Rajan Zaveri: Media that Makes a Difference
Rajan Zaveri is an Australian-British multimedia producer based in New Delhi. As cofounder of HELM Social Design Studio, his primary role is planning and directing projects that promote human rights and access to justice.
As a teenager, Rajan’s passion for photography led him to a degree in documentary photography from the University of Wales. After graduation, Rajan saw that the journalism industry was changing rapidly and decided to take night classes to expand his digital journalism toolbox. His constant pursuit to diversify his skill set is reflected in his work which has expanded beyond photography to video, audio, interactive, 360 video and virtual reality. A few of his recent projects include telling the story of tribal tea garden workers trapped in generations of plantation servitude, Nepalese children whose school suffered earthquake damage, and women forcibly resettled in remote slums outside of Delhi.
Defining the Moment
Early in his career, he worked with a university friend editing a video on the illegal demolition of a slum in Delhi. Photos and clips from the project were presented to a judge and were part of the actions that led to court order halting the demolition of the slums. It was by seeing the impact that media can have on helping the disenfranchised that led him to move to Delhi to work with NGOs.
Media that Makes a Difference
Whether it’s producing animations to train garment workers or producing 360 VR shedding light on the working conditions of plantation workers, Rajan continues to be motivated by seeing the social impact his work has on communities.
Hope for the Future
Rajan’s project aims to remove the barriers of technology for media makers enabling them to tell more engaging stories. By creating accessible digital tools, he hopes to impact the journalism industry so that storytellers are not limited to a single medium or by the tools they are using.
