Just a sliver of the Capital

It is easy to pick Delhi as subject to be photographed but not every artist can express their thoughts well.

Just two or three frames of Jama Masjid, one typical shot of a rickshaw puller and few more that have been experimented before do not justify what the Capital is all about.

A certain disappointment seeps in when one visits the ongoing exhibition ‘Hues of Delhi’ at India Habitat
Centre. It is quite stressful for a visitor to strain the eyes in order to make out what has been shot by the photographer Gaurang Bhatt. In tiny frames hung up in the foyer of Delhi ‘o’ Delhi, one wonders what to look out for to be able to relate to the city.

A graphic design programmer by profession, Bhatt has though received recognition for his previous work but fails to impress much with this exhibition.

Some shots taken by him (especially of Jama Masjid) are too redundant, in the sense that many photographers exploring Delhi have shown the monument in similar light.

A few other photographs are bit more interesting, but one is unable to admire them due to their small size. Take for instance the picture of qawwals at Nizamuddin Dargah who Bhatt shot last year during the urs. The whole frame is filled with colour and a musical mood is emoted in this particular shot.

In another picture where two waiters are standing near a railing, one takes no time to identify it is the Coffee House in Connaught Place due to a shining board of PVR cinemas caught in the frame.  
      
In one of the motion photographs the impact is so good that it is difficult to believe that the picture hasn’t been ‘photoshopped’. One of these is of a man’s face in focus. Bhatt says, “I took this
photograph from my mobile camera in Metro.”

But such vignettes are few making one wonder about the Delhi beyond Jama Masjid, Nizamuddin and CP. Are there no hues in other parts of the city?

The exhibition ‘Hues of Delhi’ is on view at Delhi ‘O’ Delhi Foyer, India Habitat Centre till  September 30.