Photographer who recreated the Delhi gangrape as a glossy fashion shoot on a bus says ‘women’s safety campaign backfired’ after outrage on social media

A photographer who seemingly recreated the gruesome Delhi gangrape incident of December 16, 2012, using male and female models in an upscale fashion shoot on a bus, sparking revulsion on social media, said he was making a point on women’s empowerment that horribly backfired.

Photographer Raj Shetye’s photoshoot ‘The Wrong Turn’, featuring model Jitin Gulati among others, took Facebook and Twitter by storm as it revived memories of an incident that shook the nation and triggered a mass movement to make laws on violent crimes against women more stringent.

“I wanted to throw light on Indian patriarchy and a male dominated society. I actually was using the photoshoot to highlight women’s empowerment and lack of safety in India. It’s not true that I used the Nirbhaya incident to create awareness. This is my depiction of the current situation using a medium I know and can communicate well in. Consider this. I did with photography what a writer would do if he had to write about that incident,” Shetye told IBNLive over phone.

Photographer who recreated the Delhi gangrape as a glossy fashion shoot on a bus says 'women's safety campaign backfired' after outrage on social media

A photographer seemingly recreated the gruesome Delhi gangrape incident using models in an upscale fashion shoot.

The photos on the website Behance were tagged with the keywords ‘hot’, ‘sexy’, ‘male’, ‘revenge’, ‘kidnap’ and ‘love’. Shetye, accused of trivialising the gangrape, denied that that was the intention.

The photos have been taken off from the website.

The gangrape and brutalizing of a 23-year-old physiotherapist on an off-duty chartered bus at night as she was heading home was also a case that the international media followed closely and dented India’s credibility as a safe destination for women tourists. Among the fallout of the gangrape was also a review of traditional Indian patriarchy and misogyny in all forms of media, including arts and entertainment.

The irony in the photos showing the woman model as a sexual abuse victim (one photo shows two men holding her down as she lies on one of the seats of the bus, pushing away at her aggressors) in a campaign aimed at creating awareness about women’s safety on public transport in India is lost on Shetye.

“I did not want to glorify the Nirbhaya incident, this isn’t even about that incident. I am a responsible person. Why would I do something that is in bad taste?” Shetye said. “I admit this has taken a wrong direction and we are now doing damage control.”

When pointed out that the bus connects his imagery to the December 16 incident, Shetye said “It’s really difficult to find a place to shoot in India.” The reaction to the photos ranged from stunned disbelief to “disgust” and “disappointment”.

Charuau’spost about “The Wrong Turn.”

This is a screenshot of the comment thread under photographer Fabien Charuau's post about "The Wrong Turn."

Shetye allegedly defended himself against critics in this Facebook comment:

But nearly nobody’s buying it:

Photographer: “Hey guys, I don’t think anyone paid attention to the Nirbhaya case. Let’s do a photo shoot and glamourize the whole thing!”

Inspired by (read mocking)Nirbhaya gang rape case.http://t.co/bfFCDML4Wd Cant blv ppl r glamorising the horrific rape case n calling it HOT

The most ridiculous thing I saw today. A #Nirbhaya inspired photo shoot done in back of a bus. https://t.co/IXBwlANRcr #disgusted via FB

A Nirbhaya-inspired fashion shoot? Have we finished out-raging about this? Am I too late? WHO DOES A GANG-RAPE IN A BUS THEME FOR A SHOOT?

When asked about such reactions, Shetye told BuzzFeed that he just feels satisfied to have started a conversation.

When asked about such reactions, Shetye told BuzzFeed that he just feels satisfied to have started a conversation.

Raj Shetye / Via behance.net

“On a personal level, too, I got many reactions. On my Facebook, from my friends. It makes me feel satisfied about my work – at least the work I did is so impactful that I’m able to shed some light on this. I don’t feel happy, but it makes me feel satisfied. That whatever I’ve tried to communicate is being communicated.”

Read more here- http://www.buzzfeed.com/regajha/this-glamorous-fashion-photo-shoot-depicts-an-indian-woman