Urban transformation captured on camera

BANGALORE: They may seem like fleeting glimpses of an urban India rising amidst the squalor. But an exhibition by six budding photographers, aptly titled 'Urban Changes', captures the quiet dignity of the labour class going about its chores, unruffled by surrounding urban development.
The photographers, three of them from Bangalore, present their perception of the changing urban fabric and, at the same time, showcase their own stylistic approach in their lens work.
Clare Arni, a British photographer based in the city, presents the oldest trades of Mumbai and Bangalore - the fishing communities of Worli and Machimanagar in Mumbai and the silk dyers and weavers of Chickpet. "I decided to capture these two trades which are reeling under the threat of accelerated urban growth," says Arni. The silky sheen of the yarn and the steamy backrooms of the silk trade are vividly displayed in her exhibits.
Adopting a contemporary art-meets documentary style of photography, Bangalore-based Mahesh Shantaram pursues self-assigned ideas. He explores urbanity and its consequences with a special focus on a typical middle-class neighbourhood, where he lives, by observing the relationships between the residents and their built environment . The photograph of a car parked near a house and an aircraft on the apron with only a wall separating the two has its own story to tell.
Sri Lanka-based Alefiya Akbarally's photographic panorama of the famous Dhobi Ghats in Mumbai explores how space has become the most traded commodity in an urban landscape. Her lens pans the underlying irony where washerfolk wash the filth of the urban class in a separate enclosure to keep the city clean. The scene of skyscrapers in the backdrop with their lights twinkling against the night sky, and the lit dhobi ghat in the foreground, speaks of this divide.
Art teacher Sohail Abdullah from Karachi captures the essence of a typical street scene on his digital camera.
"Every image speaks of a time and this connection between time and image is as vital as the relationship of perception with memory ," he says of his work on display .
Titled 'View', Mumbai-based artist Baptist Coelho's display represents a continuing series of work which explores the spaces around the Western Railway line where commuters, along with various modes of transport, fight for their existence.
Using photography as an art form, these lens artists portray the hidden beauty of the coexistence of a rural and urban India amidst the chaos.
The exhibition is being held at Max Mueller Bhavan, Indiranagar, till July 31.