she surmises. 

Providing a launchpad

Being a person from a marginalised caste in the media world, Dahiya was no stranger to the gaps in such representation. So, the project was also his way of ensuring that others like him — models or aspiring actors — get a launchpad too. “My idea was to feature people who are never given representation or given token representation,” he points out. For Jasleen, a transwoman who braves it out in the world of entrepreneurship, the exercise provided the very confidence of representation that Rishab hoped to offer the common man and woman.

“I have body issues and inferiority complex; I was a bit shy. But this gave me confidence. When I saw the picture, I really thought that I can try my hand in modelling,” she admits. Models from Rishab’s calendar last year have gone on to garner more work in the industry, and Rishab only hopes this winning streak continues this year too. 

Though this began as a one-man effort, Rishab’s work resonated with many around the country, thus inviting help from kind quarters. Chandrika from Mumbai came forward to sponsor the printing costs, a friend who did not want to be on the calendar decided to work behind the scenes to make it a reality, Joy of Kanjoy Make-up Studio and Academy pitched in with aesthetic additions that proved vital. 

While Rishab found ideological connections by means of the project, Jasleen says the ones featured are connected by pain, having endured one form of discrimination or the other all their life. Kamna, while sceptical of how much impact a single project can have, is sure that the effort was worth it if even a single person is able to see themselves in a new light, as opposed to what society has taught them to see. Perhaps you could be reminded of the same with just a turn of the page.

To buy the calendar, contact: 80766 83740 or visit Instagram: @RishabDahiya 

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