FIFTH COLUMN

Stills

By C K Lal

Photography is an expensive, but fascinating hobby. I tried my hand at it for sometime in the early seventies. Color photography was still new at that time, primarily because processing facilities were not available locally. Photo studios collected the film, sent it to Bangkok and delivered photos after a few days.

In addition to being costly and cumbersome, the method had risks too-sometimes even the whole envelope of photos got changed. I remember once I sent a film full of landslides and what I got back was somebody’s marriage memories. By the time color-labs mushroomed in the valley, I had grown out of my obsession.

However, more than my color prints, I used to revel in the magic of black and white photographs. They appeared so real, but yet, somehow different from reality. Color photos were overpowering, but black and white ones forced the viewer to think, to contemplate, to imagine, and to go beyond what was visible.

I was transported to those days of my passion by an innocuous invitation from a photographers’ organisation that is hosting the second national photo exhibition at the art gallery opposite Babar Mahal. I think my good friend Basant Thapa was behind the invitation. Tied as I was, it was difficult to attend the inauguration ceremony, but interests can overpower compulsions of routine and I did make it to the event.

Over the years, I feel that the difference between the outstanding and the mundane has narrowed significantly at photo exhibitions of this type. There is some kind of an uniformity in the quality of works on display. May be because I still prefer the beauty, and what I consider the depth, of black and white photos; it was a little sad for me to see the number of color exhibits growing. But that’s perhaps the sign of the times.

Another thing that struck me was the penchant of some photographers in coming up with amusing or outlandish or clever tittles for their photos. Even more interesting were the exhibits with ‘untitled’ stuck a tittles. Photo journalist Usha Tiwari also showed some reservations about them.

In my opinion, an image does say a thousand words, but putting a tittle still may not be a bad idea. However, purpose of the tittle should be to identify a photo, not to explain it, for the explanation of the same photo may vary from person to person. Playing with words is a different art-form altogether, and it’s not always possible to create a fusion of a moving photograph captioned with a meaningful text, less so when it’s the same person being an expert of both disciplines.

To admire fine art needs certain aptitude and perception, but photography can impress an artist and a lay-person alike. That was the impression with which I left the gallery, happy at an evening well spent.