For a vast majority of photographers, their first tryst with the medium has often been on the streets. The unpredictable canvas that a public space provides has become a muse of image-makers since time immemorial. Henri Cartier-Bresson’s multiple ‘decisive moments,’ Alex Webb’s strong use of colour and light on the streets, or Vivian Maier capturing her own shadow in a busy frame, are all examples of how photographer’s embraced the scene unfolding in front of them. For computer engineer/blogger/and street photographer, Anil Purohit, this very combination of chance encounters, and artist’s intention, drew him towards street photography. In his new show, Transitions: Moments in Crossing, the artist exhibits over 50 photographs made over five years.
Originally from Goa, Purohit’s move to Mumbai 15 years ago, brought about a newfound love for the medium. The change in pace, and the constant activity took time to settle into, but was exciting nonetheless. Like he writes on his blog, Windy Skies, “Goa will lend you space to be yourself. Mumbai will lend you space that’s left over after everyone has had their share of it.” In an endlessly moving city, the joy of making even three-four stills after shooting at least a hundred, is what keeps the photographer going.
“My earliest interaction with photography was browsing through the photo-stories in Life magazine, and newspapers. But I think it was my visit to Raghu Rai’s exhibition at NGMA, that left a lasting impression,” Purohit explains. He calls his collection, “moments caught in transit,” where there’s an inclusion of an interesting dynamic between subjects, use of geometry, or a minute of stillness in the midst of chaos.
Purohit says that he’s always ‘switched-on,’ waiting for a conversation to unravel. Sometimes it’s not so much about the immediate scene in front of him, but a dance with luck. Like in his photograph of a kite shaped like a bird, drifting through the sky accompanied by a real bird, or a pup urinating on a sculpture of a dog that’s also urinating. The quickness that street photography requires has also made the photographer open to shooting with his mobile phone if need be. “Like someone once said, ‘the best camera you have, is the one that’s on you at that moment,’” he elucidates.
A lot of Purohit’s earlier photographs, were made to rejig his memory for his blog that he began in 2004. Whether it was on treks through Tadoba and Corbett, his meanderings around areas in the city like Masjid, and Laburnum Road, or his railway journeys across the Konkan, the photographs served as a diary to revisit emotions that helped with his writing. However, over the years, he hasn’t been able to maintain his duality as a writer-photographer, and has chosen to stick with the visual medium.
The photographer recalls that the switch took place on one of his visits to the Mookambika temple in Karnataka, where he met a sadhu who was originally a soldier in the British-India army. The sadhu recounted his experiences of being posted in Ceylon, and working as a guard in a prison when the Indian National Army was in full-form. The lack of jobs post-independence, forced him to give up worldly possessions, and live a simple life. The experience prompted Purohit to make photographs of the people he encountered on his travels, “it was a way to go beyond the words and stories,” he says.
Purohit is grateful for the switch to the digital medium. The photographer thinks that the 36 frames per-roll, restricted him from making an image from the inception of a scene, right to when it would disperse. Since he’s interested in documenting different chapters in a conversation, or a progression in narrative on the streets, the digital/phone cameras have played a role in allowing him to capture what he sees as the decisive moment. “In that moment, I like to shoot what I’m seeing, whether something materialises out of it or not, it doesn’t matter,” he says laughingly.
Transitions: Moments in Crossing is on going at the Jehangir Art Gallery, Kala Ghoda, until December 19 (all days), 11 a.m. – 7 p.m.
