Digital exhibition on Indian street children

By Siddhi Jain

  New Delhi, April 21- While some may be born into opulence, abject poverty and a life on the streets is the first truth many children face across the globe.

With limited representation and scarce resources, almost two million children in India are what a child rights organisation calls ‘The Invisibles’.

Shining the spotlight on a few of these young survivors of the street life, a digital exhibition by Save the Children depicts lives on the streets of India, without an identity, a name to call their own, a place to call home, sleeping on empty stomachs for days and nights.

Titled “A Lens on #TheInvisibles”, the digital exhibition opened Monday. It showcases photo-exhibits by internationally acclaimed photographer and erstwhile street child, Vicky Roy. This exhibition reinforces the conditions that these children and their families grapple with, while also highlighting their dreams and hopes for a better tomorrow.

“Vicky Roy has known the harshness of the streets first hand. And these photographs bring alive the resilience and the �normal’ of children on the streets. The virtual exhibition, while an attempt to give you an experience of the real gallery exhibition, it is also our effort to bring to your screen a reminder that children on the street need our attention more than ever. And a rare chance not just to view the exhibition but also to �grab a frame’ to help street connected children,” said Pragya Vats, Head of Campaigns, Save the Children, an organisation that has reached over 2 lakh children living in street situations with a legal identity and provided 140,000 children with access to social security schemes across 10 cities.

The exhibition also gives a sneak peek into Vicky Roy’s journey of surviving the streets to becoming an internationally acclaimed photographer. Not having forgotten where he comes from, he keeps returning to capture the lives of children we often turn away from. His images are not just a testimony to the truth, but also a compelling argument to finding solutions.

He held his first solo exhibition titled, “Street Dreams” supported by the British High Commission. His first monograph, �Home Street Home’ is his reflection of how “the street is ruthless, cut- throat and survival is tough.”