Timely Shots

“While travelling around East Germany in 1990 before the reunification I came across a number of buildings that were either in a state of utter neglect or were being pulled down to make way for newer buildings. Post the reunification I visited the same provinces and noticed the various changes that they had undergone. Some of the buildings had gone from being bad to plain worse,others had been flattened and overtaken by steel,concrete and glass structures while most of the buildings,had been restored back to their original form,” says Koppelkamm.

The exhibition comprises of pictures shot by him before the reunification and after the reunification of Germany to highlight the way the old monuments or buildings had been either restored or lost completely. “Basically through the exhibition I wish to highlight the questions like— Who is responsible for the development in our cites? and Do we end up losing our identity to globalisation?” he says. Koppelkamm also feels that he wishes to highlight the relation between the architecture of the city,the environment and that all this can be harmoniously preserved through proper planning.

Koppelkamm for whom the old city area of Pune represents the vastly glorious heritage of the city,believes that we would end up losing our identity if we continue destroying the structures to pave way for the new or for issues like road expansion,the city would not have anything unique to boast of their own. “I mean take a look at Shanghai and Beijing. The two cities in China have virtually in the name of modernisation destroyed all their wonderful old buildings which could have easily been restored instead of being raised to the ground,” he says.

The exhibition,which began on Saturday will go on till Friday,April 2. Koppelkamm will also be conducting a workshop for photographers wherein they will work on photographing not the architectural marvels of the city,but the simple old buildings that represent the identity of the people and the history of the city. Speaking about his maiden visit to the city,Koppelkamm feels that the problem of the city about maintaining its old heritage structures is similar to the ones he has seen in Germany. “It would be grossly unfair to compare the city of Pune with those in Germany,but what one can learn is the fact that a lot of old structures,through the proper intervening of the citizens,were saved from being destroyed,as even the authorities decided to restore them. Pune needs that to happen here,and I hope the pictures here inspire people to work towards the same,” he concludes.