Vaidehee Durgude ’25 walked into the East side of Shane lounge where I had settled myself with my various interview materials. She introduced herself, shook my hand, and sat down with the casual, self-possessed confidence of someone completely comfortable with her surroundings. I pressed “record” on the transcription software I set up and was oddly struck by how the light blue of her koi fish-embroidered jacket stood out against the gray of the couch behind her.
Without skipping a beat, she jumped into it, “Yeah, so I am a film and media studies and sociology/anthropology double major, and for my dual thesis, I am making a documentary right now.”
“Oh, so you do anthropology in addition to photography and documentaries. What attracted you to sociology?” I asked.
“I was a political science major before that, so anything anthropology is a very natural move out of that. I like it because it’s definitely more people-oriented.”
“People-oriented,” I responded. “Do you think that aspect is what got you into photography as well?”
Vaidehee smiled and said, “I really do love taking photos of people. I only really decided that photography was something I wanted to pursue last semester though. I’ve always liked art, but I’ve never really seen myself as an ‘artist,’ even though now I’m about to graduate college as one. My dad was actually always interested in photography, and we’re always twenty feet behind everyone else taking photos when my family goes on hikes or walks, or jogging to catch up. I joined the yearbook committee in middle school, where I learned a lot of the basics of editing photos and things like that. It was always something I enjoyed doing, but it was my focus on documentary filmmaking that allowed me to do it more.”
I noted there seemed to be overlap between film and photography and asked more about the people-oriented part of that intersection for Vaidehee. “Last summer, I went to do photojournalistic research in Ecuador for my documentary, and I just got to have conversations with people and ask them about their lives. As the interviewer, it’s your job to just be there and listen.” She laughed and said, “It’s really so intriguing, every interaction I have with someone is unique. With photography, too, if I take a photo of my friend smiling, they’ll smile again, but it won’t be that same smile. Those moments are so precious.”
Trying not to scribble too loudly on my notepad, I looked up and said, “That’s very interesting, and part of what makes the film and photographic process unique. I suppose you couldn’t really get that same sort of snapshot moment in a painting or drawing. Could you describe for me what your process is for taking your photographs?”
“This might be easier if I show you while I explain,” she said as she turned her laptop towards me and began scrolling through her folders of photographs. “It’s hard to describe the process, as so much of it is being in the right place and noticing the right thing. I think the most compelling photography relies on having a certain intimacy with your subject by being with them in a vulnerable moment. But, vulnerable doesn’t necessarily mean moments when they’re at their worst. I think it’s really important to clarify that photography does not need to be trauma photography or an exploitation of suffering. It’s more that you want the subjects to feel comfortable and unreserved.”
I stopped Vaidehee as she scrolled past a series of photos I recognized from a show on campus, and asked if she could explain them to me. She clicked one to full screen and replied, “So, I did this series where I took photos of my trans-masc friends as film characters that they wanted to emulate. I ended up with these eight photos here. It’s really difficult to get people who aren’t used to posing to sit for a photo like this, especially when you have to really get out of your body and embody a completely different one. And of course being photographed is such high pressure that it’s really necessary to have that trust between the photographer and subject. Every single person tells me they’re not photogenic, but I’ve literally never found that to be true.”
She then went on to talk about her current project, which is a documentary about the conservation and education work of ecologists in Ecuador, and discussed with me some of the challenges she has faced in making it. “If you’re an outsider, people are not necessarily going to be fully relaxed, and will present themselves differently to the documentarian. In my coursework, I’ve explored how we fashion the self through the body, embodying the surrounding socio‑cultural ideas. As an anthropologist, I see how embodied tropes shape our lives and the stories we tell, so I work to avoid romanticizing or flattening my participants and let their own words and experiences guide the narrative.”
During our interview, Vaidehee said something that I think underlines all her visual work: “People are so beautiful all the time. We are just so lucky to get to exist and see each other at these moments. Photography, documentary to me are about memory. Who gets to be seen, historicized, and who gets to connect with and teach people when they’re no longer there? I want to help people be remembered.”
After she finishes her documentary and graduates, Vaidehee hopes to work with social justice and community-based organizations as a photographer in and around Philadelphia. Her documentary will be screened here at Swarthmore at the end of the semester – mark your calendar for a must-see premiere.
