Photo Synthesis

Opaque towering clouds clicked from stratospheric heights to dust, grime and body fluids, California-based photographer Allan de Souza’s art continues to grow in new directions and always remains a little out of the typical gallery experience. His first solo exhibition in India, spanning a decade of photo works from 1998-2008 at Talwar gallery has, among others, grainy images of his mother standing against a tree in full bloom (see photo above).

Spread over two floors, the exhibition has 60 photographs from The Lost Pictures, UFO, and Divine series. In a marked diversion from conventional photography, De Souza (inset) subjected photographs from The Lost Picture (2004) series to daily wear and tear by taping it on a kitchen counter and bathroom mats. The photographs bear marks of dust, hair and scrap from everyday grind. Later, they were digitally manipulated in terms of colour and contrast. In his essay, the Nairobi born 49-year-old photographer observes that he embarked on this series after the death of his mother in 2003 and returned to the family slides taken by his father during their holiday in Kenya. UFO, taken in 2007 shows a montage of shots of an airplane before the take-off while the Divine series (2007) has remarkable terrestrial shots from mid-flight.

The works begin from Rs 1 lakh and go up to Rs 15 lakh.

(The exhibition is on till October 25. Call 46050308 for details)