JOIN USThe Hungarian Information and Cultural Centre brought an enthralling photo exhibition by Hungarian-Lithuanian photo artist, Paulius Normantas on March 5. The show titled ‘With A Wandering Lens – Gypsies in India and Hungary’, was naugurated by Rahaab Allana, Curator of the Alkazi Foundation for the Arts.
The exhibition that will be on till March 22, forms a unique sync between the
gypsies in Hungary and India, showcasing the similarities yet the distinctions among them.
Wandering lifestyle of the Gypsy tribes of Rajasthan with beauty, dignity and intense emotions and factual ethnographical report on the already settled Hungarian Gypsy community of Szablocs-Szatmár-Bereg county are the main characteristics of Normantas’ photographs. “These pictures of the two groups is a comparative study through my lens, and that is why the title ‘With A Wandering Lens...’.”
Paulius first came to India in 1991 and has been a regular here since then. “When
I first came here, my assignment was in Ladhak, Kashmir, then West Bengal and Sikkim.” Talking about the difficulties faced during shooting the Gypsies in Rajasthan, he says, “It was not easy to shoot. Children threw stones on me as I was an outsider. They were not even cooperative but this is life and this my work. People
like us have to shoot in extreme situations.”
Paulius Normantas is a travel photographer who has completed 30 expeditions covering Tibet, Kazakistan, India, Russia, Pakistan, Nepal, China, Thailand, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Bhutan, Vietnam and South Korea.
He has had over 44 exhibitions and this is his sixth exhibition in Delhi. He has compiled over 11 books on photography and published five other books, the latest being ‘Four Foot Prints of Buddha – Four Sacred Cities’. This will surely be a treat for photography lovers and those who seek to learn about the gypsies of India and Hungary.