When art becomes poetry
Aditi Tandon
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, December 2
Sometimes art resembles a poetic composition more than it resembles itself. That’s when it becomes eternal, lending itself to impressions that one can behold forever.
Sanjay Kumbhkarni’s photographs have that very poetic element — one that liberates them from the trammel of idioms and techniques and places them somewhere higher, where a picture becomes a prayer and the process of viewing it becomes meditation.
So it was today, when the very talented photo-artist opened another of his exhibitions at the Punjab Kala Bhavan Art Gallery in Sector 16.
As always, his photographs told nostalgic tales about nature and its endless manifestations.
As you stood close to the magical mélange of images inspired by God, you actually felt the pulse of the moments passing by.
Next came the urge to cling to them and revel in their glory, lest the magic of the moment be lost.
Even if it is lost, the beauty is that you could retrace it to another of Kumbhkarni’s frames that invokes the nature’s core with sheer abandon.
The show is aptly titled, “Have Heart” and all its components almost force you to see the extraordinary in the ordinary.
Also, it is difficult to term these pictures as pictures. They stand out in poetic folds, as was even observed by Mr H.K. Dua, Editor-in-Chief of The Tribune, who inaugurated the show this evening.
Smitten by the artworks, he said: “These are not photographic works. They are poetry. And I will come back to read them.”
Everyone visiting the gallery offered a similar response, underlining the worth of Kumbhkarni’s frames which can be viewed at the gallery till December 8.
As for the themes of compositions, they are as immense as nature itself. Each work bares the best in nature.
From the pear tree in full bloom at the Rirkmar Forest Rest House in Kangra and the dead root of Umbu bush bobbing in the rivers waters to the grasslands around village Godiyara in Mandi and the wildflowers sitting next to a puddle in Mastrang Forests — the show mirrors the many wonders of existence.
The best of all frames traces its roots to Sikander Dhar forests in Mandi. It captures the setting sun in the backdrop of a pine tree. Its caption reads — “Nothing short of love-making — such intimacy between the sun and the pine tree; Believe me, I made this picture with a camera, a film and a pounding heart”.
Each frame inspires; each composition enraptures. You feel as though nature is singing out to you in hushed, romantic tones and in many different ways you have never experienced before.