Opinion | Inspiring Photojournalists of Kashmir

In simple words, photojournalism is the art of telling story in a visually appealing manner. It is usually a series of photographs that narrate an event or story.

As all of us are aware of news and do watch, hear or read it usually on our daily bases, so apart from main stream media (radio, television, newspaper) photojournalists although through social media but play an important role in our lives nowadays. We see that most of the youths are stuck into the social media in this contemporary world, they rarely spend some time reading newspapers, watching news or hearing it on radio. Here is where photojournalism comes into clean visible existence. A simple picture clicked by a photojournalist has it’s deep background and draws a vast story with itself. More over the means are easily accessible to majority of the people living in any area as they get most of the news by perceiving images clicked by the photojournalists.
Photojournalism in Kashmir recently has gained much attention from the people of Kashmir valley and it is getting much praise and fame than the main stream media. In Kashmir we have photojournalists whose work although full of struggling efforts, yet they manage to show us all the colors of society be it from any background from glooming flowers to hidden tales.
Some of the famous photojournalists of Kashmir who inspire me are Masrat Zehra , Sana Irshad Mattoo and Junaid Bhat.

Masrat Zehra : A freelance photojournalist of Srinagar , Jammu and Kashmir. She focuses on stories about local communities and women. She won “Anja Niedringhaus Courage” in photojournalism and Peter Mackler award for Ethical journalism 2020.She also faces many struggles. Masrat has been covering the widows of the conflict, the women in resistance, the women victims of pellet attacks etc.

Sana Irshad Mattoo: A documentary photographer and freelance photojournalist based in Kashmir. She also won prestigious Pulitzer Prize in the category of “Feature photography” for her coverage of Covid-19 pandemic. And became the third Kashmiri to win the prestigious award.

Junaid Bhat: A professional photojournalist, and activist from Kashmir. His struggle is real, from facing numerous obstacles from to getting the toughest tasks. His camera got damaged many a times while covering the protest and clashes. This proved his immense dedication towards his profession that made him a successful photojournalist. He says that I swear it is very difficult to report in Kashmir valley but I promise I will continue to report the truth fearlessly for my people and my land.
A photojournalist is also a witness to the reality of life in a conflict zone. At last we wish them good luck for their future.

(About Writer : Mir Nuzhath Fatima
9th standard
Green View Public School Magam)