When you love nature, living in Chennai can be heartbreaking. All the garbage
everywhere is all you see when you arrive in the city. Over the X-mas holidays in 2011-2012 I decided to use my photography as a medium to sensitize the local population in my neighborhood, with the goal to create a clean environment in the streets and at the nearby beach. I took pictures of people living here and used
their pictures in the banners with pictures of a dirty and a clean beach. I placed concrete bins at the entrance of the beach and painted them with slogans. At first I was cleaning up the beach with the help of some other expats who live in the street. But to increase the effect, I recently contacted some people who work in the morning for the Cooperation of Chennai. After their shift they come to work for us and clean up the beach daily. I involved the local Association of my neighborhood in the project. They were happy to have somebody motivating the group to take action.I also involved the nearby fishervillage by contacting the chief fisherman who is also a Master in Monkey Kungfu. We have now got the people of the neighborhood and the kids and teenagers of the
Kungfu club 3 times together to clean up the beach and the streets. We started our first gathering with a powerpoint presentation with lots of pictures of how it looks full of garbage and how it could be when we can keep it clean. Each clean up morning finishes with a breakfast for all the participaters. I use the benefits of my photography workshops and exhibitions to fund the costs of the banners, t-shirts, garbage bins and salaries of beach cleaning team. I am so happy that I found another way to share my love of photography in this
incredible Chennai. Together with my neighborhood, we have gone on a journey to
change the perception of a clean environment. There is still a long way to go, and
although people say I am only changing a drop in the ocean, is the ocean not a multitude of drops?
