The French Connection

“He was asked to consider a form of ‘artistic darkness’ in the photographs by the Mother (Sri Aurobindo’s close spiritual collaborator),” says Rahaab Allana,curator,Alkazi Foundation for the Arts,who has made some of Bresson’s photographs taken at the ashram public for the first time. These comprise the exhibition “Mastering the Lens Before and After Cartier-Bresson in Pondicherry”. On at Alliance Francaise,this traces the development of photography in Puducherry spanning the late 19th and early 20th century. “We look at an evolution — from the work of European travellers in the 19th century to Bresson’s work and its impact on local photographers such as Tara Jauhar and Venkatesh Shirodkar. The annual photography festival,Salon Festival,which was run by the ashram for almost 25 years,also forms a crucial part of the journey,” notes Allana. He glances at the sepia-toned pages of Bresson’s album,Sri Aurobindo and His Ashram. Purchased by his grandfather Ebrahim Alkazi,founder of Alkazi Foundation,at an auction in London in the ’90s,this is one of the 50 copies published by the ashram after it procured negatives of Bresson’s photographs for 3,000 US dollars. “When some of these photographs were published,the accompanying article was thought to have upset the Mother and she decided to purchase the photographs,” says Allana. Through the display,he hopes to shares the unseen moments — there is Sri Aurobindo seated in his armchair. Another frame has his empty room and bed with tiger skin,that Bresson describes as “the companion of those aiming at spiritual achievement”. There are several frames of the Mother,seen distributing flowers to the devotees and playing tennis in another series.

There is Puducherry before Bresson too. A map details the coast of Malabar,Madura and Cormendel in 1700,and another ink on paper dated 1705 depicts the two towns within Puducherry,divided by a canal — one side inhabited by the European settlers,and the other dominated by natives. The archival albums in the Alkazi collection have been sifted to frame the landmarks of the coastal town. The exhibition has albumen prints of Government House and the Messageries Maritimes,that transported passengers and goods between France and its colonies. The Pondicherian rickshaw occupies another frame and one of the photographers,Tara Jauhar,comes before the camera in an image taken by Pranab Kumar Bhattacharya.

The exhibition is on at Alliance Francaise till September 30. Contact: 43500217