Fly on the Wall #1

It all started with my artist friend Anjum Singh looking for a photograph of her mother Arpita Singh with fellow artist and friend Nilima Sheikh. The two had been friends for years and barely had photographs together.

SHEILA MAKHIJANI - It is the world’s worst hidden secret. I am a Sheila Makhijani fan! It is an inspiration how she carries her dexterous, playful forms across media – be it paper, canvas, ceramics or strings .As much as her works are lyrical, her choice of titles is even more whimsical. They reflect how each one is thoughtfully chosen even if inspired from the most mundane - a cover on an ordinary black and white TV or a pin-cushion can both easily serve as her thesaurus. She is as comfortable marking the moment with a title like ‘I don’t believe it!’ I have captured Sheila in one such moment so at play, so oblivious, so childlike.... — SHEILA MAKHIJANI – It is the world’s worst hidden secret. I am a Sheila Makhijani fan! It is an inspiration how she carries her dexterous, playful forms across media – be it paper, canvas, ceramics or strings .As much as her works are lyrical, her choice of titles is even more whimsical. They reflect how each one is thoughtfully chosen even if inspired from the most mundane – a cover on an ordinary black and white TV or a pin-cushion can both easily serve as her thesaurus. She is as comfortable marking the moment with a title like ‘I don’t believe it!’ I have captured Sheila in one such moment so at play, so oblivious, so childlike….

I have always been a trigger happy lenswoman but listening to Anjum made me realize that there was a lot of history, potentially getting lost. But I also realized that my amateur efforts were already keeping some of that history from getting lost. It made me revisit all the photographs taken at different shows, studios and fellow artists’ homes. Images taken at Mr. Ramachandran’s studio since my student days turned into historical archives with this new perspective.

MANISHA PAREKH - Every time I walk into an exhibit of Manisha’s work, my heart says ‘Oh! The earth child!’ Everything, and everything, blends in almost like nature planned it. She can take a bright palette and mute it harmoniously with its more reticent cousin. I have captured Manisha around her works where sometimes the works are her and sometimes she is the work. And all that surrounds her seems to find its place, seamlessly, perfectly – there seems to be an invisible plan, plotting out the patterns, just like a kaleidoscope. — MANISHA PAREKH – Every time I walk into an exhibit of Manisha’s work, my heart says ‘Oh! The earth child!’ Everything, and everything, blends in almost like nature planned it. She can take a bright palette and mute it harmoniously with its more reticent cousin. I have captured Manisha around her works where sometimes the works are her and sometimes she is the work. And all that surrounds her seems to find its place, seamlessly, perfectly – there seems to be an invisible plan, plotting out the patterns, just like a kaleidoscope.

While browsing through the many folders as I put together this photo essay – I had the chance to reflect on my own method behind the viewfinder. It is one driven by instinct, at the spur of moment. I remain guilty of never opening a manual and I say this with due apologies to those many dead photos that may have survived with a ‘better educated’ shutter setting.

ANJUM - The Elf queen walked through the garden – every bud she touched transforming into a flower, every mushroom she waved at reflected like an uncut ruby, every grass blade she touched lit up like smouldering emerald. And she walks through lumps and clumps of metal, fiberglass, empty bottles, breathing life into them as they morphed into giant flowers, beehives, transparent mazes. Animating them effortlessly, with a flick of her petite wrist and a dusky smile on that exotic face. — ANJUM – The Elf queen walked through the garden – every bud she touched transforming into a flower, every mushroom she waved at reflected like an uncut ruby, every grass blade she touched lit up like smouldering emerald. And she walks through lumps and clumps of metal, fiberglass, empty bottles, breathing life into them as they morphed into giant flowers, beehives, transparent mazes. Animating them effortlessly, with a flick of her petite wrist and a dusky smile on that exotic face.

This insight re-affirmed the way I approach painting. Instinctively, deferring to where the brush may take me in its collaboration with subliminal impressions carved on my memory. I don’t pre-meditate a work and over time this ‘madness over method’ approach has allowed me to charter unknown seas. This same approach has allowed me to capture many special moments with the camera and here I am sharing some with you…

All Photo Credit and Image Courtesy: Manisha Gera Baswani

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Issue 2, Vol 1

Fly on the Wall #1

About Author

South Asia

February 2024

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