Bhubaneswar: An exciting exhibition of photographs titled ‘Diverse Fragrance’ was inaugurated on Thursday evening at the Visual Art Gallery, India Habitat Centre, by veteran painter, sculptor, and muralist Jatin Das in the presence of Prof Nag Das, Chairman, Lalit Kala Akademi, with much fanfare.
The exhibition is diverse because all six photography artists are drawn from different locations of the country and outside, with varied themes and visual fragrances, yet the images are immersive with their inherent potency.
The bounty of images is put together under one umbrella for this exhibition by Ketaki Foundation, a Bhubaneswar-based trust that has been effectively working for the promotion of art, literature, and culture for years. The participating photography artists are Ashis Dhir, Biranchi Sahu, Dr Sanjoy Basu, Shiba Prasad Sahu, Tribhuvan Kumar Deo, and Ramahari Jena, who is also the curator of the exhibition.
In his curatorial note, Ramahari Jena, an eminent artist who has won the National Award from Lalit Kala Akademi, explained that the photographs for this exhibition were chosen from the storehouse of thousands of shots of each participant which exude their specialisation and excellence.
Just having a look at the shots of Tribhuvan, one will be convinced that the panoramic images of the hard rocks have a painterly quality – the texture and pigments of nature are quite magnificent. Similarly, Sanjoy’s landscapes are mesmerising the way he has captured the natural light beams at Bryce Canyon, Utah, or the twilight at Atlas Mountain, Morocco. Both Ashis and Biranchi are more or less into wildlife photography.
However, he has included only the tribal portraits of Ashis and the playful images of children of Biranchi to highlight unknown aspects of their endeavors. At the same time, it needs to be mentioned that the portraitures of Bonda tribal women of Ashis provide a scope to get an intimate view of their attire and lifestyle. Shiba’s compositions of children and their playfulness are no doubt very captivating.
Ramahari Jena, a senior artist and ace printmaker, has been wielding a camera for a long time. When the medium became digital, like a proficient craftsman, he took it to his stride and went on to make images from all the possible avenues. One of the series of Jena is the images of ‘Jaalis’, the traditional sand or cement casted or carved windows that reveal their fundamental patterns and surprise the viewers with their luminous presence, said Johny ML, the eminent art critic.
There are 64 artistic photographic images on display for public view from 11 am to 5 pm till January 6.
