Tripping on travel

Ritam Banerjee

Three immensely talented artists who also happen to be friends discovered that they had two things in common - their love for travel, the ability to see things differently and capture them with their lens for the rest of the world to witness as well. The result - an exhibition of photographs collected from their travels.

Sona Bahadur loves to photograph inanimate objects

"Arzan, Ritam and I were sitting at Arzan's studio and talking about how much we love to travel and enjoy photography; this conversation led to us thinking, ‘Why not put our photographs from our travels together?' The theme is bordering on quirky and eccentric. It's about finding stories in unlikely places," says journalist and writer Sona Bahadur.

Ritam Banerjee shares a frame from his travels in Africa

Her collection, however, does have a sub-theme within the travel genre. "My photographs have little human element. Inanimate things speak to me. My pictures are minimalist and have a play of colours that are mainly muted backdrops with a dash of colours. Some of my pictures have been cropped and edited while most were composed the way they are," she explains.

Arzan Khambatta likes to photograph details

Popular sculptor Arzan Khambatta will be exhibiting his photographs for the first time. "I have been interested in photography for a long time.

I would take interesting pictures and post these on Facebook. A lot of my photographer friends would say that I have an unusual way of doing things.

The feedback was great. I like details more than a full image. I love architecture, humour and expressions of people. One of the things I've done is to shoot different people in different locations and put them together in one frame as if they were together," he shares. "This is new for me and I am still experimenting. Ritam's work is technically perfect. I look at him for advice and for criticism too," he confesses.

The only professional photographer among the trio, Ritam Banerjee has never understood the need to create a niche. He has shot across categories like travel, photojournalism, advertising, interiors, portraits, automobiles, fashion, food, and has always sought inspiration and challenge in variety. "I will be presenting photographs from all five continents.

I like shooting people. Everyone is unique and every new place has its charm," he reveals. "This time, I will try something new - by creating an anti-gravity installation art," he quips adding quickly that there would be no fun if he described it to us.

Music, by Sana Hamid, Sarosh Nanavati and Aazin Printer plays a crucial role. It includes five tracks based on the sounds that each artist heard on their trips. "Ritam's work has Mexican guitar, Flamenco, sounds from Thailand and African Zulu music. Similarly each artist including the owner of the gallery described the mood and sounds from their travels to me," says Printer.