A Chance Meeting, A Shared Love of Work About Social Issues, A Lasting Friendship…

Somewhere around late 2016, I enrolled in an 3-hour online group portfolio review done by a well-known organization (which will go nameless for this article…) Archana Vikram was also a participant in the review. We were the only two females in a group with six students that was being given by a male, European, reviewer. I am not writing this to ‘dis’ males…nor European reviewers. Not at all. For me, it’s fascinating, actually, to see how different men’s and women’s thought processes function. And to see how differently the reviews in the US and Europe might be. Sometimes extremely frustrating, but fascinating nonetheless. The experience of that review bonded Archana and I because we were female, and we were told how our work should (not could, but SHOULD) have been approached differently, as if our experiences as women were invisible…and pretty much, they were to this group. That same day we became Facebook friends, and subsequently we had many private discussions about how that day made us feel. We finally met in person at Photolucida in 2017, and roomed together at the 2019 one.

Back to that review…I saw this series of Archana’s work and had an entirely different take on it than the men did, as did she for my work. Literally, I cried when seeing this work. She had taken a truly ugly, barbaric, and appalling practice, one that long ago should have visited the dust bin of history, and made me see it through current eyes. In my opinion, this work and the issue it displayed did not get the attention this issue deserves in the reviews. So I decided I needed to show it. Because, women. Because, girls. Because. Because these barbaric practices need to end, and Archana has showed us how awful they are.

Think of it. People are killing their female children.

Its horrifying.

That is why I wanted to show this work. Because Archana Vikram showed us something horrible that we needed to see. She is brave and true to her values. Bravo, Archana Vikram. Show us more.

—Diana Nicholette Jeon

‘The Unwelcome” brings to light the untold horrors of female infanticide routinely practiced in India.

Born & brought up in a family where girls & women were cherished, loved & respected, I was oblivious to this barbarity. Overhearing hushed conversations about the misfortune of bearing a girl child leading to repeated abortions among social circles at a later stage was both surprising & upsetting. But nothing had me prepared for the fact that while there are numerous couples who yearn for a child, some are unperturbed in the choice to kill the newborn just because it’s a girl. 

A strong preference for a male child is embedded in the cultural fabric of India. A boy is considered an asset, a girl merely a liability. Over 10 million girls are estimated to have gone missing over 20 years. An estimated 2000 female fetuses are eliminated on a daily basis.

Denied basic education, healthcare, adequate clothing, nutrition & nourishment is the lot of many a girl child in India. But many just don't make it that far.

To this day, unborn & newborn girls are often eliminated within hours/ days of birth in various parts of India. Prayers and efforts for the next born to be the much coveted & awaited boy commence without a pause.

This gender bias cuts across economic sections of Indian society. What differs is merely the manner of disposal. Self-preservation however is clearly a priority as family & caregivers adopt gruesome, prolonged methods to kill the infant girl to escape scrutiny & detection.

Each image represents the multitudes of beautiful but frail lives cut short in unimaginable ways. The images act as a window to the savagery that exists …a call for action and rejection of the cover of indifference it has thrived beneath.

Can awareness and realization of the terrible fate of the newborn (& unborn) girl child mobilize some to take action? I believe it can, and that is why I made this work.

Archana Vikram is a Fine Art and Architectural photographer (b. 1971, Bombay, India). She resides in Bangalore, India, and works across India, parts of Europe, and the USA. Both her fine art & architectural work has been internationally exhibited & awarded.

In her architectural photography, she is drawn to the form and function of structures and endeavors to capture these as visualized by the architect and often beyond. Her art is interpretive of the theme and is a subtle & unique portrayal of a subject.

Photography to her is a means of self-expression and often of passive activism for causes close to her heart.