After a tragedy, shades of blue, red and green. A woman washing another’s feet. A tiger. Women gossiping. Coloured boats. Parrots perched on temple towers. A rural musician playing his shehnai. School kids. Florists…What do all these images have in common?
These are a set of photographs on display for the cause of Uttarakhand, devastated by flashfloods recently.
All profits accruing from the exhibition titled “A Brand New Day – Rebuilding Uttarakhand” will directly go to Goonj, which has undertaken a major relief operation in the affected areas. The exhibition has been curated by Camera Unlimited, an enterprise by a passionate photographer named Ravi Dhingra. This venture started a few years ago with the objective of not only providing photographers with a platform to showcase their talent but also to allow people and amateur photographers to pursue their interest in this field. It organises free walks every Sunday for intrepid photography enthusiasts. It allows people to use any camera they wish to.
“Even mobile cameras”, says Ravi Dhingra.
With a host of photographers participating in it like Anamitra Chakladar, Angad S. Malhotra, Ahmed Firoz, Ambika Sethi, Augustus Lightwriter, Atanu Dey, and many more, the exhibition becomes a veritable affair. Images of different styles, schools and themes form the collection. The main exhibition is preceded by black and white shots of performers getting ready backstage. Then there are wildlife photographs, showing the big felines and pachyderms of our lands. There are photographs of innocent, blissful kid monks enjoying themselves at monasteries. Elsewhere Sufi mystics have been captured dancing in pale blue light. Most of the work is rooted in India except a few images that have been made in Italy and Germany. Among all these creative frames is a lone oil painting depicting falling leaves and the sun in yellow and green hues.
(The exhibition is on at Indian August, Noida Sector-18, till August 5)
