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Twin tribute

The photographs of the Ganga and the Yamuna by George K and Olivia Arthur complement each other

BEAUTY IN CONTRAST Photographs by Olivia Arthur and (below) George K

Getting George K and Olivia Arthur together was a good idea. Their photographs come together like the meeting of two rivers. However, Ganga is Ganga, and Yamuna is something else. Where George sees life, humour and colour on the ghats of Banaras vitalised by the Ganga, Olivia's Yamuna is a dying river that supports a life struggling for a bit of dignity. The former's pictures are warm and bright, he doesn't care for the burning pyres. The latter's cold and grey, like a Delhi winter morning. Yet they complement each other beautifully.

The Ganga on the plains, and particularly in Banaras, is not the main subject. It's the life that revolves around her — the sins that are washed away in her waters, the prayers that are offered on her banks and the salvation that is earned.

Different perspective

In fact, say Banaras and the thousands of images that are crammed in our subconscious will be of the riverbanks. Few photographers have escaped the overwhelming life of the ghats. What's different about this self-taught photographer, painter and poet's perspective is just that. He captures the saffron, the steps teeming with sadhus and devotees, the dogs, but somehow he spares you the clichés. It's not about matted hair, long beards and holy cows. Compositions and colours are just as important as the moment they capture. Even the dog sheltered under a huge umbrella is actually caught yawning, and isn't part of the picture just for composition's sake. There is humour in the way the barber holds up his customer's face, squashing his nose with one rough hand while he carefully slides the knife up the throat.

And where it might not be obvious, his titles add a new dimension. Like in the picture titled `Rothkos on the bank' that captures coloured sarees drying next to each other in combinations that reflect the abstract expressionist works of the Russian master. Look at the picture titled `Ramp' carefully — one person is cleaning his toes while another is doing pranayama, a woman is bent over washing her clothes, while another dries her grey hair, young girls on a higher step are giggling.

Olivia's moods are completely different. And unlike George's works, they aren't even titled. The young photographer has been published in the Times and the Guardian, and has already tucked away a few awards. Olivia started with documenting the pollution of the Yamuna and has obviously been deeply touched by the melancholic life that depends on it. There is a sad beauty that haunts her tribute to the river. A dhobi reaches out through the early morning mist to the piles of wrung-out linen in front of him. The faithful stands neck deep, his palms together praying in thick, filthy grey water. Olivia's subjects are otherwise a hard working lot, too busy living to be looking for salvation: their bodies thin and taut, their faces wrinkled, their eyes tired. Her river is grey and cold, dosed with industrial waste, sad and yet beautiful.

The show is on till August 19 at the Apparao Infinity, Taj Connemara.

MEERA MOHANTY

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