Bunga Raya Imagine Photographer (Female Photographers for Peace Group) started as hobby but turned out to be the creator of a healing environment for the community.
An interesting activity occurred at Raman Hospital, Yala, on 15-19 June, the period before and the first day of Ramadan, the Islamic fasting month: the Hospital Quality Expo. Despite its plain name, it was an attempt to create a proper atmosphere for healing for those who were harmed physically and mentally.
The expo held many contests from hospital staff just like an ordinary exhibition. For example, work system quality contest, impressive essay contest, and an innovation contest for things such as a battery charger for patient oxygen indicators, an organic fertilizer, a dish washing liquid, etc.
In addition to these regular activities, one outstanding activity was the Photo Voice Contest which invited hospital workers to shoot photographs and send them in. Raman Hospital revived this activity after dropping it for many years. The hospital wanted its staff to produce quality work that could also be submitted to other contests.
The Photo Voice Contest was organized by Bunga Raya Imagine Photographer, a group of female photographers, most of whom work at the hospital.
There are questions about the suitability of being both photographers and hospital workers. And how did those photos create a healing environment?
(From left to right) Saini Arma-sare, Raman Hospital audiovisual officer - Furiya Banhawan, Raman Hospital nurse and Head of Bunga Raya Imagine Photographer - Nisafiyah Maming, Raman hospital audiovisual officer.
Furiya Benhawan, a Raman Hospital nurse and head of Bunga Raya Imagine Photographer replied that being a photographer is a hobby. Moreover, some photos can heal the hearts of patients, their relatives and hospital staff.
Furiya said many photos from her group were shown in staff offices and places where people who come to the hospital can see them. The photos help staff relax from the stresses of their work.
“What is important is that some photos remind us to work harder. Taking photos or being with photos frequently will make people more service-minded and calmer. Photos also make us work more thoroughly because we will have more ideas after examining the photos.”
The photos become very valuable when we learn what the photographers wanted to express through their photos. Some photos look ordinary, such as a photo of two nurses working on a patient’s legs. It seems like a nurse’s everyday job, nothing special.
But the photographer explained that the nurses were taking care of the owner of the legs for the last time before sending them to where they came from.
“Those nurses were cleaning up a dead body that was hit by a bomb.” She then emphasized that the photo contest will create public-mindedness in photographers, narrators and listeners.
Furiya showed the winner of the first prize in this contest. It is called “A Psychiatric Patient’s Happiness”. The photo expressed the joyful smiles of the patients, doctors and nurses. It is certain that people, especially patients, will feel at ease just looking at it. Creating a comfortable healing environment is something the hospital is hardly concerned about so they came up with this project.
Nisafiyah Maming, a Raman Hospital audiovisual officer and the one who took “A Psychiatry Patient’s Happiness” said that the photo won the first prize because everybody was very happy when they looked at the photo. She said that the patient in the photo was very happy as well because he was able to raise a goat until it gave birth. If the goat died, the emotion he expressed would be different.
Some photos need some censorship especially those that clearly show the patient’s face. It is against hospital rules and an abuse of patient rights. Hospital staff who publish photos must be very careful and concerned about feedback from their audiences, said Furiya.
However, more workers will want to send their photographs to the contest next year because many of them regretted not participating in the contest this year. They were shy because they took photos with their cell phones, which are in fact acceptable; many submitted cell phone camera photos.
The starting point of Bunga Raya Imagine Photographer
Furiya said that it started from her hobby. She usually took photos to relax. She also subscribed to many local photographers’ Facebook pages in 2013 and she found out that local photographers in the three southern border provinces were organizing Photo Peace of South (PPS), so she wanted to join.
“I worked in psychiatry and I had an idea that photographs could heal people so I requested to join the group. At that time I was the only woman in the group so I brought more of my women friends along. After that, we consistently took part in the PPS and met more female photographers,” said Furiya.
Furiya continued that many women love photography but they do not have proper cameras so they were afraid to join the PPS. She understood their feeling so she wanted to organize a female photography group where proper cameras are not necessary. So she consulted many people in the southern border photographers’ network like Baefu-attae-or (Piyasak Ursab or Boy) until she successfully organized a female photographer group.
“At that time we did not have any idea about the name of our group so we looked at current trends. We came up with word ‘peace’ so we named our group ‘Female Photographers for Peace’. We also need a symbol; at that time the Chinese Rose was shared a lot on Facebook so we added one more English name as ‘Bunga Raya Imagine Photographer’ and use a Chinese Rose as our group’s symbol as it is the best symbol to express peace.”
We have eight main members. We also welcome others who are not hospital staff.
Bunga Raya Imagine Photographer usually carries out activities with the southern border photographers’ network and the PPS. For example, they have organized a booth on the southern border alternative media day and shown photos at the central mosque in Pattani, about the way of life during last year’s Ramadan.
The latest activity was a photo exhibition in Thank you Patani Yateem at Talo-sameelae beach, Yaring District, Pattani, last August.
The group also takes photography trips. The latest was to the Happiness Returning Festival at Saiburi. The group went to take photos of the abandoned Christian Hospital, and taught hospital staff and local health supporters about photography.
Bunga Raya Imagine Photographer is truly a flower that blooms peace and creates a healing environment.
Follow the work of Bunga Raya Imagine Photographer at Bunga Raya Imagine Photographer.
The story was translated into English by Yiamyut Sutthichaya
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