Sumita Chauhan is a visual artist, a researcher, founder member of a charitable organisation PGAI and co-director of an art gallery, Gallery ONKAF, in New Delhi, India.
She finished her PhD at the School of Engineering and Digital Arts, University of Kent, Canterbury. Sumita is an artist engaged in creating sculpture using traditional as well as digital techniques. A graduate from New Delhi, India, she completed her MA in Fine Art from the Kent Institute of Art and Design (KIAD) and an MPhil in Digital Art at the University of Kent.
She has been a resident artist in Finland, Taiwan and UK and experimented with various materials. Unfamiliar concepts and new technological processes challenge her and she tries to incorporate the same in her works and the workshops she conducts with elderly people especially people with dementia and socially isolated adults.
Presentation: Preserving Moments: a Photography Project for Elderly People
Photography is an art form that has changed the way everybody sees the day-to-day realities of life, making it both poignant and visually striking. In a time when people pay a lot of attention to visual content, a camera has become an essential tool for storytelling, communication, documentation and also for artistic expression. Photography holds great importance by altering our perception of the world around us, evoking emotions, fuelling debates and, to some extent, influencing the opinions of the public. It also allows the realisation of complex societal issues to make people more empathetic towards others’ experiences. Photography serves as a visual archive of moments taken as images that transcend time and space and are an individual’s personal reflection of lived experiences.
An international ongoing photography project called “Today Matters: One Click at a Time” was initiated in December 2023 for elderly people over the age of 65 years. This was in continuation of an earlier creative engagement project, “Today Matters”, for the older generation. Today may seem mundane and routine, but somehow it is part of life. So, what exactly matters to the elderly today? Based on the belief that “a picture is worth a thousand words,” this project facilitated a perfect opportunity to think and contemplate for them and the rest of the world while capturing what’s relevant within the frame of a mobile phone camera.
The main purpose of this project was to engage the elderly using the medium of photography and its transformative ability to capture a moment of their life today and preserve it as a memory. The act of taking a photograph allowed them to express themselves creatively, revealing the nuances and details that often go unnoticed by the younger generations. Through the intersection of photography and narratives, this project turned out to be an effective way to preserve their present experience for future generations to understand, learn and appreciate with sensitivity and respect.
The photographs of the participants from different countries transcend language barriers and cultural differences, providing a glimpse into different ways of life, environments, traditions and emotions. By focusing on expressions of love, loss, joy, and struggle in their pictures, they conveyed the diverse ways in which daily life unfolds for individuals living across the globe. Documenting scenes such as family gatherings, bustling cities, leisure activities, etc. serve as a reminder of the importance of relationships with others. Some photos captured moments of stillness and chaos, poverty and wealth, or joy and sorrow, showing the contrasts and contradictions present in their daily lives.
The result of the thematic analysis presents the themes – beauty in nature, family and friends, historical relevance, social concerns, religion and food. In this project, the participants, with their keen eyes and intuitive understanding of moments, have transformed the mundane into the extraordinary. Their photos bring out a sense of reflection and connection, serving as a commentary on today’s society, culture and individual identity and offering unique viewpoints.