No Filter: Line between political sensitivity and artistic freedom remains blurry for some

A recent photoshoot by Filmfare magazine featuring Sara Ali Khan in an editorial was shot in Kenya. One particular image, where she is seen posing with a young man of the Masai tribe, has stirred up the hornet’s nest. This photo seems to have had a polarising effect on the audience, leading to Chennaiites having a much-needed conversation on artistic licence versus sensitivity in art.

Arjun Kamath, a photographer/cinematographer who is a true storyteller, uses beautiful images to conceptualise and narrate stories. He has tackled topics ranging from nostalgia for one’s hometown to LGBTQ issues with great sensitivity and has been appreciated for it. “As a photographer, I don’t think the image shot by Filmfare it is a great one. Personally, I prefer it when all the people in my photo interact in some way and there is life to the image. I have shot in Rajasthan and on the streets of Chennai and my models interact with all the people in the frame,” he said.

“It is important that an image sparks some joy in the viewer. We are living in very sensitive times and sometimes we even have to pay the price for honesty. Having said that, I think when your images or your art have a widespread audience, with that comes the responsibility of ensuring your messaging is constructive,” he added — a sentiment echoed by many artists.

We live in a world where we all need to consider potential backlash for our opinions, even those shared in the relative privacy of our living rooms. Being from a generation that has seen the growth of social media and armchair activism, Cary Edwards shares his concerns with me. “You have the right to be take offense and please feel free to take it up in person with the person/creator. However, you do not have the right to publicly accuse someone and extract a toll from them. That is being irresponsible and demonstrates a total disregard on the impact of your accusations on someone’s life and career. The problem with political correctness is that in order to facilitate it, you first have to politicise everything. Once everything is political, there is no longer space for funny, nuance or artistic license,” he said.

So where do we draw the line of freedom to explore concepts in a world where we have to cater to the lowest ‘politically correct and sensitive’ denominator in society, wonders Swathi Purushothaman, founder and designer at Studio 149. “I strongly feel that people shouldn’t be used as props in a photo to fill up a frame or to make it interesting. However, finding the balance between social responsibility and artistic vision is a tight rope walk. To me the line is still unclear,” she said.

Like her, most of us are trying to figure this out. However, we have to wonder where we are going wrong when people feel the need to be cautious because being considerate or sensitive isn’t enough. Has social media made us overtly sensitive or have we taken to policing everyone and everything in an effort to right past mistakes?

Speaking of representation and moving the needle in the right direction, NYX cosmetics just shot with one of Chennai’s darlings, Pragathi Guruprasad. She shot to fame as the runner up of Airtel Super Junior in 2012 and has grown into a beautiful young woman. They reached out to her towards the end of 2018 but due to a scheduling conflict, she couldn’t make it. NYX cosmetics knows a good model when they see one -- they followed up with her and when they were shooting for their 20 best-sellers and images for launching their e-commerce platforms in India. So last week, the stars aligned and Amber Dreadon, a leading Hollywood makeup artist, dolled up the already gorgeous Pragathi. Kudos to NYX cosmetics for using Indian faces, especially, Chennai faces.