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Keshav Vitla's photo exhibition caught the canine in many interesting moods.
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LOCATION: BANDSTAND at Cubbon Park, behind the High Court building. Time: early hours of a bright summer day. Main actor: a man sitting on the platform, with his eyes closed, head slightly titled towards the sky, left hand resting on left knee, right hand holding the nose, obviously deep in pranayama.
For photographer Keshav Vitla, however, the real star is the mongrel with a shin brown coat, superbly flexible body stretching as if it was performing an asana. The camera catches it at the precise moment, capturing the swing in the back, outstretched front legs, eyes looking straight ahead, and hind legs erect as poles. A yoga teacher would be impressed!
This is just one of the pictures photojournalist Vitla featured in his exhibition titled The Faithful, which concluded earlier in the week at the Chitrakala Parishat. There were nearly a hundred more photographs in the exhibition, all to do with canines.
The interest and attraction dogs hold for Vitla are nurtured with both concern and curiosity. It is not the canine alone which gets accentuated in the pictures, but also its evocative relationship with man and other beasts as well.
There are several pictures that show Vitla's keen eye and timing, essential ingredients for a good photographer... horse and a dog share their common fodder. A hen stands quizzically, as if wondering whether it is wake-up time for a sleeping canine. In another picture, it is the dog's turn to sit with its tilted-head — gazing at a newspaper-reading man — as if the canine is trying to read "its" side of the paper.
Then, there is a group of people probably waiting for a bus, the face and expression of a dog in the group startlingly close to those of the waiting men.
There are pictures of street children making friends with and cuddling, what else, street dogs. Similarly, an old beggar woman seems to happily lend a portion of her sleeping mat to a mongrel.
Another inspiring shot in the exhibition had a grimacing cat staring at the cameraman — a passing dog and a leaning ladder adding to the unusual angle and content of the picture.
Then there was this touching image of a little boy embracing a dog in his sleep — on a road, in broad daylight. So, it's essentially dogs' day out for Keshav Vitla. Dogs in different moods, situations, actions — sleeping, walking, resting, wading, feeding, swimming ...
One definitely appreciated Vitla's perseverance and single-minded interest in his subject.
Having said this, there was hardly anything extraordinary in terms of technique or creativity in many of Vitla's shots.
One also felt that Vitla should have been more selective about his pictures for the show.
If he was more choosy, maybe half the pictures on show would not have made it to the gallery.
ATHREYA
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