New Delhi, Jan 17 When Covid-19 forced a 'new normal' globally, the situation became only worse for children living on the streets, those getting trafficked and abused, those who are severely malnourished and for girls who get married even before they turned adults. In the wake of the pandemic affecting various aspects of children's lives, Leica Camera India and child rights organisation 'Save the Children' are jointly raising funds for children from the sales of Leica's 20 best-shot images of 2020.
Leica Camera India conceptualised the idea of 'Leica 20 of 2020', wherein numerous Leica users submitted their best shot images of 2020, a year which will always be remembered in history for the Covid-19 pandemic and for introducing us to a "new normal" in life. In the turbulence of 2020, Leica Storytellers were asked to share what moved them and evoked them to make stories with their cameras.
Accomplished photographer, Leica Ambassador and first ever Indian mentor in the history of the Leica Akademie, Vineet Vohra selected top twenty images that reflected the year 2020. "A thought-provoking initiative by Leica Camera India, curating the 'Leica 20 of 2020' was challenging. We had a wonderful set of images that came as entries from across India. They capture moments that evoked them to pick up the camera and narrate profound stories of the year gone by. Emotions on how 2020 has rewritten life or impacted families, workers, children, schooling and more, have been captured. The rights of children, their future and more have further been brought into light with some of the images that are featured. This association will certainly help the cause and rewrite the new normal. We are delighted that Leica Camera India has associated with Save the Children for a noble cause," said Vohra.
The initiative is being taken up to #ProtectAGeneration and make a difference to the lives of marginalised children in the country. With the pandemic spreading to some of the world's poorest countries, there is a real danger that the world will see a reversal of the progress made for children over the last two decades and violations of the rights of children, says Save the Children.
Some exemplary works by Bharat Valia, Sudhir Kasliwal, Rajdeepak Das, Anindito Mukherjee, Sumit Basu, Prabhakaran Sambandam, Amit Verma, Dr. Kausthub Desikachar, Shekhar Phalke, Vivek Desai, Nikhil Rawal, Neeraj Priyadarshi, Ashish Sulkh, Sunhil Sippy, Shivam Pandey, Ulka Chauhan, Prarthna Bisht and Vrinda Bhatnagar will be available on the gallery and will be on display at the store.
"I took this picture when visiting a remote village for a programme to build schools. A week after I captured this, the country went into lockdown, taking the kids even farther from education. But thanks to Leica and Save the Children initiative, the proceedings from the sale will go to the children. This image completes the circle, where it all started", said participating photographer, Raj Deepak Das.
"Leica Camera India and Save the Children would promote the sales of these photographs thorough the Social Media handles. The sales of the photographs will be conducted online as well as at the store. The proceeds of the sales would be donated by FCE Lifestyles Pvt. Ltd.
( With inputs from IANS )
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