‘Photographic’ journey through perspectives
Nonika Singh
WHAT IS PHOTOGRAPHY? Is it realistic capturing of the moment without diluting it as Henri Cartier Bresson believed? Is it a prayer in which matter is converted into spirit as Joel Peter Witkin professed? Is it meant to shock the prudish middle class … make outrageous comment on the madness of existence as the controversial American photographer Robert Mapplethorpe did with his graphic portrayal of sexuality? Or is it glorifying the absurd or the horrific as many others photographers have done?
In his lecture illustrated by slides at Alliance Francaise, Diwan Manna, an eminent city-based photographer, dealt with these questions. According to Manna, the means – which is what defines our journey – might be varied but the end is always the same, for each chosen realm of art connects us to society. Touching on various facets of photography but concentrating on art photography (“.. If I-dare to call it that,” he said) he tried to answer why he became a photographer.
”Perhaps because I couldn’t paint, or because I flunked my pre-engineering. But actually, the real reason is that photography is the closest to my heart and the most evocative way of expression,” he said.
From clicking the series on peons epitomizing the alienation of mankind to the more pensive Waking the Dead series exploring the existentialist dilemma, the photo artist had indeed come a long way. Mercifully the lecture (but for brief chronological trivia) wasn’t self-serving. As the artist averred: “Egoism has little relevance in art and can only serve as a big impediment.” Anyway, Manna, who by now has evolved an individualistic idiom, needs no introduction to the art lovers of the city.
So a major part of the lecture was devoted to all time greats who have at different stages made stellar contribution to the world of photography. Despite Manna’s assertion: “I am not art historian”, he did delve into the annals of photography’s history. Slides went back to 1856 when Charles Schmitz employed finger nails to scratch the negative surface to create a unique texture. After encompassing pictures clicked by Man Ray, Heinrich Kuhn, Joyce Tenneson, Cindy Sherman et al Manna discussed contemporary Indian lens man Raghu Rai who, Manna admitted, had influenced him intensely albeit indirectly.
The photographic journey, was laced with incisive comments culled from various sources and was a revelation of sorts. Often Manna made his audience marvel at the 360 degree expanse of photography’s perspective, not merely in technical terms but more pertinently in its reach to probe and ask questions.
Diwan reminded: “Often there is enormous confusion between the subject and the object… subject is the vision of the artist as he looks at or approaches the object.” He added: “As long as art springs from within with honesty, sans imposition of any kind, it open the gateway of joy.” Both for the artist and the viewer, if we may qualify.
