It’s been while. I’ve been busy with both my studies and assignments. Yes, I’ve been photographing, but have not posted anything here since.. can’t remember when. Why? Because I didn’t have anything to show, really. Someone suggested we should make this blog more than “an extension to our portfolio websites”. Well, if that means I should post every portrait I shoot for the magazines or all the stuff I see around me when I walk to the university in the morning, thanks for the idea, but I’ll pass. I don’t really think anyone would be very interested to see everything I shoot. There would be two or three posts a day, and most of them without any real story behind them. It’s true that we could add a lot of things to this blog, and we will, but I didn’t join parta&linssit to create a new facebook or a portal for everything concerning photojournalism. There are already some great sites for that. For me, this is a place where I can show you what I find interesting in the world, and what I think could interest you, too. This is one of those things.

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This is the first part of the story I shot in India. IPAN (India Project for Animals and Nature) is a non-profit animal welfare organization working to improve the livelihood of the people in Nilgiris, India, through the well-being of their domestic animals. IPAN also sterilizes stray dogs to control the population and gives them rabies vaccinations. Rabies is a lethal disease, but vaccinated dogs are not dangerous to people. Killing the stray dogs is not a solution, as rats and wild animals (like monkeys) very quickly take their place and bring other diseases to towns and villages. The three-legged dogs in the pictures were either hit by a car or attacked by some wild animal, like panther. The organization also helps wild animals of the mountain area and tries to find solutions for peaceful co-existence of animals and people. It is run by Nigel, an Indian environmental activist and Ilona, a Finnish veterinarian plus many local volunteers. IPAN is funded by donations. I was lucky enough to get a chance to follow Nigel’s and Ilona’s work (and the daily life of their family) for some days, and here’s the first set of photos. I’ll post some more later.

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If you want to know more about IPAN, their work and how to get involved, visit their website at http://www.indiapan.org/

Posted by Tatu
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