Arzan Khambatta, best known for his "scraptures” (sculptures made with scrap materials) took part in an exhibition mounted at Gallery Art and Soul in Worli, Bombay from April 10 to 22, 2015. So what’s new? It was an exhibition of photographs — his first foray into this genre — titled "Triptych, A Visual Ode to Travel.” When Parsiana queried the artist about the public response to this experiment, an excited Khambatta described it as "very good.” In fact the Gallery was so full on the opening day that "there was no place to stand.” And people kept returning to view and purchase the photographs.
(Top): Arzan Khambatta, Sona Bahadur and Ritam Bannerjee; (left):
singer Sarosh Nanavaty; images from the exhibition
Khambatta wrote in an email to Parsiana: "I have always been fond of photography since a long long time, but discovered its potential as an art form only in the past three years. To me, it’s not about capturing beautiful scenery but observing the mundane, and deriving a perfect aesthetic from within it. During my numerous travels, I have come across some of the finest architecture, be it old or modern, its details, the people around, their expressions, the streets, nature, its various terrains and the way all these elements react to light and shadow. There is a treasure trove of compositions around us everywhere. All we have to do is notice, observe, ideate, compose, point and click… Here’s where the magic happens.”
Khambatta informed Mid Day (MD) of April 10, 2015. "I would take interesting pictures and post these on Facebook. A lot of my photographer friends would say that I have an unusual way of doing things. The feedback was great.” So when two of his friends, also talented artists, discussed their love of travel and the photographs they had taken, it led them to think: "Why not put our photographs from our travels together?” This was the genesis of the group exhibition by Khambatta, Ritam Bannerjee (the only professional photographer in the trio) and Sona Bahadur, writer and journalist.
"The theme is bordering on quirky and eccentric. It’s about finding stories in unlikely places, Bahadur told MD. Khambatta, a trained architect, said, "I like details more than a full image. I love architecture, humor and expressions of people. One of the things I have done is to shoot different people in different locations and put them together in one frame as if they were together. This is new for me,” he told MD.