KOCHI: Youngster Anand J S, a Malayali social activist, campaigner and photographer based in Kerala is on a mission to break down stereotypes based on colour. Anand recently released his first Coffee Table Book ‘Kaala’, which features a series of black and white portraits of people, nature and animals that he came across during his journey across the country before the pandemic.
According to Anand, his pictorials are a tool to create awareness against colourism that is prominent in the country. The deaths caused by racial discrimination in and outside the country in recent years triggered him to do this. Anand converted the colour photographs that he captured in his iPhone XS to monochrome images for this purpose. “Black is not a colour of evil, death or bad luck. Rather, it holds more elegance, class and aesthetic beauty than all other colours. The photos across 23 pages are the frames that stayed in my mind during my journey to Varanasi and Kerala before the pandemic,” says Anand.
The MBA graduate also bagged the Asia Book of Records and India Book of Records in 2016 for creating a panoramic photo album comprising the most number of pictures (1,008) of Varanasi city. Kaala was released virtually with the support of people like National Award-winning film editor Sreekar Prasad, RG Anand, a member of the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights, and actor Unnimukundan.
The motivation to create a coffee table book came from Kummanam Rajashekharan, former Governor of Mizoram, who according to Anand, is one of his mentors. “The cover page of my pictorial stories features a frame that I captured while attending the Kochi-Muziris Biennale a few years ago. It is a back shot of a girl viewing the installation ‘In the Sea of Pain’ by Chilean poet Raul Zurita,” he says.
Anand, who is now active as a social campaigner, has plans to release a new book titled Policing Around The World featuring the history and details of police departments across the globe. “I have associated with the police department for several projects before, so I thought my next work should eliminate confusion and doubts regarding the police force who are also people like us,” adds Anand.