FYI April 12, 2012

Attend: Of Flesh and Blood

To jump straight to the details, Of Flesh and Blood is a photography exhibition which is going to be hosted at Ark – Art and Frames, Koregaon Park, Pune on the 13th, 14th and 15th of this month. Yes, this is an exhibition just like the many others that take place around the country everyday. However, we are writing about this for two main reasons. One, this event will showcase the work of a 20-year old college-going student who definitely can do with a lot of support and encouragement. The second reason? Well, this student is none other than our very own photography beat head, Anurag Banerjee.

To answer the foremost question in your mind, this exhibition will host a series of 30 portraits, all taken on the streets across four cities – Pune, Mumbai, Shillong and Diphu. Anurag believes that his forte lies in portraits since capturing human emotions enables him to explore the depths of mankind; it enables him to tell a story. In these faces of strangers, there is a connect of the basic elements of humanity – the very connect of flesh and blood.

Interestingly, out of the 30 photographs, only 10 are in colour and the rest, in monochrome. This is because the photographer believes that at times, colours can be deceptive. They can steer the viewer’s attention away from the essence of the photograph. Moreover, according to him, when a photograph is in monochrome, it has more ‘soul’ in it. According to us, this choice could also have been made due to the immense respect and admiration that Anurag has for his idol, Raghu Rai, one of India’s best photographers whose work in black and white is highly acclaimed.

We have also known Anurag to say that each photograph taken is in fact a moment captured. Therefore, each moment captured is like an award that any photographer should be proud of. Have a look at these three photos and we are sure that the honesty that each of them contains will draw you to this event.