It was an exhibition of varying proportions, of insects, birds and majestic beasts in their natural habitat. Where The Wild Things Are could not be more appropriately named as photographers Aditya Singh, Ganesh Shankar, Jayanth Sharma and Kalyan Varma have travelled far and wide for the sake of their passion – wildlife photography. Gallery Five Forty Five located in a quiet lane, far enough from the madding crowd, welcomes you into a world of charging elephants and wild cats, macaws in flight and the solitary polar bear in a sea of disintegrating ice.
Photographer Jayanth Sharma won the Sanctuary Asia Wildlife Photographer Of The Year in 2007 for his silhouette of a charging elephant, a picture he shot one summer in Kabini. Jayanth is matter of fact when he talks. Almost as if having framed that picture of the elephant or the one of a polar bear he shot when he was in the Arctic was as simple as writing about it. “Two things – first, anticipation. In the picture of the charging elephant I was prepared; I had set up the camera and had my settings ready, you need to be ready for your shot. And reflex action. In the moment the frame comes together you act on reflex and capture it,” he says
Aditya Singh, a photographer who is based out of Ranthambore has a special relationship with the jungle cat. His images of them in all their glorious moments and intimate ones seem orchestrated, as if they planned to preen, pose and pounce for his benefit.
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In the field, Aditya says that he stares through the view finder for hours, trying to understand what touches his soul and for what reason, “I don't want my works to be completely open for interpretation, and yet, at the same time, not be completely closed too. I would love to leave a bit of room for my images to grow in the minds of the viewers,” says the photographer.
Kalyan Varma’s biography describes him as a man who is hard to find and pin down, but his pictures speak in his absence. He says that half the fun is in searching and spotting the wildlife. And when you do see the wildlife, you have just enough time to take a sharp, well-exposed photograph. It was his stint in Africa when he saw the grasslands stretching to the horizon that his perspective changed. For a change, one could think about the light, the composition, the sky, background and position to shoot wildlife.
Nature photographer Ganesh Shankar focuses not on documentation but on creativity, art and expression of nature, “I travel around the country visiting various sanctuaries and wildlife reserves trying to find something unique and abstract,” he says. “I don't mind getting up at 3 a.m. everyday for weeks to get that one unique perspective of the nature.”
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“Knowledge and understanding of wildlife, passion and love for nature,” says Jayanth Sharma for those who might consider wildlife photography their calling. “It is very important to understand the fine line between excitement and danger; never force the moment.”
Where The Wild Things Are will be on till October 26 at Gallery Five Four Five, 545, 6th Main, 4th Cross, Indiranagar. For details contact 9886050563/ 9886117375.