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Momenta is now an institution here in Dehradun – and certainly at the Latika Roy Foundation.

Momenta is an organization of photographers who believe that images can help change the world. They travel everywhere to try to make it happen.

For the past three years, they have come to Dehradun and the Latika Roy Foundation has been one of the very, very lucky beneficiaries of their skill, passion and devotion.

How do they work? A team of talented, profesional photographers comes to India for two weeks. They camp out in Dehradun and are “embedded” in different voluntary organizations where they – literally – document every move we make.

The first year they came it was a guy named Ken Carl. I wrote about him here and you can see his work here. His pictures were so amazing they formed the bulk of our 2011 calendar.

Year Two, we got Erin Steigerwelt and Muir Adams. Every bit as wonderful and remarkable and our calendar and annual report sailed into the stratosphere.

This year, our guests were two accomplished and delightful artists: Joe Gidjunis and Robert Dodge. Though their styles were very different (think hummingbird vs kingfisher), their devotion and attention were the same. People like this need to be cloned. Their enthusiasm and passion and desire for excellence are a lesson to us all.

And just so you know: here are two examples of their work:

Joe Gidjunis:

Boy with special needs on a swing with his grandmother

Robert Dodge:

Young man with special needs greets a child with special needs at the gate to his school

Neither one of them could have known the incredible importance of their “captures.”  The first is of a child whose parents we begged to bring him to us because we knew he had special needs. A boy from the neighborhood, who seemed on the surface to be normal and average but whom we recognized as one of ours. Does that sound dire? It’s not. It means that this child was noted, that he was named, that people who cared about him knew of his existence. Saved!

And the second photo? That’s Mayank at the gate, greeting a little boy just starting out on the journey. Mayank also has special needs, and was enrolled in Karuna Vihar many years ago. Now he has a responsible job as the gatekeeper at the EIC. It’s up to him to make sure that the children who attend the program here are safe and happy and secure.

He does it well and in the process, he reassures many parents that their own children can also succeed in life.

Joe Gidjunis and Robert Dodge have brought us images of triumph and victory. They make us see how hard-won these achievements are and how dearly we need to hold them. They have captured the essence of what we do. We cannot thank them enough.

 

 

 

 

Showing 2 comments
  • Shipra
    Reply

    Photographs ‘say’ so much – these are the perfect examples!

  • Savita
    Reply

    LRF is really fortunate to have such talented photographers. They are experts in capturing the beautiful and meaningful moments, people who know Mayank will undoubtedly be thrilled to see him performing his duties so responsibly.

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