Pink Elephant: Foreign Artist Paints Animal For Jaipur Photoshoot, Faces Massive Backlash As Pics Go Viral

Jaipur: A foreign travelling art photographer named Julia Buruleva is facing immense backlash after pictures from her Jaipur photoshoot went viral on social media. Outrageous images taken by her showed a model posing while sitting on an elephant painted in bright pink colour, which raised concerns over exploitation of animals.

The photoshoot took place at an abandoned temple of Lord Ganesha. Julia Buruleva said it was the “perfect” location since Lord Ganesha is the "elephant-headed god himself".

Sharing a video showing locals painting the elephant, the photographer wrote on Instagram, “It was probably worth coming to India just for this shoot. I spent 6 weeks in Jaipur -after the first week, when my brain was already overloaded with all the colors and images of the city, this idea appeared: a pink elephant against classic Rajasthani gates.”

Calling elephants practically the “main symbol of Rajasthan”, she said, “Elephants are everywhere there - streets, ornaments, architecture…I just couldn’t pass by without including one.”

The photographer added, “Elephants are often decorated for festivals and celebrations -locals paint them in all sorts of colors. I decided on one solid bright pink elephant, the most popular color in Rajasthan. Preparation was intense. I visited several elephant farms to find people willing to cooperate. At the farm with the most reasonable manager, I went four times - to show I was serious.

Julia Buruleva revealed that finding a model for the photoshoot was not easy. “In India’s conservative community, finding someone willing to be half-naked and painted pink was tricky. I messaged dozens of models - almost nobody agreed. Even those who loved the idea said, “My family won’t understand.” Then I met @yes_yes_we - truly brave and bold.”

Massive Backlash

Photographer Chirag Wakasakar criticised Buruleva for the photoshoot, saying, “Organizations…have been raising alarm against exploitation of Elephants at tourist traps like Jaipur for a while now and it is exactly for reasons like these where live a life of servitude, psychological trauma, endure long hours of walking up steep inclines on hard tarmac carrying heavy wooden howdahs and tourists. There have been documented cases of elephants suffering psychological distress.”

He added, “Besides that as a Schedule I protected species, commercial photography like this requires multiple clearances from Animal Welfare Board of India, state forest departments etc that cannot be bypassed by paying the “owner”. You are essentially risking not just blacklisting of your tourist visa but also a hefty fine and possibly jail time in India.”

A netizen said, “I am not understanding how this is acceptable, I mean what is wrong with your imagination!!! Please be respectful towards animals. They are LIVING BEINGS and not your LIVE PROPS TO PLAY WITH.”

'Used Organic Paint'

The photographer has claimed that she organic paint to colour the animal. “For anyone worried about the elephant - we used organic, locally-made paint, the same kind locals use for festivals so it was absolutely safe for the animal,” she wrote on Instagram.

A social media user rejected that using organic paint on the animal is acceptable. She said, “Using organic colours doesn’t justify the fact that you had to subject an animal to being entirely painted on their body for your art. Elephants have very porous skin and are highly sensitive . As an artist surely you could find / imagine / curate better imagery without having to subject an animal to hours to make up for the benefit of your portfolio or photograph them without having them have extensive MU . You could have easily done this in AI.”

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