I have been shooting the hijra ethnicity for many years now I shoot them for myself ,,and I have a great bond with most of them ,.but it remains ephemeral and transitional..
Once I return from Ajmer the moments are lost forever I never call them I have their numbers ..I only shoot ,,,demystify their captured souls like women genies in a thick glass bottle .
But this documentary shot upclose necessitated the faith trust of the hijras in me not only as a photographer but as a person too..
Sadly I locked up this documentation one of its kind at Flickr from public view ,,,
Now I am posting videos and images some of them as slide shows ..
The hijra pictures did not come easy I sometimes had to invoke the generosity of the Gurus but once I became a Malang it became much easier as most of them know Syed Masoom Ali Baba ,,the head of my order of the Dam Madar Malangs ,
I have shot boys pretty boys who got initiated as hijras ,,,I have also shot the initiation of a hijra at the defunct Hijra Gully no 1.
But all in all I prefer shooting the beggar hijra s , I meet them in all walks of life even here in Bandra .
What I really miss is the dance performing hijras who are invited at Muslim Nikahs ,,, wedding receptions in the slums ,,,but a Salafi mindset has stopped dancing and qawalis...
We hardly have Badhai and no hijra cam to my house when my grandkids were born...
I dont think anyone has shot the angst of the hijra as poetically as I have shot them..
It was never to create a coffee table book...it was only for awareness of their human rights to live as women and they already have the double edged sword of Article 377 hanging over their heads ,
I always moderated my vision when I was shooting them many wanted me to shoot them in thr raw as an art form I politely refused,,
I shot them in the redlight areas chatting with them on bed bug ridden mattresses and the creaky metal beds the foul smell of urine .. and the muskiness of despair ,,, thanks to a hijra friend and a commercial worker and her Guru,
I have not gone there since a very long time ,,
This is my genre as a people photographer and hijras in relevance with Dargahs , Yoni temples , possession exorcism and black magic and the relation of hijras with tantrics and Aghoris who treat them like goddesses felicitating them with gifts money at the cremation grounds ,,after midnight havan sessions .
hijras
