Our eyes, our stories

Storytelling is one of the oldest and most vibrant traditions of South Asia and photography is one of the newest additions to a plethora of forms. Here six young photographers join this tradition in their own unique ways, using a variety of photographic practices – ­from straightforward documentary to the staged and constructed, from representational to experiential – in an endeavour to hold up a mirror to our ever-changing, complex and often troubled societies.

From Afghan refugee to Pakistan citizen, to becoming an asylum seeker fleeing persecution, Barat Ali Batoor records his own perilous aborted journey from Balochistan through South-East Asia to try and reach Australia.

Chennai-based Karthik Subramanian uses moonlight to record the uncertain and delicate connection between man and nature in an ecologically fragile region, the Sundarbans.

Sagar Chhetri grapples with issues of identity and inclusion of the Madhesi people that vexes his Nepal as it tries to rewrite its constitution.

Bangladeshi photographer Sarker Protick explores the more metaphysical realm of individual existence and experience through Time, Light and Space.

Kolkata based Smita Sharma uses her personal anger and sense of outrage to tell the stories of rape survivors and victims in India hoping to give them voice, remove stigma and initiate a social discussion.

Of Sri Lankan origin, based in France, Vasantha Yogananthan attempts a contemporary retelling of the epic Ramayan. Between fiction and reality, he deliberately blurs the lines through multiple aesthetic approaches to compose the layers of this timeless story.