A photo from India Tecton | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
When Nicolas Schmidt first traveled to India in 2011 as part of another project, he found himself stopping at the Karla Caves near Lonavala, Maharashtra. “It really was magic,” says the Berlin-based photographer, recalling the grandeur of these ancient rock-cut caves he photographed that day over a video call. Over the next decade, Schmidt continued to visit India on several occasions, traveling across its length and breadth, in its large cities and rural areas, to locate “all these wonderful Indian relics of history”. fastingOne of the first German magazines of the gay rights movement.
what came out of all those years of work is Bharat Tecton, a photo exhibition that will be held in the city between May 14-27 that presents a complex, multifaceted, diverse history of India through its architecture. “It’s a very old, layered history,” explains Schmidt as the exhibition was first shown at the India International Centre, New Delhi, India, last October.
Photographer Nicolas Schmidt | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
The exhibition is accompanied by Schmidt’s book of the same name, Bharat TectonWhich was released in May 2022, containing 191 highly focused photographs on 256 pages that chronicle this history.
“There have been so many religions and cultures here. You have the influence of the British colonial period, the post-liberation modern buildings and many famous international architects were invited here,” says Schmidt, adding that some of the locations he selected for the project visited. These include Jantar Mantar in Delhi, Government Museum and Art Gallery in Chandigarh, Indian Institute of Management in Ahmedabad designed by Louis Kahn. Padmanabhapuram Palace in Kanyakumari and Victoria Terminus in Mumbai.
Schmidt will also conduct a five-day photography workshop at the Museum of Art and Photography from May 15 to 19, titled Photography: Ideas and Design Tools. According to the MAP website, Schmidt will break down photographic concepts and introduce participants to methods of working in the medium, followed by practice sessions in the environment and neighborhood of the museum. The workshop will culminate in the production of prints from these works and a sharing and display of the same, the website continues, adding that while no prior experience in photography is required, participation in the workshop requires a camera with the same aperture settings .
A photo from India Tecton | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Talking about the workshop, which will begin with a guided tour of his exhibition at the Goethe-Institut, Schmidt says he plans to showcase photographs by other renowned photographers as well. “I want to show that there is not only one way to make a good photograph but a thousand ways. You must choose your own.
India Tecton will be displayed at the Goethe-Institut.Max Muller Bhawan Bangalore from 14th to 27th May from 10am to 6pm. For more information, visit goethe.de/bangalore