A brief about the exhibition - The Roadside
I am thankful to all those who turned up at the exhibition and much more thankful to those who provided in-person/mail feedback. It was really encouraging and valuable to me. Thank you all.
Quite a few people asked me how the frames were organized and what led me to chose the frames for the exhibition, and some asked me about more deeper meaning/story behind some of the frames.
Though some of the queries were answered during the exhibition, some I am trying to answer here to give more clarity on thoughts behind the frames.
The exhibition was organized in 4 sections:
1) Where people are earning livelihood on the streets through their daily routines
2) Man and his environment
3) Still life and every day objects that we come across on streets, and
4) Children - how do they find means to entertain themselves, or their different moods
The frames chosen were split into three categories -
a) Ones which were driven by my observation of life during commute to office and otherwise, which reflect some meaning in the society
b) Some objects, street life, which caught my eye and we tend not to appreciate them, and
c) Not to make the entire exhibition too heavy and with hidden meanings, some simple images - mix of people and objects :)
In some images I was pure lucky - to be happen to be at right place at the right time; most others were a result of my daily observations during my commute to office, which resulted in spending time on almost every weekend/holiday doing a photo walk on the same streets; while remaining others were a thought which crossed my mind when I saw something to be captured.
1.
Hope and smile - Sitting at the busy junction of KR Market and Avenue Road (under the flyover), this boy would be often overlooked by many. But to me he represents two parts of our society - a) he should be studying at school than selling flowers and b) despite their economic condition I found most of these people to be smiling and not feeling sad about whole set of affairs - as if reflecting their is hope in things would improve
2.
Kabuliwala - Besides the obvious strategic location of capturing the man, the image represents how we as individuals are impacted by others in the society. It shows two businesses at the same time - a flower vendor who is in business of selling flowers, becomes a customer of another vendor, who is selling nuts.
3.
A hot cuppa - I had been observing this tea vendor for quite sometime on the weekends. He used to operate from 6:30-8 am and only on weekends, standing at a strategic junction where lot of people would come and have hot tea/coffee. This image reflects what usually happens at such mobile shops - besides discussing matters, laughing apart, people come here to contemplate on life.
4.
Voidness in life - The mobile cobbler sits at different locations (in an around the New BEL Road) and waits for customers to turn to him. The image reflects upon the observation that given his old age, what prompted him to come and work at odd hours? A lonely life, or to support his family or ??
5.
A ray of hope - two ladies cleaning the pavement and discussing matters, while sun rays filter through the side, indicating as if the lives of them would improve sometime - there is a ray of hope, that all forms of work would be valued by our society and they would get respect too.
6.
A usual day... - One of the common chaos, which we come across on the streets with so many activities and we tend to give importance to one of them or none of them. A sweeper cleaning the street, a student walking with his head down deep in thoughts, an assistant traffic cop/sweeper carrying orders of his/her senior.. etc. It reflects people carrying their daily routines on the streets.
7.
Redefining gender rules - While most men are found idling/reading newspapers/chatting etc, a woman is carrying loads of branches and actually doing work - indicating how her traditional role is being redefined in the society (not only looking after kids, preparing meals, household chores etc.)
8.
Cleaning Wheat - a roadside rural life, of how wheat once it is separated from the chaff, is cleaned.
9.
Godhuli - Go(cows) + dhuli(dust) - Read so much about rural life where how cows scatter dust as they go back home at dusk, I was always fascinated by the mental image of it, since my childhood. And was lucky to get this image, where sheep replace the cows.
10.
Preparing dosa - A vendor sprinkles water on the hot plate and cleans it with a cloth, as he prepares for next round of dosas - and in the process lets out vapors.
11.
What someone earns a day.. - A guy smoking a cigarette, and buring amout of Rs 5-10 in a matter of few minutes, while the street dweller (visible in the background) earns that much amount in a day. That's life! - a fact reflecting the haves and have nots in our society.
12.
Glad, tap is running with water - Seeing huge queues of people (almost fighting and excited) near Majestic filling water in their vessels, it always reminded me of the importance of this precious resource. And here was this lady at Pottery town, where she had no queue, tap was running with water and she stood in a relaxed pose, just waiting it to be filled in the vessel - with no worries of it being getting over or to fight for it.
13.
Resting - while a priest is expected to be at the temple, he too has a life of own, and can take a small nap in the sun. The feet, with his slightly visible, dress, reflects how he connects to the Sun God - in total peace and disconnect from world.
14.
Keeping up to date - An old man is busy in his own, reading newspaper, amidst building up of customers in a busy market - keeping up to date with the happenings of the world/nation, but not of his surroundings.
15.
Gang way - Henri Cartier Bresson defined a street photograph as - 'if you could smell the street by looking at the photograph, that's a street photograph'. I used to see this cart (almost on a daily basis) parked on the roadside - on a slopy road with a backdrop of an uphill road. And was fascinated by how a simple front wheel lock stops the cart from rolling, and the kid in me used to say, let's go and push it! :)
16.
What we leave behind - a man walking with his hands clasped on a pavement adorned with dry leaves (reflecting sorrow) and flowers (happiness), reflecting it is not important what we take along, but what we leave behind - a bag full of sorrow and happiness. Also, the emptiness of the street can hopefully be 'smelled' by the viewer - it is a life journey that we need to travel alone.
17.
Thoda hai thode ki zaorrorat hai - we have little, and we long for more. Currency notes on top of pile of fruits.
18.
I think I lost my feet - besides the obvious location of where the slippers were kept, it leaves a thought in me, why would someone leave his slipper behind, was the man drunk/living on the street (besides that if he got a new pair)?
19.
Connecting people - a bright red phone, placed outside a white colored wall - a usual object but perhaps not appreciated by us.
20.
Hanging there - A broken set of pots hanging outside a shop in Pottery Town, to attract customers - an oxymoron, since all the shops in Pottery Town belong to potters!
21.
Colors of India - a common day scene in many markets of bangalore - reflecting various adornments which are available for worshiping different deities, in our culture rich country.
22.
Hanging dry - a house as small (or as big) as the size of the frame can lead to imagination, has only one place to hang the cloth to dry and also cover the only one window in the house with newspaper to have some privacy.
23.
Oh, I want to be a kid again - A kid is walking backwards, playing with audio-tape, while her mother waits for her and walking in the normal direction - reflects to me childhood as it should be - carefree, unfettered - least bothered about what the world is doing where it is heading to. Something, which we all need to do, and something I wish I could be again - a kid.
24.
If lines could tell destiny - A child looking at his palm, as if looking at the lines of his palm, if they could tell him, what he is destined to be. The lines of the shutter behind add to the image.
25.
Here you go brother - Kids always have a tendency to walk on pipes, play on sand hills. And I used to wait and search for such scenes. On an early morning,walk down a lane, I saw these kids reaching the sand pile and playing. Besides, handing (perhaps) early morning meal (glucose) to his brother, it reflects how kids find means of entertaining themselves.
26.
See, what I got for you mother - Clicked on Mother's day, 2009, a family enjoying early morning breakfast in a small lane, reflecting how people from lower economic strata enjoy lives with limited means.
27.
My new Nano - A girl, Maria, playing with an indigenous built cart near her house on the roadside, reflecting how children from lower economic strata find means to entertain themselves. The image was clicked during the days, when Tata Nano's launch was a huge public fancy.
28.
Reach out for the stars - Two girls jumping to pluck mulberry fruit from a tree, indicating as if girl child can too break glass ceilings reach out for the stars - to achieve something in life.
29.
Unsafe world outside - A cute, confused and deep in thoughts, little girl standing at the doorstep of her house, indicating as if, to venture out in this unsafe world or not (particularly for girls).
30.
Hold on - A kid, holding on to tiny hands of his little brother, as if protecting him from the unsafe world.
I would be grateful to you, if you could provide a feedback (anonymous) about the exhibition here: Feedback about the exhibition - The Roadside
Sarvpriya/SD
Quite a few people asked me how the frames were organized and what led me to chose the frames for the exhibition, and some asked me about more deeper meaning/story behind some of the frames.
Though some of the queries were answered during the exhibition, some I am trying to answer here to give more clarity on thoughts behind the frames.
The exhibition was organized in 4 sections:
1) Where people are earning livelihood on the streets through their daily routines
2) Man and his environment
3) Still life and every day objects that we come across on streets, and
4) Children - how do they find means to entertain themselves, or their different moods
The frames chosen were split into three categories -
a) Ones which were driven by my observation of life during commute to office and otherwise, which reflect some meaning in the society
b) Some objects, street life, which caught my eye and we tend not to appreciate them, and
c) Not to make the entire exhibition too heavy and with hidden meanings, some simple images - mix of people and objects :)
In some images I was pure lucky - to be happen to be at right place at the right time; most others were a result of my daily observations during my commute to office, which resulted in spending time on almost every weekend/holiday doing a photo walk on the same streets; while remaining others were a thought which crossed my mind when I saw something to be captured.
1.
Hope and smile - Sitting at the busy junction of KR Market and Avenue Road (under the flyover), this boy would be often overlooked by many. But to me he represents two parts of our society - a) he should be studying at school than selling flowers and b) despite their economic condition I found most of these people to be smiling and not feeling sad about whole set of affairs - as if reflecting their is hope in things would improve
2.
Kabuliwala - Besides the obvious strategic location of capturing the man, the image represents how we as individuals are impacted by others in the society. It shows two businesses at the same time - a flower vendor who is in business of selling flowers, becomes a customer of another vendor, who is selling nuts.
3.
A hot cuppa - I had been observing this tea vendor for quite sometime on the weekends. He used to operate from 6:30-8 am and only on weekends, standing at a strategic junction where lot of people would come and have hot tea/coffee. This image reflects what usually happens at such mobile shops - besides discussing matters, laughing apart, people come here to contemplate on life.
4.
Voidness in life - The mobile cobbler sits at different locations (in an around the New BEL Road) and waits for customers to turn to him. The image reflects upon the observation that given his old age, what prompted him to come and work at odd hours? A lonely life, or to support his family or ??
5.
A ray of hope - two ladies cleaning the pavement and discussing matters, while sun rays filter through the side, indicating as if the lives of them would improve sometime - there is a ray of hope, that all forms of work would be valued by our society and they would get respect too.
6.
A usual day... - One of the common chaos, which we come across on the streets with so many activities and we tend to give importance to one of them or none of them. A sweeper cleaning the street, a student walking with his head down deep in thoughts, an assistant traffic cop/sweeper carrying orders of his/her senior.. etc. It reflects people carrying their daily routines on the streets.
7.
Redefining gender rules - While most men are found idling/reading newspapers/chatting etc, a woman is carrying loads of branches and actually doing work - indicating how her traditional role is being redefined in the society (not only looking after kids, preparing meals, household chores etc.)
8.
Cleaning Wheat - a roadside rural life, of how wheat once it is separated from the chaff, is cleaned.
9.
Godhuli - Go(cows) + dhuli(dust) - Read so much about rural life where how cows scatter dust as they go back home at dusk, I was always fascinated by the mental image of it, since my childhood. And was lucky to get this image, where sheep replace the cows.
10.
Preparing dosa - A vendor sprinkles water on the hot plate and cleans it with a cloth, as he prepares for next round of dosas - and in the process lets out vapors.
11.
What someone earns a day.. - A guy smoking a cigarette, and buring amout of Rs 5-10 in a matter of few minutes, while the street dweller (visible in the background) earns that much amount in a day. That's life! - a fact reflecting the haves and have nots in our society.
12.
Glad, tap is running with water - Seeing huge queues of people (almost fighting and excited) near Majestic filling water in their vessels, it always reminded me of the importance of this precious resource. And here was this lady at Pottery town, where she had no queue, tap was running with water and she stood in a relaxed pose, just waiting it to be filled in the vessel - with no worries of it being getting over or to fight for it.
13.
Resting - while a priest is expected to be at the temple, he too has a life of own, and can take a small nap in the sun. The feet, with his slightly visible, dress, reflects how he connects to the Sun God - in total peace and disconnect from world.
14.
Keeping up to date - An old man is busy in his own, reading newspaper, amidst building up of customers in a busy market - keeping up to date with the happenings of the world/nation, but not of his surroundings.
15.
Gang way - Henri Cartier Bresson defined a street photograph as - 'if you could smell the street by looking at the photograph, that's a street photograph'. I used to see this cart (almost on a daily basis) parked on the roadside - on a slopy road with a backdrop of an uphill road. And was fascinated by how a simple front wheel lock stops the cart from rolling, and the kid in me used to say, let's go and push it! :)
16.
What we leave behind - a man walking with his hands clasped on a pavement adorned with dry leaves (reflecting sorrow) and flowers (happiness), reflecting it is not important what we take along, but what we leave behind - a bag full of sorrow and happiness. Also, the emptiness of the street can hopefully be 'smelled' by the viewer - it is a life journey that we need to travel alone.
17.
Thoda hai thode ki zaorrorat hai - we have little, and we long for more. Currency notes on top of pile of fruits.
18.
I think I lost my feet - besides the obvious location of where the slippers were kept, it leaves a thought in me, why would someone leave his slipper behind, was the man drunk/living on the street (besides that if he got a new pair)?
19.
Connecting people - a bright red phone, placed outside a white colored wall - a usual object but perhaps not appreciated by us.
20.
Hanging there - A broken set of pots hanging outside a shop in Pottery Town, to attract customers - an oxymoron, since all the shops in Pottery Town belong to potters!
21.
Colors of India - a common day scene in many markets of bangalore - reflecting various adornments which are available for worshiping different deities, in our culture rich country.
22.
Hanging dry - a house as small (or as big) as the size of the frame can lead to imagination, has only one place to hang the cloth to dry and also cover the only one window in the house with newspaper to have some privacy.
23.
Oh, I want to be a kid again - A kid is walking backwards, playing with audio-tape, while her mother waits for her and walking in the normal direction - reflects to me childhood as it should be - carefree, unfettered - least bothered about what the world is doing where it is heading to. Something, which we all need to do, and something I wish I could be again - a kid.
24.
If lines could tell destiny - A child looking at his palm, as if looking at the lines of his palm, if they could tell him, what he is destined to be. The lines of the shutter behind add to the image.
25.
Here you go brother - Kids always have a tendency to walk on pipes, play on sand hills. And I used to wait and search for such scenes. On an early morning,walk down a lane, I saw these kids reaching the sand pile and playing. Besides, handing (perhaps) early morning meal (glucose) to his brother, it reflects how kids find means of entertaining themselves.
26.
See, what I got for you mother - Clicked on Mother's day, 2009, a family enjoying early morning breakfast in a small lane, reflecting how people from lower economic strata enjoy lives with limited means.
27.
My new Nano - A girl, Maria, playing with an indigenous built cart near her house on the roadside, reflecting how children from lower economic strata find means to entertain themselves. The image was clicked during the days, when Tata Nano's launch was a huge public fancy.
28.
Reach out for the stars - Two girls jumping to pluck mulberry fruit from a tree, indicating as if girl child can too break glass ceilings reach out for the stars - to achieve something in life.
29.
Unsafe world outside - A cute, confused and deep in thoughts, little girl standing at the doorstep of her house, indicating as if, to venture out in this unsafe world or not (particularly for girls).
30.
Hold on - A kid, holding on to tiny hands of his little brother, as if protecting him from the unsafe world.
I would be grateful to you, if you could provide a feedback (anonymous) about the exhibition here: Feedback about the exhibition - The Roadside
Sarvpriya/SD
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