Introduction
Homai Hathiram was born to a Parsi family in Navsari, a city located in the modern-day Indian state of Gujarat, on December 9th, 1913. At the age of 14, she met a young freelancer photographer Maneckshaw Vyarawalla at the railway station and instantly fell in love (Jha). Homai’s love for her future husband quickly transformed into a devotion to the art of photography. Maneckshaw became her first mentor; Homai began her long path in photography as his assistant when Maneckshaw worked with The Illustrated Weekly of India and The Bombay Chronicle (Chaudhari). By the 1940s, her works caught the attention of the British Information Service (BBC). Vyarawallas moved to Delhi, and once India gained independence from Great Britain, Homai became a famous chronicler of political events. Her camera took many iconic images throughout the 1950s and 1960s. In 1970, Vyarawalla left the capital and retired from photography after her husband’s death a year before (BBC). In 2011, the Indian government awarded Homai Vyarawalla with Padma Vibhushan — the second-highest civilian honor (BBC). Homai lived a quiet life back at home in Gujarat until her death at the age of 98.
First Period: Urban Photojournalist
During the first period of her photography career, Homai Vyarawalla focused on depicting the everyday life of Bombay. Her earlier works significantly differed from the in-studio photography popular in that era. Homai strived to record the urban dynamic: she took images of horse-driven tram cars, the city’s festivals, and the activities of Bombay’s diverse residents. On this slide, one can see an example of two works from Vyarawalla’s urban photojournalist period. A cheerful young woman feeds a giraffe at the Bombay Zoo in the first image. Homai skillfully captured the woman’s careless happiness and the giraffes’ genuine curiosity. In the second picture taken at one of Bombay’s theaters, Vyarawalla captured a performer dressing up her hair before entering the stage. Contrary to the first photo, this woman is entirely focused on her activity. In this case, Homai demonstrated brilliantly how a dedicated professional pays attention even to the smallest details.
Style Description
From the previous section, one can understand that Homai Vyarawalla shared no love for studio photography. She was one of the pioneers of candid style and firmly believed that a photographer should go out on the streets and engage with people and subjects. True to her vision, Homai rejected studio equipment and used smaller portable cameras such as Rolleiflex and Contax (Jha). Initially, such an attitude led to a dismissive reaction from other photographers, as they considered Homai an amateur. However, she turned the dismissal to benefit since often Vyarawalla could go wherever she pleased unhindered (Drolet). In the end, Homai proved the skeptics wrong as her works received national recognition at the highest level.
Second Period: Political Chronicler
In the second half of the 1940s, Homai’s life and path in photography took a swift change. As an already accomplished professional, she gained access to events and personalities of historical significance. Always dressed in a traditional Indian saree, with a trusted Rolleiflex in hand, Vyarawalla witnessed and captured the political life of the newly-born, independent India (Chaudhari). For example, her camera saw how Mahatma Gandhi and his followers arrived to discuss the Partition Agreement with the British authorities. However, Vyarawalla stayed true to her candid style even when taking photos of the politicians whose will could change the lives of millions. In the second photo, she captured Jawaharlal Nehru, the prime minister of India, casually lighting a cigarette for a wife of a British diplomat. Such devotion to artistic personality is truly impressive and inspirational.
Jawaharlal Nehru and Dr. Martin Luther King with his wife, 1959
Throughout her work as a political chronicler, Homai Vyarawalla took many candid close-up photographs of celebrities, dignitaries, and politicians who visited India. This list includes U.S. President John Kennedy and his wife Jacqueline, Queen Elizabeth II, China’s prime minister Zhou Enlai, and Vietnamese leader Ho Chi Minh (BBC). In 1959, Homai took a photo of Dr. Martin Luther King and his wife Coretta Scott, who came to honor Mahatma Gandhi for his idea of nonviolent social action.
Why I Enjoy Homai Vyarawalla’s Works
I enjoy the works of Homai Vyarawalla for several emotional and aesthetic reasons. Most importantly, she excelled at drawing attention via a masterful use of candid style. Her photos are filled with raw, sincere emotions, which make the people in the images alive and genuinely human regardless of their status. For instance, one can see this photo of Jawaharlal Nehru hugging his sister. The deep love that Nehru shared for his sister and the warmth in his heart at the moment when the photo was taken can be felt despite the dark sunglasses covering the prime minister’s eyes. Homai Vyarawalla had a unique talent for penetrating the fabric of space and time with her camera. I look at the photos, and events of the long-gone days magically return to life.
Conclusion
Regarding the relation of Homai Vyarawalla’s legacy to my works, I consider her my role model, an embodiment of a highly skilled and genuine photographer. I admire her stalwart loyalty to candid style and her willingness to oppose the mainstream even at the cost of being ridiculed by arrogant colleagues. I firmly agree with Homai’s belief that a photographer should brave the streets as a traveler, a wanderer, who seeks opportunities for a good picture in the outside world. One day, I aspire to capture the timeless moments of history and preserve them for future generations, as Homai did throughout her eventful career.
References
Chaudhari, Disha. “Homai Vyarawalla: India’s First Female Photojournalist.” Feminism in India, 2017.
Drolet, Haley. “Homai Vyarawalla.” Hundred Heroines.
“Homai Vyarawalla: The Trailblazer Who Became India’s First Woman Photojournalist.” BBC, 2017.
Jha, Fiza. “Remembering Homai Vyarawalla, Self-Taught Firebrand Photographer Who Made Her Own Rules.” The Print, 2019.