Forbes Listed Photographer Vicky Roy (Part 4)

July 16, 2023

Vicky Roy’s first book on photography ‘Home, Street Home’ published in 2013, was well received in India and abroad. In 2019, The Guardian’s Joe Griffin featured Vicky Roy extensively in his column ‘Global Developments’ which was being run through The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. This once again brought to the fore the achievements of Vicky Roy. Vicky Roy has got international fame, not just because he is an extremely skilled photographer but also because of his contribution to social projects and causes. He has taken the world by storm due to this rare combination, that comes from his personal experience. Vicky strives hard through his photography, for the street children as he does not want other children to go through the same harsh experiences which he has gone through living in those conditions.

What is the inspiration behind the great work done by Vicky? When I asked, he said, “I have been doing all this for my own development and upliftment. An incident that happened while I was in school inspired me to do good in life. Once in school, the teacher asked us, “How can you contribute to the development of your country? None of us had any answers. The answer our teacher gave is still etched in my mind. He said “Pehle aap apni tarakki karo, toh desh ka ek gareeb kaam ho jayega. Uske baad dusaro ki garibi khatam karne ki socho” (First uplift yourself, that will reduce poverty in the country by one person. After that, think of ending others’ poverty).

In 2015, Vicky Roy visited the Janwaar Castle skatepark built by Ulrike Reinhard in Madhya Pradesh, the first skatepark to be built in rural India. Most of the villagers were below the poverty line and the skate park has been a focal point for transforming the lives of children in the community. This center gave tribal children an opportunity to enjoy the sport to their heart’s content, free of cost. Vicky visited this center for photography. The small tribal children playing there caught his attention. Though these children were poor and deprived, their innocent eyes twinkled with joy whenever they skated on this ring. This smile charmed Vicky. In the next few days, he would mingle with the children and in this way would capture their innocent smiles. Vicky gradually befriended them and gathered all the information about them and their village.

Shadows of children on their skateboards. A wonderful composition of Light and shadow. The park has been a catalyst for change, says Vicky Roy. His photographs have documented the transformation

Over the next few days, Vicky learned a lot about them and their village while talking to them. He asked a little girl, Seema, what is your wish? The small girl quickly said, “There is no fan in my classroom, so with so many children sitting together in the classroom, it is even difficult to breathe.” Vicky spoke to another boy, Gobind from the same class, “What do you want to be when you grow up? Without a moment’s delay he said, “Sarpanch” (Head of the Village). Because in the eyes of these children growing up in the remote tribal lands, it was the highest and most respected position.

This gave Vicky an idea. He wrote their answers on skating boards. He asked each child to stand straight holding the skating board. He then clicked their photos with their answers written on the skating board. These photos went viral in no time and lots of humanitarian aid poured in. They had a tremendous impact on the people. It was through this aid that ceiling fans were fitted in little Seema’s and others’ classrooms. One Sanjoy Roy offered Rs. 2 Lakh scholarship for the education of Gobind, who wanted to become a Sarpanch. The photos taken by Vicky’s unique creativity reached millions of well-wishers and started a generous flow of the much-needed help.

Seema displays a sign with her wish for the school. With this unique concept of Roy, Seema’s school got celling fans in every classroom. An image from the Janwaar Castle series.

Taking regular breaks from his busy professional schedule, Vicky Roy has been working for the website Initiatives by V R Ferose, www.everyoneisgoodatsomething.com for the past two and half years now. It highlights the stories of people who have overcome their disabilities and started a new life and career. For this, Vicky meets such disabled people, irrespective of their social standing and wherever they are staying in the country. This work gives Vicky immense spiritual satisfaction. Till now Vicky has interviewed & documented more than 100 disabled people through his documentary photography.

On Mother’s Day in 2016, Vicky gave his mother a unique gift. He built a nice home in his village and presented it to his mother. With this loving gesture, Vicky truly thanked his mother, relieving her of the pain and the life-long scar of being separated from her children.

In another humanitarian act, Vicky helped a six-year-old boy Sachin from the same village in Madhya Pradesh in curing a skin disease. Apart from the skin disease, Sachin also suffered from a condition wherein his hair would fall off leaving his scalp with patchy hair. The pain was unbearable for Sachin. Vicky took his photos and sent them to his doctor friend in Delhi. Upon his suggestion, Vicky brought Sachin to Delhi and Sachin was given the needed medical treatment for his ailment. It was only after he fully recovered that Vicky took back Sachin to his village in Madhya Pradesh.

A boy who suffers a disfiguring skin condition in the remote area of Janwaar Castle, where his parent could not afford hospital or medical treatment.

Roy raised money through his photographs to pay for medicine and the boy has recovered. ‘My work has given me the opportunities to help others,’ says Roy

Vicky learned from an NGO working for these poor tribals that there was no water pipeline to this village and therefore there was no water for the villagers at their village. The total cost for availability of the water supply at their village was eight lakh rupees. Vicky Roy sold a few of his photographs and handed over Rs. Eight lakhs to the NGO for a borewell with installation of solar panels so that a water pumping motor can be fitted on this borewell. The women of the village, who had been walking miles for a single bucket of water for many generations, now started getting water 24 hours a day, in their own village.

Vicky Roy’s photographs have helped to raise money for a water project in the village at the Janwaar Castle

When Vicky Roy got to know about one family who was homeless in New Delhi, in July 2018. Vicky Roy initially approached them to take photographs for a project for Save the Children. After posting these photographs on social media, Rajeswari Kannan showed her willingness to help that family. Vicky went back to the family and asked how he might be able to help them improve their circumstances. The family said they were from Rajasthan and would like to settle at their native place again. Rajeswari Kannan came forward and helped this poor family. With her financial support and help, the family restored their home and opened their grocery store in the city of Dholpur, Rajasthan. Vicky Roy in 2019, started working on a project about the challenges for women farmers in India.

A homeless family in New Delhi, in July 2018. Vicky Roy initially approached them to take photographs for a project for Save the Children. After Rajeswari Kannan saw this photograph Vicky had posted on social media and shown her willingness to help this family.

Vicky Roy’s photograph helped this family to start their grocery shop in their home town with the financial help of Rajeswariji.

I and Vicky Roy spoke over the phone for more than half an hour at the time of writing this article. This conversation again proved that even after so many years and so much of success, Vicky Roy is a simple and soft-spoken person.

Let’s not forget that Vicky has spent days, months and years dealing in scrap and garbage living a desolate abandoned life. But, when opportunity came knocking on his door, he grabbed it with both hands and took the world of photography by storm.

My Salute to Salaam Baalak Trust with highest gratitude, who provides shelter for thousands of such children and the way they nurtured Vicky’s childhood, encouraged, and supported Vicky’s art and inborn skills of photography.

I took a deep breath, settled, and closed my eyes. I had tears in my eyes for Vicky’s terrible struggle for survival in his childhood, even after getting such a glittering success, still he is down to earth and helping the poor and needy people through his photography.

I remembered my favorite lines from a poem written by my all-time favorite poet Khalil Jibran,

“And there are those who have little and give it all.

These are the believers in life and the bounty of life, and their coffer is never empty.

There are those who give with joy, and that joy is their reward.

They give as in yonder valley the myrtle breathes its fragrance into space.

Through the hands of such as these God speaks, and from behind their eyes He smiles upon the earth.

– Khalil Jibran

Pratod Karnik

The writer is an Artist and Ad man