(This is) not that

<p><img src="http://data.imagup.com/9/1119003600.jpg" alt="parution" width="709" height="558"></p>

<p><strong>Brijesh</strong> a été  sélectionné pour le <strong>Prix Pictet en 2011</strong>.</p> <p>Basé à Londres, c’est un photographe freelance spécialisé dans la photographie documentaire et éditoriale.</p> <p>Son travail personnel reflète son vif intérêt pour l'Inde moderne, ses changements sociaux et économiques qui bouleversent profondément les modes de vie de centaines de millions d’Indiens.</p> <p>Ces bouleversements le touchent d’autant plus qu’il a quitté l’Inde très jeune ; ce qui lui permet d’ailleurs un regard objectif sur les mutations rapides qui affectent l’Inde.<br>Il a remporté de nombreux prix; les plus récents sont <strong>Joan Wakelin Bourse de la Royal Photographic Society,</strong> le journal <strong>« Guardian »</strong> et <strong>Winston Churchill Fellowship Award</strong>.</p> <p> </p> <p>Un petit aperçu</p> <p> </p> <p><img src="http://data.imagup.com/5/1117175273.jpg" alt="" width="600" height="466"></p> <p> </p> <p><img src="http://data.imagup.com/5/1117175397.jpg" alt="" width="600" height="469"></p> <p> </p> <p><img src="http://data.imagup.com/5/1117175430.jpg" alt="" width="600" height="473"></p> <p> </p> <p><img src="http://data.imagup.com/6/1117175455.jpg" alt="" width="600" height="486"></p>

In his photomontage projects, Dalal examines autobiographical and architectural sites in India and explores his sense of legacy with each. In the series Chowpatty he considers the sweeping horseshoe bay of his native city Mumbai, appropriating a 19thcentury panorama as a baseline from which to build a splintered collage of images of churning seascapes and scraggly palm trees. In all his work, Dalal reappraises his earlier assumptions, creating a sense of critical memoir by using a variety of photo genres, multiple moments, time periods, and a range of textures within the frame of a single montaged image. <img src="http://www.re-title.com/public/artists/4834/1/Pradeep-Dalal-2.jpg" alt=""> Go West (Baldwin) 2006, 30 x 40 in., Dig.C-print The potency of a single distilled image, or even a sequence of such images, no matter how beautiful, is something Dalal questions. Montage is a more robust means to bring together disparate – even contradictory – aspects of his experiences. <br><br>The photomontages in Go West are autobiographical, in that they are assembled from his family snapshots, favorite music, mother’s embroidery, prints of laburnum and palm trees and champa flowers from Mumbai streets, as well as photographs of monuments and sites visited on family outings, including his first trip outside India. This series is an attempt to make sense of an early awareness of the West now filtered through the dubious hindsight of an immigrant. These images are made in real time on a digital scanner. Dalal uses his fingers, palms, knuckles and arms to grab, place, hold, nudge, jog, sweep, and shake the many different ingredients of the photomontage. In the results, he welcomes both the grating friction among the various parts of the montage and the moments when the seams dissolve and the juxtaposed bits coagulate fluently. Slivers of memory surface briefly and disappear. <img src="http://www.re-title.com/public/artists/4834/1/Pradeep-Dalal-3.jpg" alt=""> Go West (Bhabhi) 2006, 30 x 40 in., Dig.C-Print

<h1>January 31, 2011</h1> <p>Mahesh Shantaram is a photographer based in Bangalore, India. His work has appeared in numerous online and print publications and has been exhibited both in India and abroad. At 33, he still has never driven a car.</p> <p><strong>What got you started taking photographs in the first place?</strong><br><br> In early 2005 while living in Washington, DC my life was rapidly spiraling downhill and I was desperately looking for an escape. Instead of resorting to various banned substances I chose to buy a camera. Photography became that escape I sought and it soon became clear to me that I could go deeper into this. So I quit my job, went to Paris to study photography for a year, and moved back to Bangalore in 2006 to start a new life as a photographer.</p> <p><strong>How has your work as a photographer changed your relationship to your surroundings?</strong><br><br> My brief time in the United States was an invaluable learning experience. I was always a foreigner trying to cope with the trivial matters of daily life. It was absolutely liberating to be back home within a familiar value system. Today, my work stems from the reignited Indian-ness I feel within, whereas international experience moderates my creative temper.</p> <p>Photography has become the way in which I relate to my surroundings. It gives me an excuse to connect with and reinterpret childhood fantasies and fears. My work from airports and weddings is a play on exactly this sentiment.</p> <a href="http://www.mammothcollection.com/products/soldier-under-wing"><img src="http://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0056/4072/files/Soldier_under_wing_large.jpg?1293403006" alt=""></a>   <strong>Solider Under Wing</strong><br><strong> </strong>by Mahesh Shantaram <p><strong>You've talked about "celebrating the mundane" in your work, avoiding the exotic. Why is that important to you?</strong> </p> <p>Elephants, snake charmers, and the Taj Mahal were not what I saw when I took up photography. I want to convey a sense of my reality in this country (India), at these exciting times, where even the not-so-pretty is worth a look and inspires introspection.<br><br><strong>Is it true you still haven't ever driven a car? </strong><br>  <br>This is true, and it's many things rolled in one -- a boycott against a fuel-guzzling lifestyle, a means of living within one's means (why do I need four wheels when two will do?), and it always seems as if Bangalore can't take one more car! <strong><br></strong></p> <a href="http://www.mammothcollection.com/products/conveyor-belt"><img src="http://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0056/4072/files/Conveyor_belt_large.jpg?1293403006" alt=""></a><br><strong>Conveyor Belt<br> by Mahesh Shantaram </strong> <p><strong>What do you have to say to the person who's just purchased one of your photographs?</strong><br><br>Thank you for showing support for contemporary Indian photography! And congratulations on investing in art.</p> <p><strong><br> What's next for Mahesh Shantaram? Anything coming up that we should be watching out for?</strong> <br>  <br> As an artist I've kept a low profile so far as I've been very focussed on creating my work. But that is going to change this year! Ah, I could tell you more if only I weren't restricted by these Non-Disclosure-Agreements... (I always wanted to say that!)</p>