The real face of America
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Sundeep Bali may not be a known name in the art circles but his exhibition Made in the USA made many sit up and take notice of his photographs.
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FOREIGN NOTIONS One of the pictures on display.
Sundeep Bali, a young photographer, recently returned after asix-month stay in the U.S. The visit, he says, taught him a lot, and also undid manypreconceived notions. So he decided to exhibit some of his works in the Open Palm Court at the Habitat Centre this past week.
"As a profession, photography is coming up in India, as an art form. It is so because people still don't read into photographs to decipher their meaning." Yet Sundeep believes that "photographs should always have a story to tell". In an endeavour to do so, he travelled to various cities there, trying to capture the universalities that exist in the worldand other places. He displayed 20 photographs from a collection of 500 pictures and two videos.
A contradiction
The title given to the exhibition, Made in USA, is according, to him, a contradiction in itself. As is seen in some of the photographs. The U.S. imports a number of goods from various countries, implying that other parts of the world have been assimilated into it.
Thetwo video installations run simultaneously. "The idea behind this is that people understand the connotations and symbolism in the two videos and see how there are certain parallels running between them."
One of them titled Microwave USA shows a bag of popcorn being heated in the microwave oven, and a couple affectionately dancing on the other screen. His photo named The Beginning of it All was taken at the 4th of July parade, an event that celebrates American Independence Day. This day was also the beginning of Sundeep's photographic journey. He was on a Fulbright scholarship to conduct research, and it was when he met his big-hearted landlady that his opinion about Americans being materialistic changed. She refused to charge him for his stay at her place. Sundeep used the money he kept aside for rent to travel to new places. He was also surprised to see how well informed some of the Americans he met were. He says, "We have a lot to learn from that country such as their ability to laugh as well as be critical of themselves. They are hard-working people, but they know how to have fun too."
The message he tries to communicate through this exhibition is that "We must travel with an open mind, and leave our stereotypes and predetermined opinions behind. Only then will the experience be rewarding."
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