Journalism of Courage
A unique photography exhibition portrays quilled creations imitating the stills from animated films
At first glance,the photograph of famous comic character Tintin running on a street with his faithful four-legged companion Snowy,showcased at Hotel Westin,may look like a plain still from a film but a closer look reveals much more. Presented by three Pune-based youngsters,the unique photograph has a different story to tell. The characters,infact,are paper models made by Faeza Ammar,a quilling artist. Also known as paper filigree,quilling is essentially an art form that involves the use of strips of paper that are rolled,shaped,and glued together to create decorative designs. Another factor that makes the photograph look real is the background setting created by Mariya Zoheb; the setting is similar to the one we see in the animation movies. The collective creations of Ammar and Zoheb have been photographed by Saurabh Ghiya. This group exhibited several such photographs at the exhibition The Westin,Koregaon Park,during the weekend and was organised by Blue Billion Group and FAD Academy. The exhibition showcased the creative projects of over 20 photographers and artists.
The group started off with miniature models featured in Titanic and Black Swan but were unsure if they could translate the themes into a full-fledged exhibition. After many brainstorming sessions,the team decided to design and shoot some of their personal all-time favourite animated characters. The paper models and the sets are very small and I take very close shots when I photograph them, says 23-year-old Ghiya.
For instance,there is a photograph of a house with a huge bunch of balloons tied to the roof that makes it float up; it’s a scene from 2009 animation film Up . It shows miniature models of the spectacled old man Carl and the chubby scout boy Russel peeping out of the floating house. Clicking this particular picture was difficult because it was photographed outdoors and I had to wait for the sky to change to get appropriate lighting, he explains. Altogether,the group exhibited six photographs at the exhibition.
Another complexity,says Ghiya,is the task of making the photograph look as real as the film still. Like the road,on which a model of Tintin and Snowy is placed,must look like a road from the animation film and not like a real road outside, he explains,adding that the set needs to be planned before a photo shoot can be done. “It needs to accommodate light in a way that would compliment the models and breathe life into the photograph,” he ends.
