SACRED STAINS
“Sacred Stains” is an effort to sensitize the society towards females who menstruate & have several problems related to it.
Niraj Gera’s photo series “Sacred Stains’ is voicing the stigma, problems, experiences & myths associated with menstruation, with special reference to women of developing & underdeveloped countries. Through this impactful series, Niraj wants to talk loud and proud about periods & menstrual hygiene. In his pursuit to support humanity he believes in supporting women and girls by sharing their sorrows, problems & joys related to periods & raising a voice for those women who lack privacy, safety & dignity they deserve during their periods.
The series took approximately 6-7 months to complete & during the making of series Niraj was faced with fair share of challenges. Getting women onboard for presentation of this issue in photographs was not as easy as it might appear to be. There were many well educated girls who despite being comfortable with the idea of being photographed denied associating themselves with this kind of an issue. He also faced a lot of discouragement from various people for working on a subject as discreet as periods. Being a male counterpart of this society did not really serve in his favour and he had to face quite a lot of problem in countering the stigmas prevalent in society both for men & women and getting females to talk frankly on this issue. However, this did not stop Niraj from pursuing what he had in mind and his intentions were manifested in the form of this series with the love and support of AOL volunteers, liberal persons, various NGOs, his friends, his Team members etc, which helped Niraj in completing this series well in time