Wedding photogs get together: Protest no work, start campaign

A Delhi-based wedding photographer, Dev Verma, recently died by suicide. He used to work as a freelancer at the studios owned by Delhiite Raman Dipak, who tells us, “Dev was a freelancer with us and due to fewer weddings off late, he wasn’t getting much business... Most photographers like us are getting one fourth of the money that we used to get earlier for covering a wedding, and it’s very disappointing. We are not caterers! We have equal amount of work since our focus still remains to capture the memories of a family, in the best possible way. And those who can’t attend a wedding look forward to seeing the pictures and videos.”

“After Dev died by suicide due to financial issues, we started this campaign to help the community, financially and mentally. We urge those in distress to reach out to their state representatives.”
– Harpreet Bachher, founder, AWPI

The incident has triggered a campaign to lend a helping hand to the wedding photographers in distress, due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The campaign states that the wedding industry has witnessed a scathing effect, and over 25 lakh people are on the verge of losing their jobs. Harpreet Bachher, founder, Association of Wedding Photographers of India (AWPI) — which has initiated the campaign — says, “This national union of professional wedding photographers came together as a joint entity to create this association during the pandemic. We have around 20 core members representing various states of India. The wedding photography industry consists of more than 50,000 people, and in the pandemic they have been through much (hardship). After Dev died by suicide due to financial issues, we started this campaign to help the community, financially and mentally. We urge those in distress to reach out to their state representatives, and we’ll try to help them in our best possible capacity.”

Wedding photographers across India who had been crying hoarse and protesting about the tough time they are facing, since the pandemic struck their livelihoods, are hailing this campaign. Shweta Dhiman, a wedding photographer from Chandigarh, says, “I was a banker for 10 years and then quit my job to join this industry. Seeing our dear friend, Dev give up his life due to loss of work in the current economic slowdown was heart breaking... Our work is reviving now, but clients are not ready to pay as much they were initially. People don’t seem to understand that the photography requirements don’t reduce with the scale of a wedding.”

“We are hoping that this campaign will help stop any other incident in the community, and will also clear Dev’s dues, so that the family doesn’t have to deal with financial issues and suffer further.”
– Shweta Dhiman, a Chandigarh-based wedding photographer

In fact photographers believe that such initiatives are the need of the hour. “We are hoping that this campaign will help stop any other incident in the community, and will also clear Dev’s dues, so that the family doesn’t have to deal with financial issues and suffer further,” says Dhiman. And Bengaluru-based wedding photographer Anand Kumar, adds, “We need to be strong and prevent more people from dying this way. I’m trying my best to support the community, and also raise awareness about the issue through my social media.”

If you need support or know someone who does, please reach out to your nearest mental health specialists. Helplines: Fortis Stress Helpline: 8376804102, Sumaitri: 01123389090, Snehi: 01165978181, Sanjeevani: 01124311918/01124318883

Author tweets @Ruchikagarg271

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