This year I spent time working with a UK Charity Changing Ideas who connect photographers and NGO’s in India together to promote both the NGO and develop the next line of Photojournalist’s engaged in Charity work. Through Changing Ideas I worked with two addiction centres in Kolkata, one of them was The Freedom Foundation.

The Freedom Foundation is nonprofit organisation founded in Kolkata 2007 has been working to achieve sustainable development among poor community living in bordering district of 24 Pgs north and south. Through its field progammes training and research we have been focusing on child education, mental health care, anti trafficking awareness and protection, HIV AIDS awareness and protection, drug abuse awareness and de-toxification and rehabilitation programmes. Freedom Foundation is committed to development of under priviledged children to generate drug abuse awareness and AIDS awareness and protection and this is our mission.

The Freedom Foundation centre is in Habra about 50miles North East of Kolkata, founded by recovered addicts from the Kripa Foundatiuon. The aim of the project was to work with the Freedom Foundation to put together a body of work they could use in communications including some case studies. The challenge was to protect the identity of the patients, especially in mind of the stigma of drug addiction in India.

At the centre i spent a good amount of time talking, hanging out and going through the daily routine with the addicts there, I was touched by many stories from both old and young men, what iIfound interesting was that these were just everyday people, with everyday lives, wives, children and jobs. How and why did this happen to them? as one counsellor informed me, Addiction is a disease, what you choose for your addiction is the defining path. What is on exhibition is a photographic essay of my time with the centre and the residents of The Freedom Foundation.

Changing Ideas – Website

We support and develop the use of photography in humanitarian campaigns. To this end we advise and support charities to develop their communications capabilities and make more effective use of visual media in fundraising, activism and advocacy. We also support individual projects involving substantial partnerships between photographers and NGO’s.