It is the sheer absurdity of the sculptures created and photographed by Ajith that hits the viewer right from the off – juxtapositions (reminiscent of the Dadaists and Surrealists) in which materials and the forms they are used to create are often in conflict with each other and, at other times, are self-referential in a darkly humorous manner.

The selling point of the exhibition as it currently stands is the technique of pinhole photography itself, and the evidence of the technique in these images lies solely in the tonal identity and distortions, most of which in fact can be recreated in a digital environment and by itself are not enough to provide an affirmation of the chemical or physical techniques used. What survives then is only the attestation of the photographer, and in effect, the art object gets its value from this textual affirmation.

Victor George looked for meaning in rain, not formal beauty or abstraction. Instances of abstraction are sporadically seen in his photographs – such as a massive raincloud which looks like a wash of purple-grey – but are always marred by a concrete, meaningful, identifiable figure – in the aforementioned case, a flying bird occupies the centre of attention of the image, and discernible clouds are seen in the background, giving the image concreteness.

Pulavar N Thiagarajan is a poet, writer, political activist and amateur photographer. Thiagarajan was brought up in Poompukar, and has completed his matriculation in Poompukar, and further pursued a course under Madras University. Thiagarajan learnt English and Tamil from school, and developed each through personal reading and study. He soon joined the Tamil Manila Congress (TMC), and fondly remembers meeting Gandhi at Mayavaram (presently Mayiladuthurai). He was active in the freedom struggle and continued to work with the Congress after Independence. A noted poet and writer, the most significant book that he has published is Poompukar Varalatru Yechangal, which is an academic book on the history of Poompukar. His journey in photography began in the 1940s and he has photographed the town and nearby areas, focussing on the temples, temple art, gatherings and landscapes. Ekalokam Trust for Photography, a non-profit organisation dedicated to protecting and promoting contemporary photography, is presently archiving the analogue photographs made by N Thiagarajan.

Zachariah D’Cruz is not an oft-mentioned name in the context of Indian photography, and his images circulate in India, especially Kerala, without his name being mentioned as the author. It is easiest to describe him as a government photographer of the Travancore kingdom, whose most popular and most visible work today consists of a collection of 76 images titled “Album of South Indian Views”, which was gifted to Lord Curzon1 on his visit to Travancore, and which is now in the possession of the British Library.

PhotoMail takes a look at the re-opening of Draavidia in Fort Cochin, with its decade long history of involvement in the local scenario and URU in Mattancherry which brings with it the success of the KMB in the backdrop of the art history of the region. Includes exclusive interview with the founders of URU and Dravidia and a review of their premiere shows.

Razak Kottakal’s photographs of Basheer is almost as famous as Basheer himself; anybody who is familiar to a minimum extent with Modern Malayalam literature would have encountered at least a few of Razak’s portraits of literary figures, without knowing the name of the photographer – mostly because the photographer is considered secondary to the subject in such cases. Different aspects of Razak’s life have entered public record, through interviews of his contemporaries, family, colleagues, and subjects. Yet, for all the wealth of information that such records provide, they are hard reminders that photographers are barely understood beyond superficial labels.

പോർട്രെയ്റ്റ് ഫോട്ടോഗ്രാഫിയെ ആസ്പദമാക്കി നിരവധി ലേഖനങ്ങൾ വരുന്നുണ്ടെങ്കിലും, എന്തു കൊണ്ട് പോർട്രെയ്റ്റ് ഫോട്ടോഗ്രാഫി ഇത്രയും ജനപ്രിയമായി എന്ന് ആരും ചോദിച്ചു കാണാറില്ല. പകരം നമുക്ക് കിട്ടുന്നത് പോർട്രെയ്റ്റ് ഫോട്ടോഗ്രാഫി ജനപ്രിയമായത് എങ്ങനെ എന്ന ചോദ്യത്തിനുള്ള ഉത്തരങ്ങൾ ആണ്. മുകളിൽ വിവരിച്ച പ്രോസസ്സുകളെക്കാൾ ഉപരി പ്രവർത്തനം ആകുന്ന ഒന്നാണ് ഫോട്ടോഗ്രാഫി യുടെ ഇന്റിമസി (intimacy).

Ramesh Varma is a noted stage actor and director. He is also a Kathakali performer and has acted in lead roles in few Malayalam cinemas. An alumnus of Maharaja’s College, Ernakulam, and School of Drama, Thrissur, he is currently a lecturer in the theatre department in Sree Sankaracharya University, Kalady. His theatre works are notable for their focus on regional aesthetics and forms, with due importance being given to innovation and contemporary thought. He takes keen interest in photography, and has been practicing it diligently for the past six years. The numerous and varied photographs taken during his ‘Morning Walk’, a series of black and white images, are indeed theatrical, in the truest sense. Ramesh Varma has worked as a curator in ITFoK. In this exclusive interview by Arjun Ramachandran / Photo Mail, Ramesh Varma talks about aesthetics, the direction, and the future of theatre, while touching on the personal and the political facets of expression in different media.

Fowzia Fathima is a cinematographer, who graduated from the Film and Television Institute of India, Pune. She is well-regarded as a teacher, having taught in various institutes including the Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute. She has recently come into further prominence for pioneering the Indian Women Cinematographers’ Collective – a first of its kind effort in uniting women cinematographers across the Indian film industry.

ഫോട്ടോഗ്രാഫറുടെ നോട്ടം അങ്ങനെ അധികം മാറ്റങ്ങൾ ഇല്ലാതെ നിലനിൽക്കുമ്പോൾ, ഫോട്ടോ എടുക്കപെടുന്ന ആളുടെ നോട്ടത്തിലും വലിയ തോതിൽ മാറ്റങ്ങൾ വരുന്നില്ല. ഡി’ക്രൂസ് ഫോട്ടോഗ്രാഫുകളിൽ പലരും ക്യാമറയെ നോക്കുന്നത് കാണാം. ഈ നോട്ടം ഫോട്ടോഗ്രാഫറുമായുള്ള സംവാദം അല്ല – പലപ്പോഴും ചെയ്യുന്ന ജോലി മാറ്റി വെച്ച് സംശയവും അതിശയവും കലർത്തിയാണ് നോക്കുന്നത്. ഇന്നത്തെ സ്ട്രീറ്റ് ഫോട്ടോഗ്രാഫിയിൽ ഈ നോട്ടം വ്യാപകമായി കാണാം. ഒരു വലിയവിഭാഗം ജനതയുടെ ഫോട്ടോഗ്രാഫിയുമായുള്ള ബന്ധം മാറിയിട്ടില്ലാത്തതായി തന്നെ മനസിലാക്കണം.

Bangalore-based photographer Jiby Charles is one among them. Born in Cochin, he has travelled across India, his photographic interest being wildlife, landscapes and the Indian wilderness. In this interview, Jiby shares his experience as a Project 365 photographer.

The myopic eye of the smart phone demands that the photographer has to be within a certain “intimate” distance to take a photograph. There has to be a certain connection between the one who is being photographed and the photographer himself – using a smart phone to create portraits of people means that the photographer is not a mere witness; the one who is photographed often looks straight into the camera and thus, at the photographer.