Writing with light
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An exhibition of unique photographs throws light on a bygone era.
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Capturing moments of history. Self-portrait of Baby.
WHEN AESTHETICS and technology are coupled with common sense and determination, the result is such an output as the collection of photographs of the brothers Baby and Thangappan.
Behind every photograph exhibited at Durbar Hall Art Gallery, Kochi, over the weekend, was a story.
Without tripod or flash, the duo took pictures with an ordinary camera, waiting for that right light and composition at times, at other times, seizing a rare opportunity to capture what generations will nurture.
They bought a camera in 1952 and embarked on a career-linked hobby.
A photo studio at Mananthavady was their bread and butter while they went clicking away to see what off-beat pictures they could create in natural light. Thus you see angles that would be the envy of any photographer, and play of light and shades that will keep your attention riveted to the photo.
For posterity
One set of pictures is surely for posterity, those of the firebrand teenage Naxalite, Ajitha, and other pictures relating to the Pulpally and Thirunelly Naxalite uprisings.
These pictures that the brothers clicked were splashed across newspapers in 1969.
Pictures of Adivasi life are the other rare shots that city-bred folks will find interesting. The black and white photographs are a study of the poor conditions in which the tribals lived then.
Places of worship in the unlikeliest of angles and subjects as mundane as `My medicines' come to life in their camera angles.
Rare photos of politicians in their youth will tickle many. M.V. Raghavan may well be mistaken for his son Nikesh Kumar who is a journalist.
"Writing with light, that has been our policy," says Baby.
Thankappan died 15 years ago, but Baby continues his photographic journey and the pictures taken in 2004 also are on display at the exhibition. Here goes the story behind one picture: While everyone was jostling to get a photo of Captain Lakshmi Sahgal, Baby quietly went behind her and captured a frame of her head silhouetted against the flashlights.
The magazine covers on display were a chapter in old printing technology.
Adding colour
In the days when there was no colour snapshots, the brothers painted painstakingly on the black and white photos to create a printed, coloured choli, skirts in bright hues and rosy skin for pretty damsels, before they were sent to publishers.
"Farming is another vocation for me," Baby says, in his seventies and battling ill health. He spent from his own pocket to put up the exhibition of more than 200 photos, as he wanted the world to see what life was more than 50 years ago.
PREMA MANMADHAN
Photo: H. Vibhu
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