Architectural spaces in India speak for themselves. Even if one doesn’t know if it’s Mughal, French or British, its character can be gauged by its surroundings. Trying to show just that, Sumit Basu, a Kolkata-based photographer captured black and white pictures of spaces across the country and abroad. Tiled “Here & Now”, the exhibition is on display at India International Centre in Delhi .“The environment today is influenced in many ways by the tradition and culture of its inhabitants. Besides people, the social landscape reveals its own history and beliefs. In Here & Now my photographs are concerned with man and his relationship to his surroundings reflected in the social landscape,” says Basu.The photographer, a Chartered Accountant by profession, did not start on his journey to document the physical presence of a place but to depict as to what becomes of it over the time when in contact with the society. “The various motifs indicate the cultural and the social landscape in a materialistic society, whether it’s the detritus of abandoned office places, remains of structures that were once representative of a flourishing culture or a look into everyday life,” he adds.Heavily inspired by late American photographer Walker Evan’s comment: “photography is the capture and projection of the delights of seeing...,” Basu created this body of work not to accumulate facts but to learn something from what he perceived of the society “I felt drawn to photographing the motifs that spoke of an underlying culture which reflects the melancholy and the chaos of everyday urban existence,” he concludes.Apart from the theme of the present exhibition, Sumit Basu’s other ongoing work includes a portrait series on the undying spirit in older people and a series on the urban landscape of Kolkata. Also, his book titled “About Banaras” is soon to be published.-“Here & Now” is on view at Art Gallery, India International Centre Annexe, #40, Max Mueller Marg, New Delhi till April 28.Follow @ARTINFOIndia
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