Urban legend

Photographer Bharat Sikka is transfixed by Edward Hoppers use of light
A lot of my work is influenced by Edward Hopper,the New York-based realist painter who produced landscapes and portraits of both urban and rural life around the early 1900s. Im most inspired by his extraordinary treatment of light and the kind of themes he treated. He made portraits of common people and urban lifepeople in isolation in a big cityand documented contemporary architecture. The painting that moves me the most is Nighthawks 1942,a scene set in a brightly lit downtown diner. I love the way it is composed,with the view from the outside,from an outsiders point-of-view. I love the use of colour and light,and of course,the subject itself.

This atmospheric painting is a couple of nighthawks or night-owls hanging about a diner in Greenwich Village,where Hopper lived for most of his life. Each person within is absorbed in their own thoughts a couple,a man sitting by himself,and a sole attendant,looking past his customers on to the empty streets beyond. The light flooding out on to the street seems to further accentuate the sense of urban isolation. This is one of the most instantly recognisable paintings in American art and it has had an influence on art,music,film and literature the world over.

The themes he treats also engage me. Im interested in the urban space,the contemporary India we live in,such as in my series eight years ago on Indian men. It veered away from the usual maharaja-sadhu-slum portrayals all too common then. Above all,Hopper has influenced the way I see light,in that painterly kind of way.