'Portraits of Recovery' (Kashmir)

Recovery is a complex phenomenon which is contingent on a confluence of socio-cultural and political factors. Despite the growing importance of recovery narratives in addictions research, the context of substance use recovery in conflict zones (Kashmir) and among the unhoused population (US) remain relatively unexplored. This project unpacks how within the boundaries of a photographic frame recovery emerges as a contested and divergent space for moral agency and conflict. By combining combining documentary photography with photovoice and archival research, I prioritize experiential knowledge of the participants’ understanding of addiction, recovery and distress. Through these collaborative ethnographic portraits I delve deeper into what it means to 'live with recovery' from substance use in Kashmir.