Of rocks and requiems

Painter-turned-photographer Kalpana Reddy was planning her first photography show at the age of 48,when an aneurysm in her brain caused her tragic demise. Her death in 2009 leaves behind a large body of work that had never been displayed. Now,her husband Raghuram Reddy and close friend,Shaibani Azam—currently a professor of animation at Jamia Millia NCRC programme—have put together an exhibition that travels from Hyderabad to Delhi’s Gallery Threshold this 18 February. A former student of MSU’s Faculty of Fine Arts,Reddy is remembered by doyens like painter Gulammohammed Sheikh,V Ramesh and photographer Jyoti Basu. “Kalpana had taken me to her studio to share some tightly framed images of tree-bark that reminded me of the paintings of Georgia O’Keefe. She did not exhibit much and it’s a great pity that she went so suddenly,” says Sheikh.

Basu is of the opinion that her work always exuded an intimacy. “She draws you to corners,crevices and textures of objects to celebrate their little secrets.” This body of work is a close study of rock textures shot over a period of time,in the Canyons of Arizona and Bandhavgarh. Azam tells us it wasn’t location but a particular image that was important to Reddy. “Though she studied painting she was always a photographer. In a letter to her mother that we recently discovered,she had said,‘I always know the image I want. It’s just a matter of getting it.’ She was greatly influenced by Nasreen Mohamedi,” recalls Azam. Reddy also has a set of portraits of painter Laxma Gaud,“For now we want the show that Kalpana had envisioned,” concludes Azam.