Conceptual P H O T O G R A P H Y "Living Specters" PLace: Mandawa Village, RAJASTHAN
Kunal Soni (vk) trained as a photographer, walks with his camera on streets known and unknown, trying to capture their essence. The essence of the air grazing from wet to dry land, from foggy to clear skies. When he notices something, at first it seems banal and meaningless, such as this photograph, which comprises of seemingly unrelated characters: a cowshed indicated by its name on the wall, a sharp shadow of the electric pole and a political graffiti and a donkey. This black and white composition is like a performance of what is happening around us and that which has become a nightmare for society. The photograph bears a similar tonality, suggesting doom or a state of lifelessness. The brightness of the picture is piercing to its viewer, just like a blaring sound that has been made silent. It indicates the ongoing struggles in our socio-political surroundings where we have become like silent spectators, sometimes even deaf. There have been numerous accounts of riots and killings on the basis of political and religious differences. The government is shockingly silent on the most pressing issues of the country. Our constitution guarantees us freedom, our hands and legs are not tied but our minds and thinking process are ideologically tied in a manner that we are becoming slaves of irrationality. The donkey in the picture comes across as a specters, a stark reminder of the dark times that we, as citizens, as students, and as mere living beings inhabit.
