Hyderabad, January 22: When Hyderabadi photographer Madhu Reddy returned to San Francisco to visit her home of 15 years, she presented her work at a local photography event — Open Show.
“I presented at Open Show, Bay Area in June and it was so great,” shared Madhu, continuing, “In fact, I had such a great time at Open Show, SF, that I talked to Tim, the producer, about taking the Open Show concept forward and to other places. Rachel, another presenter at the event, had the same idea. And now she is the co-producer of the Open Show in Cairo and I am the co-producer for the event in India.”
And a few short months later Madhu was setting up India’s first Open Show, here in the city, at Lamakaan. So what is Open Show all about? “Open Show is a platform for photographers and filmmakers to present their work. It is a place where all those who are interested can gather to see the work of not-yet-established photographers and filmmakers and then spend the rest of the evening in discourse,” explained Madhu at the beginning of the show, continuing “Open Show is a place where you can teach, learn and explore new ideas. Presenters will have the benefit of on the spot feedback.” And that is a sentiment that is reiterated in Open Show’s catchphrase — “Be seen, get inspired.”
The first person to present was NID graduate Neha Malhotra. She presented a series of photographs of a 108 year old building in Ahmedabad titled The Silent Hustle. “It used to be an office for a stock market, but now it’s completely abandoned,” said Neha during the course of her presentation, continuing, “Everything has been left as it was — the ledgers, the fans and Acs, the furniture. It was kind of spooky, but visually very exciting.”
And it was true — the gloom, dust and disrepair that might cause the most efficient housekeeper to wince made for some beautiful photographs.
The second presentation of the night was by Bhaskar Dutta, who was presenting a series of photographs he had clicked while in-flight titled A Window In The Sky. “It’s really quite difficult to take pictures through a plane window. First you have to place your lens really close to the window, so as to avoid any reflections. But can’t actually touch the window itself — too much vibration! But it is a good thing that it is no longer illegal to click photographs from planes,” explained Dutta. Gorgeous skyscapes and bird’s-eye-view landscapes were the focus of this presentation.
Perhaps the most fascinating presentation of the night was by Edson Dias, who was presenting on behalf of the Goa Centre of Alternative Photography. Through The Pinhole, which was the title of the presentation, was a collection of photographs captured using a variety of alternative cameras, primarily the archaic pinhole camera. One of the photographs, a portrait of a woman, had been clicked using a magnifying glass as a lens. “The camera itself was a large 6×6 feet box which doubled up as a blackroom. After we shot the picture, we had to develop the picture inside the camera!,” said Dias.
The fourth presentation was one of Hyderabad’s so called chor bazaar, the Thursday market a Dhoolpet, by Srinivas Bobbilli. Titled Jumeraat Recycle, the series featured photographs of a multitude of street vendors selling the strangest stuff. One picture depicted a man sitting on a stool beside a rows of food processors. Another pictured three disembodies mannequin heads.
The last presentation of the night was a documentary film by Samuel Yerraguntla and Juan Jose Botero titled Rwanda Rushya, which translates to ‘A New Day In Rwanda’. The movie was a heart-wrenching look at the aftermath of the Rwandian genocide of 1994. “Everyone you meet there is either a victim or perpetrator,” said Juan, continuing, “Being from a country as war torn as Columbia, I though I would be able to deal with the situation in Rwanda. 14 years after the genocide, and it was still too awful. And still the survivors managed to get on with their lives, smiles on their faces.”
Six presenters and a large and enthusiastic audience, there was no doubt that the inaugural edition of Open Show Hyderabad was a success. “So many people came up to me to ask when the next Open Show event would be after the event!,” beamed Madhu, continuing, “I’m also coordinating an Open Show event in Bangalore, and there another one in the pipeline for Delhi. We will definitely be making Open Show a monthly event.”
–Agencies