“Frozen In Time” An Exhibition Of Photographs By Kabeer Ramesh In Jehangir Art Gallery

Kabeer Ramesh with Photograph

The field of photography is a highly developed art form that has passed through various stages of development in its century-long history determined by the technological transformation from film to digital formats and evolved through human effort and genius into the present form. Though one can feel and experience the beauty and joy of the art, it requires some expertise to venture into an informed appreciation.

Kabeer's Photography has a span of different locations, though historically important such as from Parise to Berlin, Shillong, Meghalaya, Assam, to Saputara in Gujarat and then in Mumbai, Pune etc.

To begin with, your work is characterised by vividness and attention to diversity - of contexts, themes, time, moods, etc.

I am specifically charmed by the three photographs - of a child, an elderly woman and an old worker. Needless to say, the context of them unambiguously and elegantly provides the cultural and social background - being urban, Maharashtrian. Looking up at the sky, the little girl captures her innocent enchantment with something left to us to guess or imagine. The woman roasting corn on coals with details of the container, corn and other vessels seeks to capture an important aspect of urban life. The elderly worker, who could be a dabbawala or hamal or porter, presents a countenance that reflects the hard reality of a worker weather-beaten as the wrinkles on his face bear witness to. The unity of art and life ought to form the centrality of any genuine art.

The remaining photographs capture the different sites and symbols of old and new. In this collection, the presence of Socrates is eminently relevant as the Socratic vision premised on the centrality of ‘Reason' and its primacy over emotions, ‘appetites', and desires presents hope in the dystopian reality we find ourselves increasingly engulfed in. The Socratic dialogic tradition of affirmation, contestation and resolution can help us in reasoning a way out of our predicaments, dilemmas and enigmas. Photography as an art form can be an important mode of argumentation and thereby engage us in positive dialogue.

From: 15th to 28th March 2023

"Frozen in Time"

An Exhibition of Photographs by Kabeer Ramesh

VENUE:

Jehangir Art Gallery

Terrace Gallery

M.G. Road, Kala Ghoda

Mumbai 400 001

Timing: 11 am to 7 pm

Contact: 9920072573

www.kabeerphotoart.com