Eye Contact

The journey takes you through the rocky mountains high,snow-capped peaks,city roads dressed with hues of the rain and sun,stone dunes…as Sukh Chandan,“waits to look for what others may have missed and captures something that speaks for itself.” A journey through time and places,the photojournalist has exhibited around 20 photographs that he’s taken over the last four years,not as part of his job,but his passion. “It constantly scares and excites me to know the possibilities that the camera opens up for,” Chandan writes in the catalogue,as peering through the viewfinder has taught him the virtue of patience. The photographer describes his fourth solo show as a break from routine of taking pictures in a day’s work,“this provides me breathing space,a chance to sit back,stare and I have not restricted the exhibition to a theme,for you tend to then bind the work.”

So,his escapades take you to Rajasthan,Siachen Glacier,Punjab,Haryana,Himachal,Disket and of course,the beautiful Chandigarh. For all to see,there’s a play of light and shade,colour contrasts,ordinary pictures treated to create new contours and shades. The morning rays on a foggy morning,with feeble sunlight sheets peeping through a canopy of trees and falling on a rickshaw creates a pretty picture,a walk with the clouds on the Ridge in Shimla and the unique green shades of the MC Building here are both attractive. Dunes of sand dust near Disket,one that resemble the desert dunes arrest the eye,“just 40 kms from this place is snow and a temperature of minus 20,” Chandan clicks beds of ‘untroubled snow’ alongside. A picture of contrasts — dark,barren mountains standing next to snow-capped ones near Leh. A blaze of orange as the sun drops down,dance in the rain,where there’s a play of red and black on a wet road in Chandigarh,it’s an absorbing range. The Open Hand welcomes you to the show,while Armenian dancers strike a pose…”Always the magic eyes for me,I strive to find how to lock up fleeting realty before it’s too late,’’ sums up Chandan.

The exhibition is on at The Alliance Francaise,Sector 36,till September 24.