HOMAI VYARAWALA: India’s first woman photojournalist

In a setting ridden by deep rooted antiquated gendered social evils integral to patriarchy, a significant breakthrough was the very slow growth of formal education for women under the Raj which marked the commencement of their long arduous journey towards empowerment besides making them harbingers of change. In the Bombay Presidency, the Parsi community played a significant role in being and bringing about this change. Homai Vyarawala (1913-2012), a Parsi, and India’s first woman photo journalist is an impressive example of this change wherein she makes a space for herself in the male dominated public domain in the colonial era. This paper is an attempt at assessing her work and personality in the historical context of her times and its challenges.