‘Street photography is like hunting; you need intuition, speed and a loaded gun’: Pablo Bartholomew | Eye News,The Indian Express

A walk-through with the photographer at an ongoing Delhi exhibition on street photography, and on why the split-second matters and the dance between revelation and secrecy

IT’S IN the walking, in the unexpected, the unknown, in the-just-around-the-corner moment. Street photography has always been a craft that turned the ordinary into something magical. One such is Ketaki Sheth’s photograph ‘Jain Nuns’, Walkeshwar Road (Bombay, 1989). Against the dark backdrop of a building are two figures in white, their identity masked by their covered heads, walking away from the pull of parked cars. The photograph lets you interact with the surroundings as if you are actually there. Another such is Sooni Taraporevala’s photograph, ‘Women of Kamathipura’ (Bombay, 1987). This well-known shot presents the uncertainty of the moment as it compels one to engage with the streetscape and the people in the frame.

These are part of the exhibition at Delhi’s Photoink gallery where 23 black-and-white photographs from the archives of Sheth, Pablo Bartholomew, Raghu Rai and Taraporevala present the poetry of street photography. Curated by Devika Daulet-Singh, “The Passerby”, which closes on June 26, takes one back to simpler times. “A time,” reads the gallery note, “when permission and consent were not negotiated in writing and the photographer could photograph with tacit understanding from passers-by.”

From 1970 to 2000, called the golden period of photography, these images capture the everyday on city streets, from posing eunuchs to cart pushers, sleeping men to horses and cars. In this interview, Delhi-based Bartholomew, 66, talks about how street photography has changed, the performance and drama of it, and why it calls for a loaded gun.

Excerpts:

How is street photography today different from the Seventies and Eighties?

https://indianexpress.com/article/express-sunday-eye/street-photography-hunting-you-need-intuition-speed-and-a-loaded-gun-pablo-bartholomew-7966557/


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