Photojournalism nominee

On the banks of Sipra River, Ujjain (India), ‘exorcism’ took a greater height, where in the name of religion, people were being beaten up ruthlessly during Kumbh Mela. Thousands of pilgrims had accumulated here in the name of pilgrimage. They had brought their relatives and friends to free them from evil spirits and the exorcists were violently beating up and ruthlessly hurting the so-called evil women, in exchange of money and valuables. Vimladevi was unable to bear a child, Jamuna was mentally retarded, Bindoo was marked as an evil spirit because she had problems in her menstrual cycle and many more who fell prey to these unkind acts of brutality. On the occasions where serious mental and physical attention was to be given to these patients, at least a lot of love and care, they were being struck with a knife until they bled, and were dragged to the river to free them from the spirits. The women were being hauled underneath the water, struck with knives and being dragged by holding their hair strands with the hope that they will be free from all sickness. The question thus arises “Who is actually sick? The tormentors or the tormented?"

Debiprasad is an Indian freelance documentary photographer based out of Kolkata, India. Though Debi is a Business Consultant by profession, but his strong passion for documentary photography & photojournalism made him travel to various countries like India, Australia, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, UAE, UK and USA. His photographic vision is not only to depict social, political and financial issues & conflicts but also to portray surreal beauty and the enduring power of the human spirit.
His photographs have been published in many international magazines/websites e.g. Vogue Italia, National Geographic, F-Stop (USA), Rammajamma Images (Australia), Society of International Travel & Tourism Photographers (UK), Dodho Magazine (Spain), Fotoform Magazine (Germany), Life Force Magazine, Social Documentary Network, Positive, ViewFind, Monovisions, Private Photo Review, Edge of Humanity etc. and exhibited globally like International Exhibition of Art & Photography at "Galerie Romain Rolland", Indo-French Cultural Center, New Delhi (2015), Slovenia International Photographic Exhibition (2016), Plovdiv International Photo Festival Bulgaria (2016), "The Search for Economic Justice" Photography Exhibiton at University of Wisconsin La Crosse USA , Photography Group Exhibition "Portraiture" Serbia (2016), PONDY-ART 2016 - DRIVING FORCE Photography Exhibition, Pondicherry, India, Asian University for Women Bangladesh (2016), Photo Life – Art Hub Annual Exhibition Kolkata, India (2015)