EDITION 1
WiP 2025 | New Stories: Women
in Photography, India
New Stories: Women in Photography, India marked the inaugural edition of the Women in Photography (WiP) initiative by the ZiiP Foundation. Conceived as an international-facing project, the exhibition introduced the work of Indian women photographers to global audiences, positioning their voices within contemporary photographic discourse.
New Voices on a Global Stage
Photography shapes how histories are written, remembered, and questioned. Yet women—particularly from the Global South—have often remained at the margins of institutional narratives.
New Stories was conceived to address this absence. The exhibition foregrounded women’s perspectives not as a corrective footnote, but as essential contributors to how contemporary India is visually understood. It presented photography as lived experience, inquiry, and reflection—offering narratives shaped by intimacy, urgency, and critical observation.
A Constellation of Contemporary Practices
The exhibition brought together the work of 25 Indian women photographers, representing a wide spectrum of contemporary practices across documentary, fine art, conceptual, and socio-cultural photography.
Rather than adhering to a singular theme, New Stories embraced plurality. Diverse voices, geographies, and visual languages were presented side by side—allowing each practice to retain its autonomy while contributing to a larger, collective moment in contemporary image-making.
The Photographers
WiP is anchored by the voices and practices of its participating photographers.
Together, these artists represent a broad range of approaches—working across personal narratives, social documentation, environmental inquiry, cultural memory, and experimental forms. Their collective presence forms the core of the exhibition and reflects the depth, diversity, and vitality of contemporary photographic practice by women in India.
Farleys: A Place of Photographic Legacy
The inaugural edition of New Stories: Women in Photography, India was hosted at Farleys House & Gallery, a site of deep historical significance within the global history of photography. Closely associated with Lee Miller—one of the most influential women photographers of the twentieth century—Farleys has long been a space where photography, art, and cultural memory intersect.
Presenting New Stories at Farleys situated the exhibition within a lineage of photographic practice and intellectual inquiry, offering a meaningful international context for introducing the WiP initiative and its participating artists to global audiences.
Global Recognition and Critical Engagement
The exhibition received a strong and thoughtful response from the international photography community. New Stories: Women in Photography, India was widely appreciated by internationally acclaimed photographers, curators, historians, and cultural practitioners, many of whom recognised it as a timely and significant contribution to contemporary photographic discourse.
This recognition affirmed both the artistic depth of the participating photographers and the importance of sustained international platforms dedicated to amplifying women’s voices in photography—particularly from India and the Global South.
The First Chapter of a Long-Term Vision
More than a single exhibition, New Stories: Women in Photography, India marked the beginning of an evolving, international program—one that continues to grow across editions, geographies, and generations.
Together with the subsequent international edition, the photographers from Edition 1 will be presented again as part of the WiP Pavilion at the ZiiP Foundation’s flagship Photography Triennale in India—creating continuity, sustained visibility, and a collective platform within a major national cultural event.