C’est la vie: Life’s a circus and we’re the actors, say these photographers
ArtChowk’s latest exhibition captures the absurd and real.
KARACHI:
In ArtChowk’s latest exhibition, two young men, Jahanzaib Najam and Owais Sheikh explore portraits in an old-school photography style that turns ironic because of the sheer absurdity of the subject: real life. The series is aptly named after a Ghalib line, Hota hai Shab-o-Roaz Tamasha meray aagay.
“The scenes are a depiction of how in the ordinary, everyday life, there is a tamasha or circus within every individual,” say the photographers, “and consequently the ordinary becomes something more than just that.”
Divided into four categories, the images capture every aspect of life around us – from animals to transport in the rain. Each photograph is coupled with a verse from the poets of the East, or phrases well-known to us. According to Shakira Masood, the curator, the pictures are “more wonderful to look at because of their spontaneity and the personalised view of the photographers”. Indeed, the shot of the truck driver, who stares at the camera, and is thus aware of being caught in the moment is just as candid as the elderly man with plastic bottles, who poses for the photographer in a quiet resignation of the absurdity of his work.
In Beheaded – a part of the Animal Kingdom series – the viewer is instantly hit by a sense of horror but forced to admit that the photographers have only captured a very real element of real life. The verse to go with it – Paich rakhtay ho saahibo bohat Dastaar ke beech – adds a comment on human arrogance.
In the series Cityscape, the photographers show how intimately people are connected to each other even though they have their own story to tell and live different lives. The photographs are for sale, and priced between Rs3,000 and Rs16,000 with varying editions and sizes.
The exhibition continues till February 8.
The writer is currently enrolled at IVSAA and dabbles in writing, arts and the theatre
Published in The Express Tribune, February 3rd, 2012.
In ArtChowk’s latest exhibition, two young men, Jahanzaib Najam and Owais Sheikh explore portraits in an old-school photography style that turns ironic because of the sheer absurdity of the subject: real life. The series is aptly named after a Ghalib line, Hota hai Shab-o-Roaz Tamasha meray aagay.
“The scenes are a depiction of how in the ordinary, everyday life, there is a tamasha or circus within every individual,” say the photographers, “and consequently the ordinary becomes something more than just that.”
Divided into four categories, the images capture every aspect of life around us – from animals to transport in the rain. Each photograph is coupled with a verse from the poets of the East, or phrases well-known to us. According to Shakira Masood, the curator, the pictures are “more wonderful to look at because of their spontaneity and the personalised view of the photographers”. Indeed, the shot of the truck driver, who stares at the camera, and is thus aware of being caught in the moment is just as candid as the elderly man with plastic bottles, who poses for the photographer in a quiet resignation of the absurdity of his work.
In Beheaded – a part of the Animal Kingdom series – the viewer is instantly hit by a sense of horror but forced to admit that the photographers have only captured a very real element of real life. The verse to go with it – Paich rakhtay ho saahibo bohat Dastaar ke beech – adds a comment on human arrogance.
In the series Cityscape, the photographers show how intimately people are connected to each other even though they have their own story to tell and live different lives. The photographs are for sale, and priced between Rs3,000 and Rs16,000 with varying editions and sizes.
The exhibition continues till February 8.
The writer is currently enrolled at IVSAA and dabbles in writing, arts and the theatre
Published in The Express Tribune, February 3rd, 2012.