Freeze frame moments

BUSINESS CLASS

Works of Indian photographers were a big draw at a recent exhibition.

There has been a tremendous interest in photography the world over, especially, in the last decade. Photographs are immensely collectible and are beginning to edge their way on the walls alongside paintings.

Many well known artists like Andreas Gurskey, Nan Goldin, Cindy Sherman and Thomas Ruff have been experimenting with the medium producing avante garde photography and pushing the medium's boundaries.

Well known painters such as Chuck Close and George and Gerhard Richter who have been using photography in their own art have seen interest in their works surge.

Even though photographs have been around since the mid 19th century, their usage, format, presentation, content and technology have continued to change rapidly.

Last week, People For Animals "" a charity founded by Maneka Gandhi, held, probably, the largest ever survey exhibition of Indian photography entitled "The incredible moment" in Delhi, showcasing the works of over 200 photographers from across the country.

With art prices scaling new heights, photography is now being pitched as the new vehicle.

Photography came to India soon after it was discovered and became firmly rooted by the 1850s . Photography clubs became fashionable all over the country and the golden era of the amateur photographer began.

Photographers such as Bourne & Shepherd, Henry Pigout, Thomas Biggs and Linnaeus Tripe continued to document colonial India and produced works that were technically at par with the best in the world.

Indian photographers like Lala Deen Dayal and Narayan Dajee also gained tremendous recognition for their work. However, what the camera saw during this period was how the British saw, thought and felt about India.

By the turn of the century, photographs were being reproduced in mainstream newspapers and the subject matter changed radically to allow nationalistic flavour.

The preamble to Partition attracted some of the best western photographers such as Margret Bourke-White and Henri Cartier Bresson to visit India and their interactions with Indian photographers like Sunil Janah saw a shift in how the world saw India.

The recent exhibition showed the works of some of the most important photographers that have been working consistently post independence.

From pioneers such as S Paul and Raghu Rai to artists such as Jyoti Bhatt, the well known Pamela Singh, Ketaki Seth and Dayanita Singh, to younger photographers like Anita Khemkha and Anay Mann, the exhibition showcased a wide variety of pictures taken across ages and genres.

Even though the exhibition didn't claim to have a curatorial focus, it attracted a lot of attention as the works, like in all People for Animal exhibitions, were priced way below their fair market value.

The show attracted 5,000 people on the first day and ended up selling 1,100 of the 2,400 image. I was not able to make it for the opening and unfortunately could not make any money in black and white or in colour but People for Animals netted a whopping Rs 1.1 crore!

I'm not sure about the collectors, but for the charity it was certainly "an incredible moment".