India through the Lens

In the years since,the international photographic cooperative — that,since its inception,has been owned and governed by its photographer members — has seen a number of its members live and work in India for varied periods of time. These photographers have documented everything from the festival of Holi to everyday life for labourers to unique tribes from different parts of the country. Now,a selection of seven photographs each by eight photographers of Magnum will be on display at an exhibition in association with Tasveer Arts,titled Magnum Ke Tasveer,Magnum’s Vision of India. It opened in Mumbai on August 23 at ICIA House,Kala Ghoda,and will continue till September 1. It will travel to Delhi on September 14 and be on display in the city till September 25 at Gallery Art Motif,Lado Sarai,then Bangalore,Ahmedabad and Kolkata next year. The show marks Tasveer’s second collaboration with Magnum,the first being a show that celebrated the golden age of Hollywood,in 2010.

These eight photographers — Marilyn Silverstone,Raghu Rai,Werner Bischof,Ferdinando Scianna,Bruno Barbey,Olivia Arthur,Abbas and Steve McCurry — have all spent a considerable amount of time in India,with some even having lived in the country for 10 and 20 years. While there are other Magnum members who have worked in India,these photographers were selected for a number of reasons. “We wanted to focus on the more cohesive and thoughtful series that the agency’s members have produced over the years,” says Nathaniel Gaskell,co-curator,Tasveer Arts. “It also showcases the changing styles and concerns of photojournalists over the years.”

Rai,one of India’s most recognisable names in the field,is the only Indian member of Magnum and joined in 1977. His selection for this show comprises photographs taken in various parts of the country. One shows a group of apparently high society men and women sitting leisurely at a lunch party in Delhi. “It was a cold but sunny winter afternoon and the sun was forming beautiful patterns,” he remembers,of the setting for this photograph.

On the other hand,McCurry — an American photographer who shot to fame with his photograph of the young Afghan girl with haunting,light eyes on the cover of National Geographic magazine in June 1985 — travelled to India reporting for it. While his work over the years has included covering various areas of international and civil conflict,his images for this show are of a far more festive and colourful sort. Among the other 35 photographs on display are Bischof’s black and white images of the Bharatnatyam dancer Anjali Hora getting ready for a performance in Mumbai in 1951. These were among the first pictures taken by Magnum members in India. Arthur,the youngest photographer of the lot,born in 1980,moved to Delhi in 2003. In 2005,she did a series on the Ramnami sect in Chhattisgarh,a group of untouchables whose tattoos are a form of protest against the oppression of the caste-system.