Walls carry memories. They are mute witnesses to the passage of time. Just as memories collect and fade to be overridden by new memories, traces on walls recall the familiar in an undefined way. Remnants of the past linger, enabling a nostalgic travel through time, into the imagination. For some time now, my muse has been the shabby, rundown walls of buildings in my city, Mumbai - walls without history, character or evident beauty; functional, yet filled with traces of time etched onto their surfaces.
With a view to extending my work to another city, I came to Bangalore. Here, I learnt about the administration’s wall beautification project. Local artists painted murals recalling memories of Karnataka’s cultural and natural habitat. The wall paintings, meant to serve as a deterrent to defacement, however, have since been marred in many parts of the city, and also undergone natural degradation. When Suresh Jayaram suggested that I photograph these painted walls of Bangalore, I was a bit doubtful, but decided to give it a try despite my reservations. To my surprise and delight, this exploration has given a whole new look and feel to my work. Whilst the process that I follow is the same, the resultant images are quite different from those I made in Mumbai.
My work records both memory and change. Change ensues from the many interventions that happen over a period of time. Layers of paint, posters, dirt and grime accumulated one on top of the other undergo various kinds and stages of degradation. Their transition through time is both imperceptible and insidious - gradually changing form. The beauty of the resultant visual is easily overlooked. It is overshadowed by the overtly soiled walls that turn away the gaze of the viewer.
My photographs attempt to capture that which is overlooked - the beauty of the passage of time on walled surfaces – evoking memory, erasure, and transience simultaneously.
With a view to extending my work to another city, I came to Bangalore. Here, I learnt about the administration’s wall beautification project. Local artists painted murals recalling memories of Karnataka’s cultural and natural habitat. The wall paintings, meant to serve as a deterrent to defacement, however, have since been marred in many parts of the city, and also undergone natural degradation. When Suresh Jayaram suggested that I photograph these painted walls of Bangalore, I was a bit doubtful, but decided to give it a try despite my reservations. To my surprise and delight, this exploration has given a whole new look and feel to my work. Whilst the process that I follow is the same, the resultant images are quite different from those I made in Mumbai.
My work records both memory and change. Change ensues from the many interventions that happen over a period of time. Layers of paint, posters, dirt and grime accumulated one on top of the other undergo various kinds and stages of degradation. Their transition through time is both imperceptible and insidious - gradually changing form. The beauty of the resultant visual is easily overlooked. It is overshadowed by the overtly soiled walls that turn away the gaze of the viewer.
My photographs attempt to capture that which is overlooked - the beauty of the passage of time on walled surfaces – evoking memory, erasure, and transience simultaneously.
