Anil Nathan has observed the cityscape growing outwards and skywards and it prompted him to think in terms of interior designing and the scope photography holds in this regard. As more and more walls are coming up to accommodate the pertinent needs of an increasingly urbanised capital city, he hopes that more photographers channel their skill into taking snapshots eligible to be framed and used as interior décor, and the culture of considering only paintings for this purpose changes.
“Now technology is so advanced that you can alter photographs and frame and reformat them in any way,” said Mr. Nathan, who, along with his wife Parvathy Nathan, has organised a three-day exhibition titled ‘Nathan’s Eye’ at the Museum Auditorium. Seventy photographs, mostly by Mr. Nathan, are on display.
While no set theme has been adhered to by the amateur shutterbug, the exhibits include a range of images that have captured the maze of slums blanketing a mass of Mumbai’s landscape and those deemed by Mr. Nathan as “close to his heart” – pictures taken at the remote island of Bitra, part of the Lakshadweep archipelago.
“You’ll be hard-pressed to find clear photographs anywhere, even online, of this island,” he said, waving to a line of photos that showcased the pristine seascapes of Bitra, an untouched paradise where one can set foot in only with special permission.
The emptiness and clean blue and white hues that fill the frames of the Lakshadweep photos stand as a sharp contrast to the pictures of Dharavi shot from air and those of a shantytown that cloaks the slope of a hill near Andheri in Mumbai.
“If you examine this shot, you can actually see that this slope includes an entire township,” said Mr. Nathan, indicating the box-shaped homes set together, marked by a temple in between and little stores all of which comprise this close-set system.
Other standouts of the exhibition include photographs taken in Switzerland and Paris.
While a mention of the Eiffel Tower conjures an image of a tapering structure, the picture in Mr. Nathan’s collection is one that has been labelled an ‘insider’s view,’ for it was taken from right underneath the tower, resulting in a picture of the twists and turns of metal bars that together form the cultural icon.
