Landscape and familiar faces

Photographs at the exhibition

Titled Landbridge and the Soft Smell, this is the third solo exhibition by Alok. The exhibition was inaugurated on August 7 by noted litterateur Kabir Chowdhury. Writer and journalist Shahriar Kabir attended the event as the special guest.

What might strike the viewer's fancy at the first glance is the resemblance of the photographs with paintings. Spellbinding 'landscapes', moving 'portraits', lyrical 'still life' and vibrant 'real life' -- all on large frames.

Beloved Faces series take a close look at women -- ranging from young to middle-aged to old. These are all women who have to toil day in day out to survive. Some of the images show them at work, while some were shot during brief breaks. Beloved Faces-1 shows a young girl carrying a bag of leaves and twigs. The composition is very basic, yet the curious gaze outstanding. Another photograph from the series shows a mother making a wicker basket. Her baby rests nearby, some elderly men chatting away in the background.

Perhaps the one that stands out in the series is that of a woman in a mustard saree with vermilion paar (border), sitting on a bare land. As if to match the surrounding, her bare shoulders are muddy; a sign that she had been working in the fields. She looks away from the camera; her face cannot be seen, seemingly lost in thought.

Landbridge features horse carts carrying sacks, crossing a small bridge. Soundless Walk shows an elderly woman with a walking stick on a hazardous shanko (a makeshift narrow pathway over a canal, made of bamboo). How the decrepit woman made her way on the dangling "excuse of a bridge", is startling.

Life on Boat shows a moment in the bedey (gypsy) life -- chow time. Mothers getting the food ready; children running around. A submerged boat in turquoise water make for a shimmering vision in the photograph At rest. River and Life shows another shade of aquatic surrounding -- people setting what seem to be nets in grey water. Boat, River and Life-2, on the other hand, captures a dark vista, highlighting serene black water.

Landscape captures harvest in the process. The golden paddy and green vegetation make for a refreshing combo. Golden Bangla shows skinned jute being dried. A young one with a gleam on his face peeks through the golden screen.

The images -- familiar yet ever appealing -- make the display a treat for the urban eye used to the shade of concrete.