A Bridge From Seine To Yamuna

For young photographer Rupin Thomas, public benches are remindful of a church—beyond viewing them as a space defined by rows of pews leading to the altar. It’s not just the simplicity in the making of this piece of furniture, but its capability to instill a sense of meditation irrespective of the possible restlessness around.

“I find public benches interesting, as they are used to sit and ponder. It’s like being in a church, where people go to find solitude,” notes the 34-year-old image-maker, who lives in the West and is currently holding an exhibition of his select works in the Indian capital where he spent his formative years. “I find it is a non-partisan thing, something akin to life in Delhi where people line up to take a seat.”

A trained economist who has spent over a decade in America and around four years travelling in Europe, Rupin’s ongoing show at Lalit Kala Akademi solely focuses on Paris—seeking to throw light on some of the colours and atmospherics of the ever-evolving French city. The 50 images at images at ‘La vie à Paris: A Study in Volition’ have been clicked over a span of three summers, juxtaposing the sprawling city’s old and the new the photographer kept discovering during his solitary walks and bicycle trips down its urban space.

The February 19-25 show, which is broken into four parts, has been curated by art scholar Uma Nair. Among them, the ‘Landscapes’ and the ‘Still Life Studies’ series have to do with change of scenery vis-à-vis the transformation of the world, says Nair. The other two sections are ‘Solitaire—Quiet Corner and Street Art’ and ‘Graffiti’.

It was 22 years ago that Rupin first picked up his camera, before going ahead with his academic studies and working at the International Monetary Fund and Bank of America - Merrill Lynch Investment Banking Group. A self-taught photographer, the earliest among his artistic influences were the works of American photographers Alfred Stieglitz and Ansel Adams.

Soon, his formative years as a photographer were marked by tutelage under celebrated African-American photographer Brian Jones. Rupin then decided to delve deep into the study of abstract black and whites—at George Washington University—and created a body of works that were showcased in ‘A Study on Composition’ at Montgomery College.
The images at the Delhi show conjures up the varied facets of Paris—its vistas, architecture, cemeteries, sunsets and graffiti. Niti Ayog CEO Amitabh Kant inaugurated the event along with fashion designer Ritu Beri, also launching a catalogue designed and conceptualised by Rupin.

“Riddled with a restive disposition, for days I walked the (Paris) streets, acquainting myself with the filigree of the city,” recalls Rupin. “A city about which (late writer-art collector) Gertrude Stein once said, ‘America is my country, and Paris is my hometown’.”

Curator Nair says the photographs were selected from a total of 6,000 images Rupin shot in Paris. Adding grace to them is a cross-section of the famed iconic Eiffel Tower and a picture of the 10th Arrondissement just below it greeting visitors.

The 50-odd images are an “attempt to bottle just a wee bit of the famed ‘Parisian air’, something of that poignant poetry given out by the stones of yesteryear and the inhabitants of a constantly changing city”, notes Nair, about the French capital that has “inspired untold number of creative minds, writers, musicians, sculptors and artists over the ages”.

Rupin says his mission has been to find a way to frame the substantive imprints of civilization in its true nature. Adds Nair: “Within his photography, Rupin recognised a necessity in creating theatre in our understanding of the quotidian.”