Masuram Ravikanth has created a a series of works that straddle the artist’s vision of traditional imagery in contemporary times by using archival photographs and superimposing them with new ideas. ‘A Reflection of Yesterday’s Truth and Today’s Imagination’ by artist , Masuram Ravikanth will be on display at Kalakriti Art Gallery.
In this age of selfie when mobile cameras of all brands and configurations have equipped people to freeze any moment of their life within a picture frame, the photo studio has been reduced to an antiquated space holding the memories of our immediate past. His encounters with analogue and Polaroid cameras, painted screen and props, and the mysterious dark room at his father’s photo studio, have encouraged him to look at the history of studio photography in India, dating back to the 19th century.
The exhibition is trying to look at the practice of studio photography through two sets of photographs; one is the family photographs clicked in by artist’s father’s studio some forty years back, and another is the vintage photographs from the 19th and early 20th century from the collection of Kalakriti Archive. The series of works were created at La Reserve, Bordeaux, a cross-residence programme between Bordeaux Métropole and Hyderabad in the State of Telangana, in partnership with the Krishnakriti Foundation.
From each of these works, different stories spring out which the artg\ist endeavours to take forward by adding some popular motifs or images. Presenting a conflict of style, colours, and narratives.