A tribute to O.P. Sharma (b. 1937), a modern master of analogue photography in the subcontinent, the exhibition presents over 150 vintage prints from his archive, on view for the very first time. These images were produced in one of Delhi’s earliest post-independence darkrooms at Modern School, where he taught photography from 1958 to 2000, and later at Triveni Kala Sangam, where he directed the photography department since 1980 with his wife, and acclaimed artist-photographer herself, the late Chitrangada Sharma. The photographs range from immaculately developed, classic silver gelatin prints to complex montages created by combining techniques, with vibrant avant-garde effects produced through experimental processes – collage, multiple exposures, photograms and solarization.
Through Sharma, the exhibition maps this hitherto unexplored second wave of Pictorialism post 1947. This show is a preliminary excavation of both an artist’s legacy as well as an elided photographic history of analogue printmaking and experimentation in India which saw the development of photo clubs and salons (exhibitions) across the country, in cities like Kanpur, Ahmedabad, Indore, Nainital, amongst others. Apart from the practices and practitioners forgotten, there’s an attempt to expose the committed, whimsical and optimistic world of the Pictorialists who created alternative spaces towards the recognition of photography as an art form, even while using documentary images (landscape and portraits) as a starting point for images that would become collages and montages with different effects.
Apart from its unique, experimental, avant-garde aesthetics, Sharma’s oeuvre also intersects with iconic moments in the popular history of 1970s commercial Hindi cinema. Introduced to working in the Bollywood film industry by actor Sajjan Lal Purohit (1921–2000), Sharma was involved with a few iconic films. The four films in which Sharma worked alongside his wife Chitrangada as a stills cameraman include – Do Boond Paani (1971), a social drama on the water crisis and its clash with the government’s welfare agenda; Siddhartha (1972), an Indian-American period production on the journey of self-discovery based on the German-Swiss writer, Hermann Hesse’s novel; Chhupa Rustam (1973) a classic Bollywood caper celebrating the stardom of the industry’s veterans like Dev Anand, Hema Malini; and Shalimar (1978), the first Indo-American production in Indian cinema starring megastars from Bollywood (Dharmendra, Zeenat Aman) as well as Hollywood (Rex Harrison, Sylvia Miles).
A lifelong enthusiast of Hindustani classical music and poetry, Sharma’s encounters with the stalwarts of Hindustani music like Begum Akhtar, Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali as well as celebrated Hindi and Urdu poets like Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Sumitranandan Pant, ‘Agyeya’ (S.H. Vatsyayan), and a host of others, are documented in his intimate series of artists’ portraits which present the range of creative and intellectual collaborations, conversations, friendships which marked O.P. Sharma’s practice. Since most of these images were taken in Delhi, they also become a collective portrait of a city in a unique cultural moment apart from, retrospectively being a homage to these artists.
A rich contribution to regional and world photography, the cosmopolitan oeuvre of Sharma, a dedicated practitioner, collector and educator including fine art and documentary, portraiture and pictorialism, impels us to reassess the pivotal role of an individual in shaping the institutional landscape of photographic practice in post-independence India. For Sharma, who would become instrumental in having August 19th declared as World Photography Day since 1991, his educative role in forming photographic societies and communities is evident through the inauguration of the Amateur Photographic Society of Agra (1959) and formations of the Foto Arte Group (1960s) and the India International Photographic Council (IIPC, 1983).
This was also the motivation behind a series of do-it-yourself books in Hindi and English, authored by Sharma, which strove to give its readers a hands-on experience of photography tailored to Indian subject matter and conditions. Sharma’s work has been acquired internationally by institutions across the world including in the USA, Germany, Finland and Switzerland among others. Having been a Fellow of the Royal Photographic Society of London, over the years he has won many awards including the Stuyvesant Peabody Award (USA), the Pentax World Award (Japan) and the Merilon Award (Singapore) among innumerable others.
O.P. Sharma (b. 1937) is a self-taught, highly esteemed Pictorialist photographer and pedagogue active in the latter half of the twentieth century. In a career spanning almost five decades, Sharma founded the roots of modern experimental photography in India, also becoming a pioneer of the same. His work has been widely exhibited in national and international salons and exhibitions including Oregon State Fair (U.S.A), Gallery of Famous Artists (Brazil), Hong Kong International Salon, and many others. His outstanding record of 450 acceptances and over a 100 awards in these salons remains an exceptional feat among artist-photographers of his times. He ahs also had over 40 one-man shows to his credit. His role in laying the foundations of institutions devoted to photography is marked by groups like Amateur Photographic Societies (APS) of Agra and Lucknow, Foto Arte Group (FAG), and the India International Photographic Council (IIPC). He has been bestowed with the Honorary Associateship of the Royal Photographic Society, London (ARPS), Federation of International Dela Art Photography (AFIAP), as well as Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA). He has also authored books on the life and works of fellow pictorialists like Vision from the Inner Eye: The Photographic Art of A. L. Syed (2006), along with a series of do-it-yourself books in Hindi and English which strove to give its readers a hands-on experience of practical photography and the intricacies of the printing processes.
Creative Support
Aseem Sharma is professional photographer and artist with over three decades of experience. Trained at institutes like Modern School, Triveni Kala Sangam and Asian Academy of Film & Television, he has worked on wide-ranging projects from Pictorial and Studio work to Advertising, Nature, and Wildlife photography. He has been the recipient of more than 120 Awards and over 350 certificates at National and International level like the BBC Wildlife Contest Award in 2001, and PSA Gold Exhibitor Grade in 2002. His participation in over 410 National and International photographic exhibitions, salons, and competitions is nothing short of remarkable. Sharma has achieved more than 3200 Acceptances in the same, and is conferred with Fellowships and Associateships from various photographic bodies worldwide like the Honorary Fellowship of Pakistan Salon Group (FPSG) in 2011, Fellowship of India International Photographic Council (FIIPC) in 2015, amongst others. Apart from this, he has conducted over 60 successful Photography Workshops in India, Sri Lanka, Africa and Nepal. Along with photography he is also a practitioner of painting and interior designing. Currently, Aseem Sharma heads one of India’s reputed photography institutions located in New Delhi- Camera Art Institute. He is also the current General Secretary and Chairman of Nature & Wildlife Workshops Division of India International Photographic Council.
About the Curator
Sukanya Baskar is a curator and researcher, focussing on photography and the moving image. Her curatorial and graphic design practice have evolved alongside archives, through her book design, exhibitions and independent research projects. She has worked on a number of book design projects, including magazines such as PIX and the photobook, ‘Witness: Kashmir 1986–2016 / Nine Photographers’, featured on the New York Times’ list of Best of photobooks of 2017. She has worked as an independent researcher with organisations such as the Alkazi Foundation for the Arts, Light Industry and the UnionDocs Center for Documentary Art. Her current research involves studying the overlapping histories of photography and magazine culture in India. She is a graduate from the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad and the Center for Curatorial Studies, (CCS) at Bard College, New York.