A boy and three girls of the Chamar community, Kutch, Gujarat 1975

Jyoti Bhatt made this photograph of a boy and three girls of the Chamar community, Kutch, Gujarat. The greyscale is so rich! The starkness makes you feel the heat and dust, yet there’s a softness, too. It’s the kind of process where light and shadow become the true materials. Look at the cracked wall behind the children; each fissure tells a story of time and place. It's almost like a drawing. The girls are huddled together, bangles adorning their wrists, their faces a mix of curiosity and reticence. The boy in the doorway, a confident stance, hands on his hips. His feet seem to be emerging from the dark threshold. Bhatt, like other photographers such as Diane Arbus or Mary Ellen Mark, captures something so intimate. It's a testament to how art can freeze a moment and let it speak volumes about lives and communities. It's the kind of piece that reminds us that seeing is a process, an ongoing conversation with the world.