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DULCET MONOCHROMES

Achal Kumar's monochromes at the Palm Court, India Habitat Centre are the stuff of charismatic contours and dulcet compositions in the study of landscapes. When asked what drew him to the realm of monochrome Kumar states: "I believe that monochrome is artistic as a medium, two colours and infinite grey tones in between, captivate my imagination and gets my juices flowing, it also has a rare power to convey a feeling, a mood, a story where the elements are simple but intense. In a world overblown by colour, its a challenge which I readily accept, give it the right treatment, have sought compositions that are both rare and different."
Kumar's repertoire consists of just varied images of trees and you discern his love for nature – a Wordsworthian quest. Kumar affirms, "I like to shoot nature, with its vastness, its beauty, its raw unstoppable forces – it actually sends me into a hypnotic trance where I start imagining it in shades of monochrome and as they say images are made in mind, my thought process goes in an overdrive to create artistic imagery. I started photography in 1970's when colour photography was non-existent. Forms of nature like misty landscapes, and water bodies excite and inspire me immensely, so do sunsets and dawns, here the magic of nature pours out and gives a strong message irrespective of the colours available. I try and capture that raw emotion, that raw beauty in my own way, for example, my image of the sunset in B/W stirs very strong reaction on the viewers as it gives a great feeling."
Kumar learnt the trade from his own father and considers Ansel Adams, S Paul, and T Kashinath as his role models. The retinue of prints in the show unveils both his passion as well as his quiet devotion to both subjects as well as capacity to create images that belong to the oldest subject in the world but which will always provide man with numberless conversations in time.
Unravel the beauty of these monochromes till April 24, from 11 am to 7 pm at the India Habitat Centre.
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