Madhavi Swarup Presents Photographs In ‘duality’ September 3, 2010

Photographer Madhavi Swarup is presenting a solo show of nearly 24 life-size photographs titled DUALITY, at Visual Arts Gallery, India Habitat centre, from September 4 to September 13, 2010. Curated by her mentor, the ace lensman S. Paul (who was himself recently awarded Lifetime Achievement Award by the Vice President of India), the show is replete with images that defy conventional landscape photography and are far more evocative because of their minimal and abstract nature, yet retaining the same impact as her debut work.

In the current show ‘Duality’, Swarup has chosen to juxtapose one image that is predominantly black with one that is serenely white in form and texture. Says Madhavi Swarup: “This is the duality of our lives. While white is a metaphor of upliftment of the consciousness, the outer side and even heaven as we know it, black stands for our very physical being, the earth. Putting two together one can create an emotion of universality amongst all.”

The photographs being shown in Duality have been clicked during her various travels and journeys over the last two years – to Rajasthan, Greece, London, Vatican City, Agra and even in Delhi. “Though no work tells us where it has been taken, there is a common thread that binds all of them. It tells us there are no obvious divides amongst us…we are all common in the way our lives unfold.”

Swarup grew up in Gorakhpur and followed the footsteps of her father, who was also a hobby photographer. Her first camera, a CLICK III, was gifted to her by her father when she was ten. She pursued her affair with the camera as a hobby till she opted to study photography at a two-year course at NIFT in Delhi. Presently, armed with a master’s degree in Literature and also a visharad in Kathak, Swarup is also involved with celebrity portraiture – she has shot celebs like Karan Johar, Zohra Segal, Rohit Bal to name a few – while also dabbling in travel and architecture photography. She has also won the first prize from the National Wildlife Authority of India and has been awarded the photographer of the year award by Kodak in 2004.