Phulmoni Das
Phulmoni believes that pictures also have voices and is intrigued by the stories and emotions of her subjects. She enjoys observing people and photographing them and through this process explore many unheard stories.
When Standing Strong is the Only Option Left
Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, many women remain busy with housework as they would on any ordinary day.
Why is Domestic Work Always Undervalued?
Not all women consider cooking as a leisure activity. Cooking for some may be a hobby but for many, it’s daily labour. During the lockdown, a lot of women have been posting their culinary creations on social media, but there's also a vast majority of women who perform unpaid work in the kitchen for their families every day without having a choice to do otherwise.
Housewives to Homemakers
Will simply changing the nomenclature change a woman's role too? Sometimes unpaid domestic work is brushed off as personal care and leisure. The labour involved in running a household is not only a physical task but also a mental and emotional one. This image portrays women's daily household responsibilities irrespective of a lockdown. The woman in this image is grinding rice flour with a traditional rice pounder which is also called ‘dheki’ in Assamese.
Being a Housewife
A housewife cannot say that she requires a break from her chores, because her job is to keep everyone in her family happy and healthy. It’s a never-ending job for some. This image is of an Assamese woman grinding rice flour with a 'dheki’. Like her, there are many housewives whose work is visibly invisible.
Sharing an Intimate Relationship with Nature
As ecofeminists have rightly argued, there is a relationship between gender and the environment. For me, this image depicts the emphatic and reciprocal relationship that exists between a woman and nature. The COVID-19 pandemic also demands a more sustainable relationship with the environment and women have a huge role to play in this movement.