: It is not often you meet a photographer who prefers to follow the old school in the era of digital photography and photo editing. Sumit Basu’s exhibition titled ‘Here and Now’ is a throwback to the days of developing a negative in a dark room to produce black and white images.
His exhibition is a collection of images shot over the last few years that have been put together keeping in mind a central theme that explores the relationship between man and his relationship with the environment.
The striking feature about Basu’s compositions is that they are devoid of any human form. This is despite the fact that the theme is centred on humans.
Basu manages to bring this theme to life by capturing the impact man has on the surroundings by capturing abandoned office spaces, buildings, inside of homes, and other spaces that show signs of a lot of human activity but are deserted at present.
He has an eye for geometry and plays with shadows, beams of light and the arrangement of objects to make frames stand out in his black and white image due to the stark contrast.
Basu feels that he has tried to put together images that get people to think and read between the lines of every photograph. He feels that thanks to press photography that tells a story directly, appreciation for photography that goes beyond the apparent and tells a story that has many layers is dying. Decorative is nice, says Basu but you need to feel the impact of the photograph long after having viewed it.
The exhibition is on at the Art Gallery, India International Centre till April 7.
