Long shadows and beautiful use of the evening and morning light are the highlights of French Orientalist photographer and painter Georges Gasté’s works on display at the Galerie Romain Rolland, Alliance France.
“The mystical land of the Indies” drew him to the country in 1905 where he settled on the banks of the Yamuna in Agra along the Taj Mahal. He was seduced by the ‘Muslim India’, which inspired his paintings and photography. His photos on display at the exhibition show the streets of Agra and various monuments of the city.
He has even photographed a woman at the Qutab Minar in his trademark style. He has explored the streets surrounding Mughal buildings to catch crowds at the market and street performers giving a glimpse into the vibrancy of the market in the early 20 Century.
After travelling to Venice and Constantinople in 1908, the artist returned to India and chose to settle in Madurai and captured the various facets of Hinduism in the Tamil speaking region. He spent six months inside the temples of Madurai to create several paintings that are now on display at museums in France. He also trained many students at his workshops in Madurai.
His photographs displayed in a chronological order at the exhibition trace his journey from the early days in Agra photographing Muslim architecture to his time spent in Madurai. They provide a glimpse into the life on the Indian streets in the early 1900s and so are very different from the works of photographers during that period, who mostly concentrated on photographing royalty and documenting events during the British rule.
Gasté passed away in his Indian workshop in 1910. A documentary on his life is also being screened at the gallery.
The exhibition is on till December 23.
