#TeenPhotoAcademy: What is Home?

A Project by Qazi Hammad Mueen Qari

"The project 'What is home?' was a cumulative project as part of our workshop with the Chennai Photo Biennale. It is based on the uniqueness of the idea of ‘Home’ for each one of us, an attempt to capture the essence of the word in pictures."

" To me, home, as a word and as a feeling, has always meant something ubiquitous. The meaning changes with time and my emotional state. When asked to define what home meant to me, I grasped at the very few things that made me who I am. In essence, ‘Home’ is as intrinsic a part of me as my being."

"The photos included in the series are images of my hostel room, of my conversations with myself, the people and the objects around me. It also includes photographic memories of times bygone, archives of home being home." 

"'What is homeland? To hold onto your memory, that is homeland.'

"Mahmoud Darwish said this, and it has been etched into my memory since the day I left home."

"Books have always reminded me of home, of life in meaningful pages that narrate the history of mankind, the conundrum of life and death, and the essence of surviving."

"Between lines of black and words of  meaning, one finds the ethereal meaning of life, the joy of living, the mundane. As distinct as light and shadow, these words help shape how the world sees me, how I see it, and how it affects me. The secret of existence lies in these pages, and I hope to unravel it."

"Books also lead me to an escapist adventure, as I navigate the world of academics and formalities. 

"They add meaning to things that can’t be described by science."

"The meaning of home, or homelessness, creeps in on blue and gray dusky nights, as lights shimmer in the distance. 

"The sky always calls out to me, in reluctant symphonies."

"Days after the campus was hit by a cyclone, we found solace in sun-filled evening, with ourselves, and the best company we could find."

Shot: School Campus, June 9, 2020   

"The remnant memories of home, of bleak gray walls that were once my life, of rooms and peace."

Shot: Home, Srinagar / July 2019

"Home is an endless longing. A longing for revolution.
My life now, my home, in a distant corner of a school hostel. It reeks of memory, and becomes a memory."

"Home is in the loving embrace of a loved one - peace." 

"Home are the people that truly make it home, a manifestation of life, love, peace and hope. Here, a friend."

"The journey back home, the emptiness filled with hope."

"Through a window, the first glimpse of home."

"The last ride home."

My project is titled 'What is home?'. To answer this question, I decided to document one of our family rituals — making gnocchi from scratch.

The following series is a selection of images I shot over the last few weeks of my family making and enjoying this dish on a lazy summer afternoon.

"What really reminds me of home is how simple the ingredients are - the most essential being love."

"These potatoes aren't going to mash themselves!"

"Making the pasta dough is an art in itself as my mom kneads the mixture on a bed of flour."

All the hard work that goes into making gnocchi reaps its reward. In the end, the subject isn't the pasta but the family that enjoys eating a scrumptious lunch.

I couldn’t resist being part of the bonhomie. I’m just making sure that my sister’s plate of gnocchi tastes the same as mine.

"A rainy day in Noida. Noida, June 2020."

"Autumn is not here yet, we can grow in peace."

"Higher than the Burj Khalifa."

"Passionate shadowing."

"May not be the best, but one day I will crush the competition. I am learning how to play the piano."

"A photo of my mother and grandmother performing a Purnima ritual."

"Two lovers far apart, yearning for closeness but unable to achieve it. Lockdown 2020 has made me poetic."

"Capitalism is visible everywhere, even in the roads America produces. Sleek and crack-less A home away from home for me, in Florida - A photo of my uncles neighborhood street."

"This project was shot during CPB’s Teen Photo Academy. Most of these pictures were shot during the lockdown. Home, to me, is a place where I feel warm and safe. 


These pictures are ones that remind me of home, and the rituals that take place in and around home."

"When I am feeling low, I just watch my animals and all my courage returns."

"Butch and Lulu."

"Thunder and Battalion from an animal shelter close to where I live. The shelter rescues horses and cats. My sister enjoys volunteering at the shelter."

"My Father's Garden. He used to sit here every morning until the monsoon started and stopped these days because there are too many mosquitos."

"My Mother's Garden. She's more into potted plants and flowers."

"Shot on an overcast evening."

"Reuse, Reduce, Recycle. This is something my father likes to do, he takes some old furniture/objects and makes new furniture out of them. This table was made from an old bicycle."

"Here’s a self portrait of myself with Lulu. I take her for a walk almost every day."

"This is my mother, she goes for walks every evening. This picture was taken during sunset."

"This is my father. He has a back problem so he cannot walk too much, but he goes on the bicycle along with my mother almost every evening."

"My mom loves growing plants at home, and these are the plants she grows."

"My dad and I are crazy about The Office. It’s something we share, so this poster matters a lot to me."

"Following an old concept of preserving vegetables, we’ve been storing carrots in this container for 17 years."

"Once we moved into our current house, we set up a small bird house. We’ve seen three generations of mynahs live in it so far. Recently, the eggs of a mynah hatched in it. We set up a GoPro to capture videos of the chicks, and saw that there are two chicks!"