A good marker for me that life is getting too frantic is when I suddenly realise that I haven't been on TED for a while...

But today has offered a pause for breath in what is a headlong rush to the holiday break and I found Ryan Lobo's film: Photographing the Hidden Story.

Ryan, a Bangalore-based documentary film-maker, says that he would return from film-shoots with, in addition to the often sensational films, still photographs that he had taken.  He says, "I felt, when I had my photographs, that I was holding on to something true.."  He goes on to claim that photography transcends culture and language and gives a voice to those who are not heard.

In the film (11.21) he tells three stories, each of which are shocking and deeply challenging, but finally concludes:

"Sometimes, focussing on what's heroic, beautiful, dignified, regardless of the context, can help magnify these intangibles three ways, in the protagonist of the story, in the audience, and also in the story teller. And that's the power of story telling.  Focus on what's beautiful, dignified and courageous and it grows."

Ryan Lobo