“Like the heroes of Bollywood”
27-year-old Lukas Linder discovered his passion for photography during his training as a graphic designer in an advertising agency. He accompanied the company photographers on their projects and learned what is important when photographing. After completing his apprenticeship, he became self-employed and has since worked as a photographer in the areas of portraits, advertising and reportage. Lukas lives and works in Zurich or wherever the projects take him.
The camera is always there! Depending on the project Lukas uses full format cameras from Canon or the medium format system from Hasselblad.
Satyagrahi
One of his most impressive works was created in 2012 during a six-month stay in India. There, he worked for a non-profit organization that works for displaced and landless people – the so-called Satyagrahi. On his arrival, the country was in the middle of an international land rights movement. Around 70,000 Indian landless people marched 350 kilometres from Gwalior to Delhi for the reform of land law – with the aim of demonstrating for more rights and some land to live on. The six-month work with the Indians inspired Lukas very much, so that he realized a personal project from it.
Expellees:
Prahlad comes from Khaderia village in Madhya Pradesh State, India. When the photo was taken, he lived illegally on a piece of land because he and his family were repeatedly expelled. He walked over 350 kilometres to New Delhi to demonstrate for land rights reform with around one hundred thousand other displaced people. In the hope of finally getting land to cultivate and feed his family.
Lukas Linder about his work:
“While Satyagrahi merges with the masses to fight for its cause, my aim is to free the individual from the masses – to give him a face. Just as Bollywood stages its heroes on screen, the Satyagrahi project aims to put protagonists of the march in the limelight. In order to visually lift people out of the crowd, the individual portraits are deliberately illuminated. The project gives an insight into the individual fates, expectations and hopes of the protagonists”.
The demonstration march finally had an impact: the Indian government concluded an agreement with the landless to strengthen their rights in the future. For his work Satyagrahi, Lukas won first prize in the Hasselblad-sponsored Junior Contest.
You can find more works from the portfolio on his website.
