Emulsion Art Exhibition
It gives me immense pleasure to share with you all that I recently got an opportunity to take part in group art exhibition ‘Emulsion’ in Indore. I was so happy and excited that I decided to share my personal experience at this event with you all. This art exhibition featured the work of seven photographers and four sculptors. This was held at Indore's "Canaries Art Gallery." The event began at 5:30 p.m. on September 16, 2016 and lasted until September 20, 2016.
Details of participant & event is as given below:
Image 1 : Invitation for the event & Participants
BEFORE EVENT
After a nearly three-year long break, I took part in a group art exhibition called "Emulsion," which featured photographers and sculptors. I find the processes of preparation, printing, mounting, framing, and display to be a little stressful. Because it seems difficult to store and maintain the work after the show, I'm hesitant to take part in exhibitions. This may be due to the fact that I began using a digital camera for photography (I started doing this after 2006) and that I posted the majority of my images online on my websites, Facebook, and photo-sharing websites.
My photography work had nearly ceased for about a year, except for maybe a few clicks here and there. It's difficult to restart a shooting career if interest wanes. During this time, one can start clicking, participate in art-related activities, visit exhibitions, or simply keep exploring the work of those you follow. But instead, I find myself avoiding all of these activities, particularly not visiting Facebook and other photo sharing sites. Time constraints brought on by hectic schedules and the tendency to only think about ideas without trying to put them into action are the main causes of work getting stuck. I think that such a phase doesn't need a good justification, but a new beginning does, in my opinion.
But once I got going, I realised that I was beginning to enjoy my working style. Because this exhibition was planned on such short notice, I was once more on the fence about taking part. However, senior photographer Mr. Tanveer Farooqui ji took the initiative and was charged with handling the issues that had previously prevented me from taking part. This left me with the task of choosing and getting the files ready for printing. This also occurred with similar assistance from senior photographer Mr. Upendra Upadhya ji for my most recent exhibition, "Photon," in 2013. I merely agreed to it because I believed it would help my photography work gain more momentum. This time, I was confident in showing off my most recent collection of macro photographs, which were taken over the past few months.
I've been working on everyday subjects for a few years now because I enjoy the process of discovering beauty in these ordinary subjects. I'd like to continue on that topic, hoping that long breaks will be limited in the future.
ABOUT THE DISPLAY
Subject of Displayed Work : Beauty in leaves.
Image 2 : My Ten displayed images in the exhibition
About the theme: Certainly, flowers are beautiful, but that doesn't mean leaves aren't, either! It's my little way of trying to get your attention on the lovely things about leaves. I believe pearls are formed when an oyster receives a drop of rain or dew, but I have seen them glitter like a pearl on the leaves. I tried to capture and present the pure sound of "OM" in these leaves as well as the contours of butterflies, stars, and even butterflies.
DISPLAYED IMAGE
Since my previous exhibitions, I have been practicing the exercise of creating tiny thumbnails of the images to be displayed in order to finalize the arrangement for the final display. This saves a huge amount of time during gallery installation. Additionally, it prevents last-minute confusion about arrangements. Due to my liking the way they all complemented one another, I decided to mount ten images in two rows on the same wall.
DURING THE EVENT
Along with other well-known photographers from Indore, I participated, and I saw it as a learning opportunity. Although there are many tutorials on the internet and in books discussing technical aspects of photography, there are very few that explore aesthetics. This can be acquired by speaking with senior artists, photographers, and painters to understand their perspectives on the artwork that is on display. Seeing the different levels of reaction to the displayed art from a regular person to a senior artist also enriched my life.
Event Images with Shriram Jog ji, Hemshankar Pathal ji & kirti pandya (Photo Courtesy Balwant Chouhan)
The most important aspect was interacting with the participants, other artists, and friends. I enjoy receiving feedback on my work, especially from painters, because I focus primarily on shapes, patterns, and colours. I'm pleased to report that I received a lot of positive feedback as well as insightful observations and recommendations.
Slideshow : Images from the event (Photo Courtesy Tanveer Farooqui ji & Balwant Chouhan)
The event's most interesting highlight was meeting renowned theatre artist Mr. Shriram Jog ji. I happened to see him perform in a Marathi drama called "Kahi Teri Kara Re" at Devi Ahilya Vishwavidyalaya in Indore. The owner of "Vaibhav Nursery," Kirti Pandya, paid a visit to the gallery, which was another highlight. With his gracious assistance, I have been photographing at his nursery for about 8 to 9 years as I have wished. It was very touching to see his acceptance that he had developed a new perspective on these plants after looking through the images that were on display.
A WORD ON PHOTOSHOP PROCESSING HYPE
The majority of viewers, I noticed, seemed preoccupied with evaluating how the effect was created or to what extent it was edited. Actually, I had the same thoughts earlier, but I stopped doing that. I think it takes the artistic vision of a creator to achieve the desired effect using any available tools, and according to me one should not impose any constraints on how you view things. One ought to be allowed to approach a subject however he pleases if he is not aiming for scientific documentation. The subject's natural beauty must be preserved while keeping treatment to a minimum. When I see other people's work, I just ask myself if it's working for me or not, regardless of the method used to achieve the result.
I completely understand the human desire to understand the process, but I find it utterly unconvincing to make judgments solely based on how something is processed. It should be remembered that in the past, when using film cameras, a photographer would process the images in a darkroom to get the desired result.
In photography, the word "editing" seems to have a lot of different meanings. When someone asks or says, "Edit kiya hain kya?," it appears that they are already convinced that processing tools can accomplish anything, including automatically turning a mediocre photo into an exceptional one. As opposed to that, I consider these tools to be enhancing already beautiful images. Editing process can be subdivided into basic, advanced, and creative.
Basic: Adjustment brightness, contrast, colors, cropping & rotation.
Advanced: Adjustment by basic editing + cloning small areas, dodging, burning etc.
Creative: Advanced editing + merging different images, adding elements not present in original frame.
Most of the time, simple or sophisticated editing is sufficient for my style of photography. Anyhow, this subject is endless and somewhat debatable. I also believe that occasionally the processing tools have lost a little bit of respect due to overuse (resulting in an unnatural look).
It will be more beneficial for them if they try to understand the viewpoint of an artist rather than concentrating on technical questions at such an event, which is my kind advice to beginning photographers.
CONCLUSION
The event ran from 3 to 8 p.m., and since I didn't want to miss a single piece of feedback, I made an effort to spend as much time as I could in the gallery. I was fortunate to receive insightful comments from viewers about the differences between printing on canvas and paper, the fine composition improvements in the images that were displayed, compliments on colour schemes, and information about plants that was genuinely fascinating.
I'd also like to thank everyone who participated, especially the seniors, for giving me a chance to exhibit my work alongside theirs. Throughout the event, I also look to them for advice. It's impossible to list every single detail because the event lasted almost five days. I sincerely appreciate everyone's kind comments and admiration for the work that was on display. This involvement will undoubtedly fuel my continued interest in photography.
Because this event was planned on such short notice, it's possible that I didn't get to invite many of you. We made every effort to invite people via Facebook, Whatsapp, email, and text messages. In such a case, I ask for forgiveness because I made a human error. I'd also like to thank all of our friends, followers, and visitors for spending time with us and providing encouraging feedback. I'd also like to thank those who were unable to attend this event; I completely understand their personal reasons. I am already overwhelmed by the response and hope that they will continue to show their support for my work.
