I first learned about Stephen Dupont a few weeks ago while watching a documentary series on Netflix called "Tales by Light." Each episode covers a different photographer and Stephen's eye for death photography intrigued me because honestly, who has ever heard of a death photographer? Not only did I learn more about death photography and different cultures, but I was able to see how broken our world truly is.
Stephen traveled to India to photograph the burial of Hindus in the Ganges river. I knew that the Ganges is used for washing clothes, bathing and burials, but there is a huge spiritual and societal aspect tied to this river. Only men can take their dead to the river and they shave their heads to show that they are mourning. There are flowers that adorn the bodies and wood is purchased for the burning. The wood used for burials alone is a huge part of the economy of India as generations of families only sell wood for this one purpose.
Stephen visited with a photographer who follows people to the Ganges to photograph their dead. They pay so much money just for one photograph not only to remember this day but to show the government that this person is dead so that they can receive money or land.
Varanasi CremationStephen Dupont
Stephen's photography of this event allows us to experience this huge part of Hindu culture in the hopes that we could be more open-minded and accepting of different rituals. The photographs purchased help feed the photographer and his family, and they allow the family of the deceased to inherit their wealth.
Photography is so powerful, and we fail to allow it to reach its full potential of changing the world.
"Photography is the closest thing I know to exploring the unknown; we're explorers of light aren't we?" -Stephen Dupont
On Stephen's website, you can view all of his photography and honestly it has given me chills and brought me to tears. There is so much power in his photos and the only way for anyone to understand is to see them with their own eyes. He has two collections of photos titled "Don't Look Away" and these images are not for the faint of heart.
In our society today, we spend so much time on social media and we don't pay much consideration to anything outside of our phones.
"We are pretty good at destroying the planet. We are pretty good at destroying each other. One would hope that we might learn one day not to. But history tells us we don't learn." -Stephen Dupont
But the truth is that our world is very broken and there are people suffering and dying.
Stephen is bold in photographing what the world needs to say rather than what the world wants to see. I recently mimicked this in a photo essay I did about sexual assault on college campuses. My article received a good amount of scrutiny because no one wants to believe that sexual assault is happening on our campus. It seems like people want to ignore the problems of the world and I believe we can penetrate this veil that social media puts over the world in the hopes that we can shed some light on real problems.
Everyone thinks that they are a photographer these days. We carry cameras in our pockets everywhere we go. We have so many pictures of ourselves. Our generation has belittled photography.
Photography is an art.
Yes, you can capture beautiful memories in photos, but we need to put more power in the images we capture. Stephen Dupont has literally risked his life in Afghanistan to capture images of war. He has dared to show what everyone wants to ignore.
As an aspiring photographer, I truly appreciate not only Stephen's artwork, but his passion. By looking at these photos, He allows his audience to see into his heart. Passion combined with power will spark change.
I hope that for the sake of humanity we can all learn something from Stephen Dupont.