Arvind R and Venkatesh Kannan answer a question in sign language. Srivatsan Sankaran translates, a smile on their lips: “They are both thrilled to be a part of something so big for the first time in their lives.” After a pause he adds: “Arvind says he is a little worried about the whole thing.” This Google Meet call conversation is about the South India T20 Cricket Championship for Divyangs to be held in Chennai from 22nd May to 25th May. Photographers Srivatsan, Aravind, and Venkatesh, who are deaf and hard of hearing, are part of the Madras Photo Bloggers (MPB), who have been roped in by the Tamil Nadu Physically Challenged Cricket Association to cover the tournament.
Srivatsan, who wears a serious expression throughout – the video call service has a subtitle feature that conveys my questions – appears happiest when he talks about his ambitions for photography. It took almost 10 years to reach here for the 33-year-old, who earlier took up the role of a software developer in the IT sector after his computer science engineering.
They sat in on countless work meetings that were not sensitive to their needs; dealt with dozens of co-workers who made no effort to understand his disability; Spent many years in a work environment that gave him anxiety and made him feel out of place. “I didn’t feel like I was at home,” he recalls. He quit the job in 2014 and decided to pursue a career in travel photography.
“I traveled across India, meeting everyday people, interacting with them through my camera…” Eventually, Srivatsan realized this was what he wanted to do. With camera in hand, he didn’t feel confined; His pictures did all the talking. “I slowly became more confident, and learned to communicate better. I became comfortable with the way I was and for the first time I felt like I was at home,” he says. Srivatsan found this empowering and decided to share this skill with more people in the deaf and hard of hearing community.
Started in 2017, Madras Photo Bloggers initially focused on photo-walks in Triplicane, Royapettah and Mylapore. “I led the walk, focusing on the Indo-Saracenic architecture in the city,” says Srivatsan. At that time, he used hand gestures to communicate and was not attached to people like him.
A chance meeting with Ayyalu Kumaran, a photographer, changed the course of his life. “He took me to a school for deaf children in Kilpauk,” says Srivatsan. It was a meeting he would never forget. He was introduced to the immense potential of sign language. The following year, the MPB included more people from the community, and Srivatsan brought in interpreters for his photo walks. “So far we have organized 75 photo walks, of which more than half were for the deaf community,” he says.
He also started a photography course for the deaf and hard of hearing. Srivatsan realized that while there were skilled photographers among them, many needed help in communicating their needs to mainstream society. This is the reason why I focus my curriculum not only on the nuts and bolts of photography but also on soft skills training.” For this, he takes advice from his trainers from his corporate days.
MPB gradually grew in scale and talent. Today, it is a trusted photography company that has covered more than 50 weddings across India apart from events like book fairs. “We have a pool of 15 freelance photographers from across Tamil Nadu including Chennai, Coimbatore, Madurai and Cuddalore,” explains Srivatsan. All of them are deaf and hard of hearing, and are equipped by the MPB not only to shoot, but also to edit.
For example, twenty-two-year-old Arvind is part of the core team, and is into video editing, while 35-year-old Venkatesh designs albums. Srivatsan is a staunch proponent of perfection. “We cannot compromise on quality because of our inefficiency,” he says.
R Rajamahesh, captain of the ODI team for disabled players in Tamil Nadu, says that if things go well, he hopes to work with the MPB for their upcoming tournaments as well. “We have matches to play with Kolkata, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh in the coming months,” he said.
The MPB also runs the Deaf Artists Group, through which they sell art works by their community from across the state in the form of NFTs, apart from physical exhibitions with the support of the Government of Tamil Nadu.
Srivatsan and the team see the upcoming T20 as a “new development”. They say: “More people will be familiar with the work we do, and hopefully they’ll understand us a little more.”