These farmers lived and died in anonymity. We realised it is difficult to make people feel strongly for a cause they can’t associate a face to. So we decided to use their faces to reach out to the world.

Plagued by drought, debts and crop failure, nearly 300,000 Indian farmers committed suicide last year. While the issue came under the government scanner and measures were taken to try and stop more suicides, the large, illiterate families of those already dead were left to fend for themselves. The brief was two pronged – firstly to sensitise people to this harsh reality and secondly, to raise funds for these impoverished families.

We created their portraits using the very same object that had been their undoing – dry, burnt hay. Using actual photographs of 12 deceased farmers as a reference, every feature on their faces and every expression were captured and recreated using pieces of hay. This symbol of ruined crops became the canvas on which their faces came alive.

Apart from generation huge amount of awareness around the issue, The actual portraits were displayed at exhibitions and auctioned to the highest bidders. The money raised was distributed amongst their families.