A 47-year-old journalist, who battled the fourth stage of lung cancer, will put up a photography exhibition in Jharkhand's Ranchi to showcase the feelings of cancer survivors from across the country.

The three-day photo exhibition, named Cancer Wala Camera, will be held at Ranchi Press Club from April 16 to 18.

“The Cancer Wala Camera is not an ordinary photo exhibition. It will be an expression of the feelings of lakhs of cancer patients and it aims to give courage to cancer survivors by saying that even if life is at stake, we should not reduce our activism and instead move forward with a positive approach. Even small steps ultimately lead to the destination. It is not necessary that all have the status to reach destinations with big steps,” said Ravi Prakash, who is associated with the BBC and was diagnosed with lung cancer in January 2021.

Prakash is now undergoing palliative treatment in Ranchi after getting treatment done from Tata Memorial Hospital in Mumbai. “I have tried to collect photographs of patients undergoing cancer treatment with a positive approach from various parts of the country. This was done during my treatment. The photography exhibition is also a way of spreading awareness about cancer. All the photographs have been clicked by me,” said the Ranchi-based journalist.

“During the exhibition, interested people will be able to buy photographs and the proceedings will go for treatment of cancer patients, while 10 per cent of the money earned from the exhibition will go to the corpus fund of Ranchi Press Club for treatment of journalists suffering from cancer,” said Prakash.

Prakash has also given detailed information about this in his social media post which has been retweeted by several senior journalists of the state and other parts of the country.

“I have already spent over Rs 26 lakh for the treatment. I want to do my bit for other cancer survivors,” said Prakash, who also plans to host a similar photo exhibition in Calcutta and then in Mumbai.

“Hosting such photo exhibitions also requires a lot of money and we are looking for sponsors who can at least share the cost. In Ranchi itself, despite the support of the Ranchi Press Club, I am spending close to Rs 1.25 lakh for the exhibition,” added Prakash.