Tasveer & Exhibit 320 are pleased to present a solo exhibition of Mahesh Shantaram’s most recent body of work, The African Portraits that documents the lives of Africans living in India through a series of intimate portraits. The exhibition will be on view from 2nd June to 16th June 2017 at Exhibit 320.
Following an increasing number of racial attacks in India in the recent past, and particularly spurred by the shocking attack of a young Tanzanian woman by a mob in January 2016 in Bangalore, Mahesh Shantaram set out on a project to increase awareness of the everyday racism and discrimination faced by Africans in India. Beginning with Bangalore, he travelled to Jaipur, Delhi and Manipal, choosing to particularly focus on students, as they are an extremely small and vulnerable group; having nowhere to go to seek redressal for their injustices in a society that is so prejudiced against them.
With this project, Shantaram, a subjective-documentary photographer turns to formal portraiture for the first time. Each photograph in this ongoing project is preceded by time shared between Shantaram and his subject. This allows for the development of trust and a level of comfort and ease — reflected both in front of the lens and behind-the-scenes, in the stories they share with him. The fact that most of these images are taken at night adds to the atmosphere of intimacy captured; and the stillness of the night is accentuated by the fact that Shantaram opts for slow shutter speeds that require posing for longer periods of time.
If African Portraits provides an impression, a visual reckoning of this minority community in India — Shantaram completes the picture, as it were, quite literally, by publishing the individual stories of his subjects in a bi-weekly format on TheWire.in. Caroline Bertram, in an original text on the exhibition, writes, “Shantaram admits that given the political nature of this project, he has stepped beyond the role of the artist and photographer to being a blogger and activist as well. Much of his photography on the topic thus far, is research in progress, and each portrait plays a part in unravelling the complex web of experiences of Africans in India, that put together, paint a picture of loneliness, placelessness and a sense of hostility.”
Forcing viewers to look beyond stereotypes, Shantaram’s emotionally resonant portraits attempt to bring the stories and lives of Africans in India to the conscious attention of the larger Indian public. Drawing attention to the individuality and humanity of his subjects, these photographs highlight the necessity of acknowledging and addressing the racism they face — and point towards the plurality of Africans, who hail from several different countries and societies and are yet nevertheless, unfairly and ignorantly branded in India by their continent of origin and colour of skin.
Signed, limited edition prints are available for sale through Exhibit 320 and Tasveer.
