Blowing Up Bombay - one street at a time
With the growing economy, there seems to be a growing angst and also a growing confidence amongst the youth of India to express their world in their own unique ways. There are plenty of underground art movements mushrooming all across India which address these concerns . So what if the builders and governments are busy building freeways and filling potholes just like business, even art happens in India not because, but inspite of the state.
BlowUp Bombay was a one of a kind street exhibition of photography, organized by a duo which goes by the name BLINDBOYS. The movement, they say, started as a sort of a rebellion against the concrete and glass development. The movement brings together photographers who exhibit their works on some appointed streets in a corner of the city. After hosting events in Bangalore, Paris and Delhi their latest event was held in Bombay. I had been looking for opportunities for public display of my latest series ( www.puneetrakheja.com/gallery/ntnb ) but the task seemed daunting. Needless to say i jumped at this opportunity.
It was anything but casual for me. It was rather a steep learning curve.
You see, i’ve come come to learn photography as a very specific art. As you may notice from my images, i spend a good amount of time deciding the colors and compositions and months wondering about the permutation and combination of all the possibilities. And then for this event i had to give up all control before it takes on its life into the world. The colors were wrong, the highlights too bright, the shadows too dark, the paper crumpled and the details all blurry.
I did lose a breath over all this, but soon realized i was dancing to the wrong tune. It was indeed time to let go and trust the images to work its magic through all the layers of imperfection. And that was my lesson i needed to learn from this event. The fun started from the process of installing the photographs itself. I had about 80 prints, a bunch of them missing. and a decent stretch of a wall. The prints were all double-taped for me ( thanks guys!). So, all i needed was to get up there and paste them on the wall. Easier said than done. With no ladder, i borrowed a rickety stool, from someone living nearby, which gave me some height, but some good falls too! Finally found some discarded furniture and awesome volunteers to help me prepare my wall in time. As even i was putting up the images, a few drunkards sitting around the corner started arguing as to the merit of putting up pictures. They wondered if we were showing the foreigners the ‘dirty India’ and making money off it. nobody bothered them, but those guys did go around looking at all the pictures and in their drunkard state offering their unique critics. Not your typical gallery crowd, I say. Then there were those kids, who for reasons unknown to any of us, decided to totally own the event. They would help sort images, put them up, gaurd them, and even they took time to explore the visuals themselves. The audience ranged from curious people walking past, to bloggers, photo enthusiasts, designers or couples looking to do something fun on the weekend.
In a true Indian spirit, the work cannot be left untouched by the imperfections in the world. So there were nails piercing the prints, and dirty finger prints giving new interpretations to the images themselves. The way images react to the surrounding crumbling walls or the leaves gave them new meaning. And often a perfect home. I was just enjoying this whole experience, when i realized that as the part of the deal, visitors can actually take the prints from the wall towards the end of the exhibition. With a troubled soul, but a good heart i was all game. Gradually i saw a few prints disappearing. Young students and enthusiasts, so grateful for being able to carry away those moments they seem to have connected with.
It was then i started re-evaluating the meaning of photography for myself. Does photography really belong to those galleries or those high gloss magazines only? What about the average Bhaiyya? Can photography not reach out to him with the same contemplative force? Pictures of far away places, that he may never travel to, pictures of people he may never meet but can still peek into their eyes… Pictures of food he may not eat, but can imagine its exotic tastes. If good photography has to have any meaning in our world over-saturated with DSLR’s, it has to break free and demand attention from people too busy to dream. There is room for those glossy magazine and international galleries, but we must not forget the 95% who have no access to that whatsoever.
With those thoughts running in my head, i saw the day fading. Many of my prints were still on the wall, as i decided to walk away.
In our mad rush for development and being an economic power, lest we forget that art is not just a decorative new lamp, or a functional piece of furniture, but a personal spiritual quest we must all never let go, for its what makes life worth living, the art of life, that is.
I am looking forward to share more of my photography on more walls in more cities. Maybe with Blindboys, maybe, just alone, without any announcement, in a small corner of a random street. A great experience. Thank you, Blindboys.
BlindBoys Website : www.Blindboys.org ( or find them on Facebook )
For my other photography work. goto www.puneetrakheja.com ( if interested, my blog - blog.puneetrakheja.com - will have more updates for more of my antics with such events in the near future)
