A documentation of female friendships by 8:30, a collective of nine female photographers from India.

“9 women. 9 photographers. Across India. Curious pictures, curiouser conversations,” reads 8:30’s Instagram bio describing this all-women group of artists that came together during the pandemic. Their need to share experiences of work over zoom calls, grew quite organically into an exchange of ideas and discourse on photography. Even though they came together to work on a zine, their relationships, conversations, and shared experiences led them to culminating nine bodies of work into a book, which is still a work in progress. The group also sold prints to raise a sum of over eight lakhs to provide relief during the worst of the second wave in India.

The photographers recently met in person in Mumbai, to assess and build on their current projects. What unfolded was an intimate journey both professional and personal, in trips to the beach, conversations and of course, the book itself. A rather perfect time for us at Soup to ask the collective to document what female friendships mean to them.

Zahra Amiruddin

“I find that there is an innate psychological and physiological need to nurture, which is heightened in a space of trust, mutual respect, and admiration. For me, that seems to be why sisterhood seems like a warm patch of sun on a cold day, making itself comfortable in a corner of your mind even when least expected.”

MENTY JAMIR

“Honesty and vulnerability in its purest form.”

KIRTHANA DEVDAS

“The first time I left home, I mean properly left home with the urge to see if I could hold my own in the world, I met Padma. Padma would come to cook at our flat everyday. She would make my flatmate a cup of tea in the morning, and I would make hers and mine. She said tea tasted better when someone else made it and I was happy to oblige. Living away was wonderful and lonely in equal measure, and on some days hers was the only other face I saw. We only did it once, but one Sunday I bought prawns and we cooked together- my grandma’s Malabari prawn biriyani recipe, and then we sat together after and ate and spoke. My Hindi improved because of her. On days when we were feeling under the weather, she would boil ginger in hot water and make a concoction that she promised would fix us. The day my flatmate left, about six months before I left Bombay, she invited me home for the first time. She made the timing seem casual knowing fully well that I was struggling with her departure. She cooked up a feast that night- ghee rice with two kinds of chicken and vadas. I don’t know how to end this here, I think I’ve already said more than I needed to. But she was one of my favourite people from that time in my life.”

PAVITHRA RAMANUJAM

“My experience of female friendships/relationships have been about co-existing and sticking together. The space to be yourself while completely having the support of the feminine energy.”

MITHILA JARIWALA

“It is only in the recent few years that I have understood the power and beauty of female friendships, the sisterhood, the solidarity.

Growing up I only had male friends, friends who I thought were my family, friends who I thought were forever, who loved me, and would be there for me. But times got tough, my mental health was impacted and one fine day, not just my best friend and my life partner but all these other childhood friends also disappeared overnight.

But amidst this period, I found some amazing women and reconnected with a few existing friends, who have become my tribe, who have been my rock. I don't know if it is the resonance in our lived experiences or just some serendipitous connection, but we have formed beautiful friendships, those where there is no judgement, those where I am not just able to be myself completely but I am able to discover sides of me that I didn't know existed. Friendships that have allowed me to bloom and grow, friendships where there are no inhibitions, where we can pour our heart, where we have laughed, sobbed, danced, shared our anxieties, banged fists and hollered at the top of our lungs.”

VINITA BARRETTO

Riti Sengupta

DIVYA COWASJI

Adira Thekkuveettil

“It was not until I began to make photographs on film that I realised how fidgety I am, and my natural solution to save my pictures was to carry a tripod with me wherever I went. The hope was that I would now be a steadier photographer and (as a bonus) also be compelled to photograph more – if only to justify my sore arms.

On our last morning in a Dhaka hotel, feeling reluctant to leave but also unsure of what to make of a city so familiar yet distinctly alien to us, my close friend Ira and I fidgeted around my camera. And my tripod was used for the only time in the quiet, steady and calm air of early spring; if only to steady us.”

Girlfriends