Seven evocative images of Kerala 

10 photographers were flown to Kerala for 5 days by Kerala Tourism and taken to varied places and requested to shoot images. From these images the exhibition Lenscape Kerala is a kaleidoscope of images that sift and sieve a sublime land of vignettes and vistas.

Unveiling at Vadodara Alembic Gallery this week for 3 days  and later at Hutheesing Visual Art Centre in Ahmedabad is Lenscape Kerala an exhibition that celebrates the expanse and beauty of Kerala both as a state of abundant resources of nature but also as a foundation and upholder of Indian mythic and architectural traditions that go back to antiquity.

This exhibition organised by Kerala Tourism unveiled at  Travancore House last week as a robust reflection of India’s bounty just before Republic Day.

At the entrance of the Travancore House in Delhi stood two black and white standees that spoke in evocative echoes of majesty and magnitude in Indian heritage. Manoj Arora’s  interior image of the corridor of the Kuthiramalika Palace Museum Trivandrum is a masterpiece in the ageless qualities of wood and the charisma of a long corridor.

Closer to Travancore House’s gallery entrance was internationally known  Kounteya Sinha’s monochromatic image of a Thirayattam dancer with a little dhoti clad boy. Kounteya captured Theyyam and Thirayattam dancers in vast vistas of a paddy field as well as in the inner courtyards of temples.

This image of the dancer is one that has an emotive essence of the past and present. Kounteya says it was the school boy who watched in rapt attention, and the white dhoti was fished out of his bag by his mother.This image is part of a pair of images that have enchanted viewers of all ages who saw it. School boys from Don Bosco Alaknanda stood in awe, smiling at another school boy.

All photographers are represented by 10 or more images and thus runs a contemporary commentary of Kerala today. Also on view are a series of stellar landscapes that run from languid waterbodies to the Western Ghats and surreal sunsets.

Umesh Gogna’s sunset of a moody melancholic wonder that has hues of a heightened order  is a statement in divination of geophysics. Umesh’s image of the rapids too is a stunning study of the scenic splendour of Kerala’s northern territory. But Umesh’s once in a lifetime image is that of the Hornbill and the Macaque. A rare moment of meeting amidst the wilderness.

You can’t think of Kerala without the Chinese fishing nets.Saurabh Chaudhry’s fishing nets and the limpid sunset is yet another poignant image of transience and tales as old as time. Saurabh’s images run through the beauty of duck farming in the backwaters as well as a series of temple studies and elegant paddy fields.His understanding of light and its many indices is indeed one of accuracy and deep devotion.

Amit Pasricha’s panoramic studies amidst the backwaters of Allapuzha are images that are filled with rustic resonance. Lush tropicana and dulcet water bodies and reflective refrains all come into play as you stand and silently take in his many images including a rare rich wooden interior of an ancient Masjid , as well as an  Orthodox Museum of rare books with ancient scripts.

Amit’s handling of compositional clarity and the myriad elements all add to the orchestration of hues and the cinematic brilliance. Whether monochrome or colour Amit’s images are a blend of pristine perfection and the silent conversations of the crucible of creation by nature.

Saibal Das’s street scenes are a charismatic corollary in conversations. From his raw bananas stacked against an old  wall to his portrait of a pair of school girls coyly looking into their phones , to his singular image of the interior of his dear  friend Musa’s home in Kozhikode each image is a telling testimony of his brilliance as a commentator of narratives. Street scenes are his elixir they  emanate in notes of simplicity and spontaneous succinctness.

H Satish’s image of a large tree amidst the mangroves with a ferry boat is a statement about lush tropicana as well as about the fascination of waterways as vehicles in this millennium. Sathish captures a series of landscapes that swivel around not just the Poovar mangroves but also the sunrises and sunsets of Meenmutty Falls, Kallar as well as scenic shots of Ponmudi.

Images: Kerala Tourism 

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