Let’s Ignite hope: Pictures of neglect & need underline stark reality

Bhubaneswar: Sights of children working in eateries, mills and construction sites are commonplace. At an age when they should be the harbingers of hope for a better future, their wings get clipped with the burden of running a family. They work and slog to make both ends meet.  These slices of life have been translated into pictures at a photo exhibition ‘Let’s ignite hope’ to create awareness among the general public about child labour.

Photographers  captured moments showing the hardships these children face to earn money and support their family. Though the pictures say the story, strong captions with every photograph stress on   the fact that eradication of child labour is of immense importance.

The photographs displayed have been divided into three sections. In one section there are photographs showing children working under hazardous conditions. The second section presents an ideal situation in which the child should be growing up while the third section prominently displays the efforts made by the Department of Labour to eradicate child labour.

“The idea behind this exhibition is to help people to know about the malady. Through the photographs we want people to notice child labour in our society and make them think how they are also patronizing child labour. The response has been decent. Children are showing a lot of interest as we organize scheduled visits for various schools,” says Sujit Mohapatra from Bakul Foundation, which has partnered with the Mushroom circle along with Department of Labour, Government of Odisha to organize the exhibition.

“Around 18 members from our group have submitted 31 photos on child labour. We normally don’t click photos of poor and underprivileged children. But as it is for a good cause we have taken this step along with Bakul Foundation,” said photographer from Mushroom group Siddhartha De.

The  exhibition being held at Regional Lalit Kala Kendra in Bhubaneswar from November 15 has been supported by UNICEF  and will conclude tomorrow.

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