An car, illuminated from inside by the eerie shades of night, showing signs of the passage of time, abandoned carelessly on a by lane in Kathmandu. This is an image, from a series titled Fragments by Kowshik Vasudevan. Another series called Fierce, features a woman draped in a sari, with a water can heaved up on her shoulder, standing in her kitchen. Her description says, ‘powerlifter’.
These two, very diverse, bodies of work by young and upcoming photographers in the city — Akhila Vijayaraghavan and Kowshik Vasudevan are the topics of discussion at Chennai Photo Biennale’s Spotlight. This initiative, the first session after the month-long festival, aims to bring out upcoming talent in the area of photography. Akhila and Kowshik’s projects were also part of the globally recognised Biennale.
Akhila’s work, Fierce, which seeks to promote body positivity is a “celebration of women who are active.” Her project, inspired by the Nike advertisements of 2005 and the British Sports Initiative advert of 2015, features women (mostly athletes and fitness enthusiasts) and the relationship they share with their bodies. These black and white portraits feature over 30 women in their natural habitat — for instance, a biking enthusiast, who also loves cooking is seen sporting her biking gear, in the kitchen. She is in fact, working on reviving the traditional recipes of her family.
Whereas, the portrait of a rider who has rescued several dogs and is an animal lover, has been shot amid her time with the dogs. But why are all the portraits in black and white? “I don’t really have that much control over the settings in terms of the lighting. But, moreover, I didn’t want people to look at their complexion, or any other colour that might distract them,” she says.
Kowshik’s Fragments, also has an interesting story to tell. During his time at Pathshala South Asian Media Institute, as a student, he would go on a trail looking for old, sometimes dilapidated, abandoned cars. “This was quite a common site in Nepal,” he says adding, “And, somehow they were all left in perfect lighting.” This intrigued him — so much so that he went on to research on the very first car that reached Kathmandu. “The first ever car in Kathmandu was Adolf Hitler’s gift to King Tribhuvan, a 1938 model Mercedes Benz,” he continues.
Be it a stacked pile of rusted motorbikes in front of a police station, or a car close to complete disintegration peeping from the bushes — the series has it all.
As young photographers, who are still familiarising themselves with the scene, how difficult is it to gain recognition for good work? Akhila and Kowshik, unanimously believe that good work will see the light no matter what. “Sometimes, it’s through the contacts you have and the mentors and teachers who guide you,” says Kowshik. While at other times, social media makes it easier to put one’s work out there, says Akhila whose project was initially meant as a social media campaign rather than an artistic initiative.
