Page 118 - Vogue - India (January 2020)

ARATI KUMAR-RAO
ENVIRONMENTAL PHOTOGRAPHER AND WRITER, BENGALURU, INDIA
National Geographic explorer Arati Kumar-Rao documents the gradual onslaught of environmental
degradation with a reporter’s eye and a poet’s sensitivity, whether she’s capturing the effect of the
Farakka Barrage in West Bengal or compiling the traditional lexicon used by the tribes of the Thar
desert. “I grew up privy to debates between my father and uncles on the merits and demerits of
large dams and their impacts on lives and rivers. Those interactions burned themselves deep into
my psyche. One day, through the febrile stupor of typhoid, I decided to quit my corporate job
and plunge headlong into my first love—the urge to tell environmental stories,” she recalls. On the
purpose of her work, she says, “The kind of documentation I do is neither spectacular nor explosive.
The ‘slow’ violence inflicted on communities by environmental degradation and climate change
could take years to manifest, and remains largely invisible and under-reported. Figuring out how to
attract the attention of the masses, or even the powers that be, to these quieter yet deadly issues so
that those mistakes are not repeated, is my biggest challenge.” – SS

VARSHINI PRAKASH, 26
CO-FOUNDER SUNRISE
MOVEMENT, BOSTON, USA
The devastation of climate change
was something Varshini Prakash
grew up seeing in headlines and
hashtags. In 2017, she decided to do
something about it and launched
Sunrise Movement, with seven
other activists, looking to shift the
conversation around the environment
from denial and political posturing
to real, impactful, concrete action.
Her eye is on the Green New Deal,
a congressional resolution to tackle
climate change and economic
inequality. “The fight continues every
damn day till we get what we came
for and win a #GreenNewDeal.
A shout-out to building an army
of young people to make climate COURTESY RAHUL REKAPALLI; BRANDON STANCIELL; COURTESY SAIKAT DAS
change an urgent priority across
America, end the corrupting
influence of fossil fuel executives on
our politics and elect leaders who
stand up for the health and well-
being of all people,” Prakash sums up
her battle on Instagram, a ray of sun
in a sombre reality. – NM

118 VOGUE INDIA JANUARY 2020www.vogue.in