The SECRETS OF A FAMILY

These are some of the ideas and images that one encounters in the photography exhibition,‘Something I’ve Been Meaning To Tell You’,that opened at Vadehra Art Gallery,on April 15.

Extending the idea of family beyond the limits of one’s blood relatives,the exhibition,curated by Vidya Shivadas and Sunil Gupta,takes the viewer into spaces that are both disturbing and interesting,touching and humorous. Featuring the works of photographers Clair Arni,Gauri Gill,Nandini Muthiah,Sarindar Dhaliwal,Siddharth Dhanvant Shanghvi,Priya Sen,Gupta and Anusha Yadav,it traverses the history of the family portrait.

Muthiah has taken off on the kitschy studio portrait frequented by middle class families in Tamil Nadu to document their child’s fancy dress costume. “We as Indians’ love colour and kitsch and I wanted to capture that aspect in the photographs. I expected more kids to be dressed as gods,but surprisingly got poets,politicians and teachers,” says Muthiah.

Shanghvi has opted for classic black-and-white images of his father,who is suffering from brain cancer,capturing his silent moments at home after his wife’s death. “Within this house of shadows I followed my father with my camera,recording not only his daily life,but also the absence of it,” says Shanghvi. Sen’s video and stills also speak about absence. “Childhood is a site rather than a moment in time,I see it as a constantly changing landscape,where memory is actually a construct,” says Sen.

The exhibition is on at Vadehra Art Gallery,Okhla,till May 20. Contact: 65474005/06