In earlier conversations with The Hindu, celeb photographer G Venket Ram has enthralled readers with myriad tales about his relationship with Chennai and images.
He has recounted his childhood in George City; spoken of sprinting down Napier bridge at daybreak; narrated a narrative of by accident stopping a practice while carrying a crimson T-shirt; and had quipped about spending time clicking picture-perfect photographs of actor Suriya’s abs.
Over time, readers have watched this lensman experiment with types and vogue, displaying sides of town peeking via his persona. This time, a sticky {photograph} in a 100-year-old household album has inspired him to meditate on two everlasting abstractions whereas town stays the background — nostalgia and distinction.
An image of G Venket Ram’s grandparents
| Picture Credit score:
Particular Association
“Have you ever seen these outdated albums which are considerably falling aside, with images sticking to one another? I chanced upon one such album with a marriage portrait of my nice grandfather and nice grandmother from the Twenties and the picture struck me,” he says.
In it, the couple — Dr Ramadheni Seshagiri Rao and Ranganayaki Bandala — dressed of their wedding ceremony finery could be seen exuding two vastly distinct feelings. The photograph in black and white, reveals the younger physician in a dapper go well with, tie and well-constructed footwear, a lot resembling the Englishmen who dominated over the nation then.
A side-by-side of the fashions shot by G Venket Ram evaluating the style of Twenties and current day.
| Picture Credit score:
G Venket Ram
Nonetheless, parts of Indian jewelry and aesthetes are important to finishing his look. A bejewelled turban with a feather, ornate arm bands and a studded necklace, add to the arrogance as he sits cross-legged. “A lot I learn about him [great grandfather] is from my grandmother who says that he was stationed in Vellore for a number of years because the jail physician on the Vellore Central Jail. He misplaced his spouse at a younger age,” Venket Ram says.
His new doe-eyed spouse however, is draped in a Chinese language silk sari with tulips run alongside the hem, and adorned from head to toe in intricate jewels together with chains, rings, nostril pins and several other ornaments on the ear. “It’s virtually as if she is shocked by the digital camera. I wished to recreate this precise picture as a result of it refused to go away me. There may be a lot vogue within the {photograph},” he says.
Venket Ram therefore determined to mess around with the motifs within the image. He says that he particularly tried to search for younger fashions (aged 16 and 24) within the shoot, in order to seize this pure innocence that his nice grandmother as soon as displayed. However, the concept was additionally to subvert the gaze with a contrasting sense of the long run. “There may be therefore a recreation from the Twenties, and the identical saree and jewelry styled for at present,” he says.
A side-by-side of the fashions shot by G Venket Ram evaluating the style of Twenties and current day.
| Picture Credit score:
G Venket Ram
To make sure that the look may very well be recreated, Venket Ram reached out to Amrapali to supply comparable jewelry. “It is best to see the necklace and the vankis. Beautiful,” he says. He provides that the saris have been customised by Uncooked Mango. Whereas the background is constant, showcasing a timeless portray and an ornate column, the fashions within the pictures put on contrasting feelings. There may be each timid shyness and a searing confidence of their faces as the images sit side-by-side.
“There may be additionally a distinction in taking pictures method. The Twenties picture was shot on a big format movie digital camera (he owns a Horseman LX 4×5), the modern picture was shot on a 35mm digital digital camera. Even the carpets and furnishing have been fastidiously picked out from Amethyst,” he says.
Venket Ram says that wedding ceremony portraits have a diminished worth in at present’s world of expertise. “Whereas the act of images on a marriage day exists, the frames at present are normally crowded with individuals. If something, this picture has taught me that wedding ceremony portraits are treasured and should be handled with all seriousness. It’s, in any case, a uncommon event,” he says.
Photographer’s G Venket Ram’s work could be considered on his Instagram and Fb @venketramg. It is going to be displayed in Amethyst on November 15.
Revealed – November 13, 2024 07:40 pm IST
