New Delhi – Veteran photojournalist Shipra Das has been honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the National Photography Awards, given by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.Her photo book The Light Within, A Different Vision of Life is the culmination of a 12 year long project. When Shipra Das decided to create a book that would depict the lives of the blind, she didn’t want it to inspire the usual mix of sympathy and pity. Shipra wanted it to create a sense of awe and empathy for how beautifully the blind have been integrated into society.The veteran photojournalist has used his camera lens over the course of 12 years of his project to help the visually impaired see them as part of our normal world, hoping to change our attitudes toward them. As noted poet Gulzar says in the foreword to the book, “They are surrounded by darkness outside but there is a light inside them.”