“I smoked heroin for a long, long time but since two years I only inject the stuff from the pharmacies. It’s cheaper and somehow the same”, said Darminder, his clothes and body marked by an endless seeming life on the street, his eyes sad and tired by years of constant pharmaceutical drug abuse. A few hours later the 17-year-old boy from Bihar was dead. In an argument about money for more drugs he was brutally beaten by false friends and was left to die in a dirty alley next to a waste picker colony. The police later had him dumped at the local hospital’s morgue and he, as many others, disappeared far before his time. As many others Darminder eventually became a victim of a medicine actually produced for a different purpose; to ease pain, to heal, to help people.
India, also known as the pharmacy of the Third World, is one of the biggest producers of generic drugs worldwide. The vast variety of up to standard and most importantly affordable pharmaceuticals gives millions of people the chance to treat their illnesses. But the lack of trade monitoring, the cover-up through corruption and the ignorance and greed of the pharmacists have also gotten these medicines into the wrong hands. In Jahangirpuri, a colony on the outskirts of New Delhi, the consequences of this greed for money by shameless businessmen have led to a catastrophic situation.
One just has to pass by at one of the many pharmacies in the area. The medicine, not supposed to be given to anyone without prescription from a doctor. An ampule of a semi-synthetic opioid, an ampule benzodiazepine derivative drug, an ampule antihistamine which lessens the side effects of the other drugs and two disposable syringes are sold for 50 Rupees, a little less than 1 USD.
Awards Storytellers that touched people’s hearts and minds have the power to change the way people
think and act. My demand on my work is to be a part of these stories. Alongside my work for
newspapers, magazines and aid agencies my main work focus is the long term documentation of
issues of social concern in India. Being based in India since more than 6 years, my Hindi language
skills, my knowledge of the Indian society and the time I spend on my projects, allows me to
create insightful stories and gives me the time to pay respect to the ones who allow me taking
part in their life. Next to organizing donations and voluntary actions for the people I photograph
I also recently started my own lecture cum education program called “FOCUS LIFE–Education
through Photographs”. The program seeks to break the barriers of traditional photography and
is one of my approaches to explore new ways of storytelling.
Education (Internships & Workshops):
-2011-
Eddie Adams Workshop / Barnstorm XXIV Masterclass, New York, USA
Grant Writing Workshop, Lecturer: Donald Weber, VII Network, Berlin, Germany
Magnum Days Masterclass, Lecturer: Chien-Chi Chang, Magnum, Paris, France
-2010-
German Society for International Cooperation - Annual Photography Workshop, Lecturer: Ralf Baecker,
VersionFoto, Germany
VII Masterclass, Lecturer: Marcus Bleasdale, VII, Srinagar, India
-2009-
Internship Reuters, Photography Department, New Delhi, India
-2008-
Internship Hindustan Times, Photography Department, New Delhi, India
Partners & Clients:
New York Times
International Herald Tribune
The Guardian
NEON
Der Spiegel
Stern
Dummy Magazin
GEO
Tehelka
Mint
The Caravan
Time Out
The Hindu
Times of India
Feld 100
German Development Cooperation (GIZ)
Welthungerhilfe
Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)
German Embassy New Delhi
Friedrich Ebert Foundation (FES)
Goethe Institut
Society for Humanistic Photography e.V. (GFHF)
United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)
Amnesty International
Human Rights Law Network (HRLN)
International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
United States Agency for International Development (USAID)
Sulabh International Social Service Organisation
Awards:
-2013-
Canon Profifoto Förderpreis 13/1, Nominee
-2012-
Terry O'Neill TAG Award , Nominee
International Photography Awards, Finalist, Country Top Picks
UNICEF Picture of the Year, Nominee
Photolucida: Critical Mass, Finalist
International Festival of Photography PHOTOVISA, Finalist
International Photo Festival of Addiction, Urmia - Iran, Bronze Medal, Photo Essay
New York Photo Awards, Interim Winner & Finalist, Single Documentary Image Category
International Photography Awards, Honorable Mention, Category Deeper Perspective
International Photography Awards, Honorable Mention, Proffesional Photo Essay / Feature Story
Photo Annual Awards, Honorable Mention, Motion Single
Photo Annual Awards, Honorable Mention, Motion Series
SocialDocumentary.net, Honorable Mention, The Art of Documentary
Palm Springs Photo Festival, Finalist, Slide Show Contest
Photofest Querétaro, Runner Up, Zero Moment Category
Photofest Querétaro, First Place, Photographic Essay
Canon Profifoto Förderpreis 12/1, Nominee
-2011-
UNICEF Picture of the Year, Nominee
Atlanta Photojournalism Seminar, 2nd place for best Feature Picture Story
Abisag Tuellmann Foundation for Artistic Photojournalism, Honorable Mention
Chris Hondros Grant, First Recipient
6th Malta International Photographic Exhibition, Selected Photographer
International Photography Awards, Honorable Mention, Proffesional Photo Essay / Feature Story
POYi Emerging Vision Incentive, Nominee
Canon Profifoto Förderpreis 11/2, Nominee
Exhibitions & Lectures:
Death for 50 Rupees, Group Exhibition, Abisag Tuellmann Foundation, Heussenstamm-Galerie, Frankfurt, Germany
Tracing Waste - The Kabari’s Contribution to Society, Group Exhibition, European Month of Photography, Galerie Nord,
Berlin, Germany
Phas Gaya - Being Stuck, Group Exhibition, "Invisible Solitudes - Life at the Edge of Mental Health”, Fiera di Milano, Milan,
Italy
Phas Gaya - Being Stuck, Group Exhibition, New York Photo Awards, powerHouse Arena, Brooklyn, New York, USA
Death for 50 Rupees, Group Exhibition, International Festival of Photography PHOTOVISA, Krasnodar, Russia
Phas Gaya - Being Stuck, Group Exhibition, "Invisible Solitudes - Life at the Edge of Mental Health”, Milan, Italy
Phas Gaya - Being Stuck, Group Exhibition, New York Photo Festival, powerHouse Arena, Brooklyn, New York, USA
Death for 50 Rupees & Phas Gaya, Group Exhibition, International Photo Festival of Addiction, Urmia, Iran
Phas Gaya - Being Stuck, Slide Show Presentation, Angkor Photo Festival, Siem Reap, Cambodia
Tracing Waste - The Kabari’s Contribution to Society, Single Exhibition, City Theater, Kamenz, Germany
FOCUS LIFE - Education through Photographs, Lecture Cum Education Program, Secondary School 1, Kamenz, Germany
FOCUS LIFE - Education through Photographs, Lecture Cum Education Program, Vocational School Center, Kamenz, Germany
FOCUS LIFE - Education through Photographs, Lecture Cum Education Program, Ferdinand Sauerbruch Academic High School,
Großröhrsdorf, Germany
FOCUS LIFE - Education through Photographs, Single Exhibition, Saxon State Ministry of Education and Cultural Affairs,
Dresden, Germany
Phas Gaya - Being Stuck, Group Exhibition, Photo Annual Awards, Gallery Portheimka, Prague, Czech Republic
Phas Gaya - Being Stuck, Group Exhibition, Goethe Institut, New Delhi, India
Phas Gaya - Being Stuck, Group Exhibition, Goethe Institut, New Delhi, India
Phas Gaya - Being Stuck, Slide Show Presentation, Palm Springs Photo Festival, California, USA
Death for 50 Rupees, Slide Show Presentation, Photofest Queretaro, Queretaro, Mexico
Verantwortlich wirtschaften - Nachhaltig entwickeln, Group Exhibition, LVR-LandesMuseum, Bonn, Germany
Tracing Waste - The Kabari’s Contribution to Society, Solo Show, Peter-Weiss-Haus, Rostock, Germany
Death for 50 Rupees, Screening and Lecture, UNODC head office, New Delhi, India
Death for 50 Rupees, Group Exhibition, Lodi Gardens, New Delhi, India
Death for 50 Rupees, Screening, Nazar-ka-Adda, New Delhi, India
Tracing Waste - The Kabari’s Contribution to Society, Solo Show, BMZ, Berlin, Germany
Tracing Waste - The Kabari’s Contribution to Society, Solo Show, FEZ-Berlin, Berlin, Germany
Verantwortlich wirtschaften - Nachhaltig entwickeln, Group Exhibition, GIZ head office Berlin, Berlin, Germany
Tracing Waste - The Kabari’s Contribution to Society, Solo Show, European Month of Photography,
Albert-Einstein-Volkshochschule, Berlin, Germany
Yamuna - An Endangered Species, Group Exhibition, Salaam Baalak Trust Fundraiser, Indigo Blue Art, Singapore, Republic
of Singapore
Tracing Waste - The Kabari’s Contribution to Society, Solo Show, Litter-free Auroville (LFA) campaign, Auroville, Chennai,
India
Yamuna - An Endangered Species, Group Exhibition, Salaam Baalak Trust Fundraiser, Visual Arts Gallery - India Habitat
Center, New Delhi, India
Tracing Waste - The Kabari’s Contribution to Society, Group Exhibition, ECO Festival, American Centre, New Delhi, India
Tracing Waste - The Kabari’s Contribution to Society, Traveling Exhibition and Screening at Schools across Delhi, India
Tracing Waste - The Kabari’s Contribution to Society, Solo Show, Visual Arts Gallery - India Habitat Center, New Delhi, India
