I n the age of the selfie, Mumbai-based animator and artist Gitanjali Rao has come up with the ‘wishfie,’ a set of manipulated photograph that shows her with icons of the past. A wishfie is a wish-fulfilling selfie, she explains. With the help of her Sony Experia, her first smart phone, the 43-year-old artist has been clicking herself with some legendary images. So there she is with Che Guevera, cigar firmly in place, while another has her striking a pose with the ethereal Madhubala. In another photograph, she gazes adoringly at Guru Dutt! She has even framed herself in famous paintings such as Vermeer’s ‘Girl with the pearl earring’ and shares a kiss in Klimt’s ‘Kiss’. She has also taken selfies with Phantom (yes, the very same violet costumed, masked Ghost who walks) and with Asterix and Obelix. She is also seen cuddling a Dodo!
She uploaded the album on her Facebook page on April 7 and it went viral in no time.
Gitanjali, an award-winning filmmaker who made headlines in Cannes with her animated work Printed Rainbows , talks about her latest work in an e-mail interview .
How did the ‘wishfie’ come about?
This was one of those spontaneous creative pursuits that I often indulge in, in my free time. Having very recently procured my first smart phone, I decided to explore what makes it so inviting for people. I am someone who shot her first selfie at 43! And sure enough at that age, as an artist, having gazed at a selfie culture from afar, I could not help imagining what would make a selfie worth having; a selfie that others do not have; a selfie that would recreate a moment not from reality but from an imagined wish. So I decided to shoot myself with people that no one can shoot themselves with.
In addition to celebrities, you have also clicked with famous paintings? How did you choose these iconic images? Are they your favourites?
Yes they are just some of the images that have helped mine and several people’s understanding of art and the image over time. More than being my favourite, they are the favourite of a huge crowd of people, an essential selfie phenomenon of choosing to take one’s pictures in popular settings.
How much time does it take for one such photo?
Being an animator, I am a fast worker. On an average, at work, I paint a few dozen images a day so this was easy. Never more than two hours for an image.
What are your thoughts on the selfie?
I know selfies are fun, sometimes liberating, sometimes obsessive, but it is not something I opine for or against. Instead I observe, make it intrinsic and then try to evolve it into a form. We cannot deny selfies are a new form of democratic expression and therefore lends to art.
Who else would you like to click with?
I have let myself decide this day by day. To follow the selfie ritual, it is not always pre-meditated. So I am following that stream. Unlike a controlled project, I have let myself go with the flow and the people, paintings, characters come to me. After ‘people that are impossible to be with’, I am now toying with ‘situations that are impossible to be in’.
You have created a new genre of selfies…
I am still overwhelmed by the response and can hardly claim to have created a new genre. I follow my creative instincts as I have always done. People catch on to its innovation and seem to come to terms with their own ideas and opinions of the selfie-obsessed generation. That’s my work as an artist. Make the audience question, not give them answers.
Do you have someone to help you with make-up and costume?
No. What I do is pretty simple, This just needs my regular makeup kit of one lipstick, liner, kajal and my regular wardrobe of saris and essentials. After that it’s Photoshop and Corel painter that does the trick!
How did you come up with the name Wishfies?
I didn’t! A friend on Facebook, Premchand, a mediaperson, suggested it and I used it! This has been a rather interactive project over time. The enthusiasm of friends has egged it on to its different level.
What do you plan to do with this collection?
Oh! I never have plans with my ‘passion projects.’ I will see where it goes and where it takes me. The free flow is the best part of such work.
Clicked!
Mexican painter Frida Kahlo, artist Amrita Shergill, actress Smita Patil, German dancer and choreographer Pina Bausch, film actor Marcello Mastroianni, feminist and author Simone De Beauvoir, filmmaker Tarkovsky, Marc Chagal’s painting ‘Wedding’.
(Check out her Facebook page/gitanjali.rao.161 for more wishfies of the artistic kind)
