Nam Ooru Bengaluru: Arjun Kamath’s latest series captures the essence and old charm of unseen IT city

Home is not just the house where we live and grow up; it is the city that makes it quintessential for our living. With time and due to career choices we often have to move away from our abode and the city that is part of our being, but it’s like a chord that it inseparably attached.

Celebrated LA-based photographer Arjun Kamath who mesmerised the world with his thought-provoking series like Coming out, Avani and Colour of the Skin is back, but this time he has shown to portray a personal side. The renowned photographer has paid tribute to his roots – his hometown, Bengaluru.

Taking exclusively to the IndianExpress.com, Kamath who recently graduated from USC's School of Cinematic Arts, Los Angeles this May recalls how during breaks he headed for his hometown. He says he would return to Bangalore every six months to visit his grandparents and parents and it was absolutely wonderful to spend time with family and close friends. (Source: Arjun Kamath)

“But then, after every visit I would eventually have to head back to LA after spending a few days in Bangalore so I could continue my film school journey at USC; this habit of bidding goodbye to my city and family each time made me very emotional,” says Kamath.

Reminiscing the beautiful journey and association with the place that is home, he says, “With time I slowly understood, why I felt so emotional; and that's because not only did I miss my family... but also my city, the warmth of its people, its culture and tradition. The city I spent 25 years of my life growing up in.” (Source: Arjun Kamath)

On asking what is that defines the city for him that make him feel homely and not just a place on the map, he says, “I started to wonder what is it about the city that I miss? The pubs, the parties? Maybe not so much. I never partied as a child. But it was the little things.”

It’s not monuments or landmarks that imprint a mark on our soul forever; it’s the people, the tiny gestures, the smiles on the road, on the buses that builds the very essence that is associated with a place. With time, like feathery tufts of a dandelion it may blow away with slightest wind, but has stronger roots that re-grow from any part left in the ground. (Source: Arjun Kamath)

To Kamath there are numerous rootlets that adhere to his roots – “The people in my neighborhood, the little things they did... Making Rangolis, the old Ajjas(Grandfathers) and Ajjis(Grandmothers) waving goodbye each time I would leave for school in the school auto rickshaw.” (Source: Arjun Kamath)

“So I wanted to relive my childhood through the series. More of a tribute to a city which is fast changing and slowly losing its identity in some way; although it's about change and evolving and embracing what the future holds, it's also important to respect and protect your roots,” he adds. And as he puts it, “Because a tree is known by the strength of its roots.” (Source: Arjun Kamath)

Asking why he again chose a woman to portray his love for the city, Kamath says the Archana Akil Kumar, the woman photographed in the series also hails from Bangalore. The super-model is the POV (point-of-view) of the audience and definitely understood what Kamath tried to tell through his pictures. “I have to say Archana's presence added a lot of grace and poise to the mood that the images convey.” (Source: Arjun Kamath)

In the quest to indentify the roots of his being and love for his hometown he wanted to highlight the heart of the city, foiled with wrappers of development and modernity. Thus, the latest series by the visual-storyteller is an ode to the old charm that the Bengaluru exudes. (Source: Arjun Kamath)

This personal photo-series by the the photographer is a "walk down the memory lane" where he has spend his childhood and grown up. (Source: Arjun Kamath)

The series has been a hit not because it is thought-provoking like his earlier projects but because it has connected with people on a deeper level, emotionally and offered people a tint of 'home' in faraway lands. (Source: Arjun Kamath)