Art Stills Art We hear a lot of kutcheris, the memories of which slowly fade with time, making room for more recent experiences. An alapana heard somewhere, a kalpanaswara that once amazed or an ambience that soothed a nameless agitation may not be etched in the memory though their taste lingered for a while and settled down adding to the richness of experience that grows invisibly within.
Only a few things are capable of digging these out from deep under and surface them for renewed ecstasy and Photographs is one of those rare few. Looking at some of the Photos of our classical musicians and dancers clicked by Photojournalist Aravind Krishna kept on display at the Coffee? (Wonder why he chose that place!) It is clear that they are meant for aiding such recollections of fading experiences. Most of the photos on display are frozen moments from live concerts, thus adding to the aura of kutcheris. And so you have Semmangudi mama, Shashank, T.V.G, Zakir Hussain, Nithyashree, Sowmya, Vinayak Ram, Padma Subramaniam, Vyjayanthi Mala Bali, Revathi, Anitha Ratnam and many more performing for you right there on your work table. All the photos are shot with the available lighting at the hall. However the hallmark effect of Aravind Krishna’s photos, pitch-dark background, is achieved in his dark rooms where he develops them himself. This unlit background gives a surreal effect as though the artist is performing exclusively for you. This has a side effect of building up an unnamed rapport with the artist too. Says Aravind Krishna “At least 40 per cent of the magic happens in the dark room, but there needs to be a good shot that can be improvised at the dark room”. Aravind is a musician himself, a student of mandolin U.Srinivas and more of a rasika also, who takes his job sitting and clicking from the orchestra pits seriously. “From a hobby, photography became a profession and now an obsession that has resulted in several thematic portfolios”, said Aravind. He has created portfolios for several artists and also world music players. Though now based in the USA as software professional, Aravind confesses that his heart belongs to ‘Namma Chennai’, especially during the December season. And finally what is clicking away through the lens mean to this youngster? “It is a passion for me to take pictures and I just love taking pictures. I only hope that I improve on it and work elaborately on wider areas and communicate messages visually,” he says. Sri.T.H.Vikku Vinayakaram inaugurated the Photo exhibition on the 15th of December at the Coffee? Situated on Greenways Road.