It is irrefutable that Chennai’s connection with the arts runs deep. While music, dance and art have been celebrated in public spaces, photography has been largely confined to Facebook pages and the occasional gallery shows. For the first time, the thriving photography community across the south of India will have a platform to showcase their work, interact with their peers and be exposed to different kinds of work from established and up-and-coming photographers.
The Chennai Photo Biennale, to be held in February next year, is jointly organised by Goethe-Institut and city-based photographer Varun Gupta (under his organisation Travelling Lens). “When Helmut Schippert took over as director last year, we had a conversation in which we exchanged several ideas, and this photo biennale was one of it. About three months ago, the idea really took shape and we are moving forward,” says Varun, who is no stranger to such massive projects.
The Kolkata-born photographer picked up a camera when he was eight and hasn’t put it down since. He works on analogue and film photography, and says that it is the chemical process that intrigues him. He moved to Chennai in 2006, and has been a professional photographer since 2007. He was part of the Art Chennai project that covered the Thiruvanmiyur MRTS station in artwork and a photo exhibit on Elliot’s Beach: the responses to both were “fabulous”, and it is this that he is counting on to make the biennale work.
Varun explains that the primary thought process was that they needed to do something in public. “One of the challenges is that there are not many large spaces for the arts here. But in the absence of that, artists will always find interesting ways to break the norms of a gallery display. Part of the biennale is about exploring how photography talks through space, and that’s the challenge for us: to create installations where the pictures and the environment have some interplay.” To this end, there are four main projects and several smaller events that will be held over the course of two weeks (see below).
“It’s also about how you could make people on their way to work or home engage with photography to create awareness,” he explains, adding that sometimes, people can be intimidated by art galleries. “Now, it’s literally on the platform that they are standing on.”
Having recently participated in the Delhi Photography Festival, Varun wants to establish the same kind of environment here, where “you talk, walk and think photography”. With a thriving photography community in the city, this shouldn’t be difficult. His passion for the project is evident, as he says, “Photography has become one of the most democratic avenues for creative expression and has become widely appreciated as an art. But at the same time, the appreciation is dumbed down a little by social media. We want to go beyond regular travel or happy pictures to journalism and documentary photography, long-term projects, conceptual photography and some amount of commercial aspects.”
Apart from the Goethe-Institut team, Varun is currently working with the other members of the biennale: Gayatri Nair (head of biennale secretariat), Shuchi Kapoor (social media) and Justine Depenning (symposium). “We are willing to interact with as many photographers who are willing to invest their time and effort. I want it to be a platform for the city. I hope that over the next few weeks, we will have lots of people coming on board and working with us.” He also extends this invitation to photographers from other southern states. “Not everyone can afford to go to Delhi, but we are close enough for them to come and have a look.”
“And now that we have called it a biennale, we have to do it every two years,” laughs Varun, adding, “But it’s a good thing. The first year is always a sort of experiment; we can grow.”
To volunteer or be a part of Chennai Photo Biennale, mail chennaiphotobiennale@gmail.com. For more details, visit chennaiphotobiennale.com
Frame by Frame
Varun explains the four major projects that will be part of the Chennai Photo Biennale.
Urban Water:
A unique workshop that will bring three mentors for 12 participants, who will put together an installation on urban water and water-related issues in Chennai to be exhibited during the photo biennale. All costs will be covered for the participants, and while some are invited, a few of these scholarships will be on open call submissions. The works that they create will be exhibited along a section of the Cooum River that will be reclaimed for the Cooum River arts festival that’s coming up in January 2016.
Surreal by Nature:
Curated by Yannick Cormier, a French photographer who has lived in Chennai for the last 9 years, the idea behind this is to expose other kinds of photography beyond just beach pictures. It will feature works by 10 world-famous, well-renowned photographers; photos that will make you stop and think. It is not obvious: sometimes there will be a story, at other times it is visual language. This we want to be displayed in a public park, but the venue is yet to be decided.
Delhi Photo Festival:
A curated selection of 25 photographers from the shows based on the theme ‘Aspire’. The photos have been selected keeping in mind limitations of space at the venue, and are all linked by the notion of identity. This will be on during the photo biennale at Lalit Kala Akademi.
Photo intervention at the Station:
This is a public participation project where photographers from around India will be able to submit images from Chennai. The best images will be selected and displayed in public spaces.
Others:
Artist talks by photographers, including Pablo Bartholomew; symposiums to create engaging conversations on topics like ethics in the age of Instagram and intellectual property rights of photographers; curated projections every evening, an opportunity to show work that we can’t show in print due to limitations of budget and space.
