Human-inspired themes

The beautiful year-long journey of seventeen young photography students was captured in the 9th Annual Graduate Photography Exhibition at Sri Aurobindo Centre for Arts and Communication (SACAC). At the celebration, students got a chance to meet and interact with renowned filmmaker, Anurag Kashyap as he inaugurated the ceremony. The exhibition featured the works of students across different genres of photography including documentary, conceptual and portraiture presented in forms such as installation and prints and each one had their own personal touch to it.

After looking at all the photographs at the graduation exhibition, Anurag Kashyap said, “I am quite stunned. So many images tell a story in itself, some images are haunting and each one of them is so distinct from each other. After looking at each one of them, I can just say that some of them have found themselves while they were on it and some are still finding but they are still very strong.”

The place was illuminated with diyas and photographs captured by the students. For over 3 to 4 months, each one of them did painstaking research on a project idea and came up with interesting photographs. The exhibition covered interesting themes such as Acid attack victims standing and smiling in front of their favourite monuments, the everyday story of  the capital’s metro through its people, the rise of Indian cities and some powerful images of Birlanagar- a suburb in Gwalior that came into existence because of industrial development, War Veterans: The Untold Story and Rohingya Refugees and their personal, social and economic condition. 

Some photographers delved deep within and came up with thoughtful pictures of their Nightmares- of fears and anxieties, battle within- a fight between right and wrong, Death and its universality. Some turned  their lens on hitherto unsung sections of society such as heroes of the tracks- the faceless people working tirelessly to keep the largest network of railways in the world functional, Abandoned spaces- an exploration of abandoned factories, The Car Walahs- owners of toy cars and Men and their struggles and Men, Metal & Machines- which captures the special relationship between the workers at Asia’s largest metal-junk trade yard with the lifeless machinery.

Anurag Kashyap further added, “Some have gone so far deep into their personal space and put it all out in their pictures. I envy the students because they are so good. Each individual is developed and found their own passions and that is what makes their photographs so powerful and intense. I don’t think I have ever spent this much time watching an exhibition It’s extremely difficult for me to articulate what I felt during this time.”