Kerala Tourism photo exhibition opens in Ahmedabad: ‘Strong cultural ties’

Planned as a travelling exhibition, Lenscape Kerala will tour several Indian cities over the next two months, including Mumbai, Pune, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad and Kolkata, before concluding in Surat at the end of March. The Ahmedabad edition will remain on view till February 5.

In a message, Kerala’s Tourism Minister P A Mohamed Riyas underlined the significance of the exhibition’s Ahmedabad leg. “Gujarat and Kerala have strong cultural and economic connections, and visitors from the western states constitute a major segment of tourists to the state,” he said.

Featuring photographs produced during a five-day assignment across Kerala in November and December last year, the exhibition brings together images spanning nature, wildlife, heritage, rural and coastal life, architecture, festivals and spirituality. While firmly positioned as a tourism initiative, the project places notable emphasis on artistic latitude, allowing photographers to respond to the state through their own visual sensibilities.

The exhibition has been curated by art critic and curator Uma Nair. It is within the curatorial framework that the photographers were encouraged to retain their individual styles rather than conform to a single visual narrative.

The exhibition features photographs of Aishwarya Sridhar, Amit Pasricha, H Satish, Kounteya Sinha, Manoj Arora, Natasha Kartar Hemrajani, Saibal Das, Saurabh Chatterjee, Shivang Mehta and Umesh Gogna.

Umesh Gogna, who works primarily with landscape, travel and astrophotography, said he deliberately avoided prior research before beginning the assignment.

“If I see other work before shooting, it creates a preconceived idea. I prefer to reach a place, see what connects with me., then take photos,” he said.

He added that the diversity of backgrounds among the photographers shaped the exhibition’s visual character. “Everyone came from a different genre. That’s why the output looks so different. It doesn’t feel like tourism is being sold. Each photographer’s signature is visible.”

(Nishant Bal is an intern at the Ahmedabad office of The Indian Express)