At 5pm last Saturday, Roastery Coffee House boasted a very different kind of buzz; it was the excitement for its first exhibition featuring the works of Masood Hussain, who’s known around town for his eye-opening captures of wildlife around India.
The name of the exhibition, ‘Meraki’, is derived from an illustrious Greek term which is used to encompass a project accomplished with complete passion and enthusiasm — and the way Masood approaches his work and life is no different.
The photographer holds a the distinction AFIAP (Artist, International Federation of Photographic Art, France), and was recently awarded the Natural Capital Award last year.
Notes of sentimentality
Enviable prints of the collection include those of a white-throated kingfisher, a crested hawk eagle, a lounging tiger and a poised Indian darter. But the one that steals the show and has probably the most sentimentality is one of a peacock in flight titled ‘Colours of Freedom.’
Masood shares that as a student, his PP2 teacher Nooshi Ahsan asked him to draw a peacock, a drawing which he has kept close to him to this day. The photograph of the peacock in the exhibition feels very ‘full-circle’ for him, especially with the presence of his teachers (from HPS) at the event.
Such teachers included his Class 4 teacher Lulu John, his Class 7 teacher Gowri Sircar and his music teacher Dennis Powell who shaped his musical talent around the grand piano — people who were pivotal in the artistic turning points of his career.
Plus the informal setting of Roastery further engages a more natural and organic conversation starter around art itself. “Setting my first solo exhibition at a coffee house is a great way for people who come in spontaneously to come across my work,” he explains.
‘Transformative power of art’
Part of the proceeds go to a special needs school for children, showcasing art can be a platform for sharing. “I once auctioned a photograph of mine online,” he recalls, “for a friend who had a bone marrow illness and needed a transplant. The photograph, in less than 24 hours, sold for ₹55,000 and that really helped me see the transformative power of art.”
The prints are ideal sizes for one’s home or workspace and Masood, who collaborated with Ismail Shariff on the prints, did not compromise at all when it came to print quality. “We wanted to make these affordable, but you’ll see the prints I’ve chosen show not the rarity of wildlife but the beauty and artistic value of it.”
In fact, on the first day of the exhibition six prints out of the 22 put up were sold, which delighted Masood but to him, it’s the purchases made by people who don’t know of him or his work that make him extremely happy, adding, “That’s when I know the artwork has won them over.”
