Opening the art season with an unconventional show, Gallery Espace presents ‘E.P.:Extended Play’, a photography exhibition by Delhi based veteran photographer Karam K. Puri. To be previewed on July 17, 2015 in the gallery premises, this unique photography exhibition will be on view for three weeks. The exhibition tell stories of a lifestyle lost to time, highlighting the mute spectators of an era bygone, captured in a series of 24 images shot on film &digital.
For the series, Karam Puri spent innumerable hours in old havelis, once opulent houses and palaces across the country that long to be filled as they once were but where time is now suspended & moving only in slow circles. . These spaces, homes of the Nawabs and Rajas, now find themselves victims of their own lust for an opulence that once was. They are now time capsules, suspended in a world that changes rapidly around them. Much like a movie set waits for actors to give life and breath to the illusion, these house’s wait, to be satisfied once again, by the stories that they long to be home to. The rooms yearn for people to come back; for the music to play; for the scandals to unfold; for courtesans to dance and for the finest wines to be uncorked again.
Repetition gives the illusion of forward momentum where only stillness is left. Tea is served the way it has been for centuries. Faces of the past adorn the walls. The plaster peels off lime washed walls while crackling melodies play to an empty room. The needle glides gently along the surface of vinyl at the deliberate pace of 33 revolutions per minute.
Says Karam, “Through my photographs, I aimed to capture, explore and expose this sense of lost grandeur but not through the stories of the people but through the stories the rooms told by themselves. Shot over a period of six years across the Indian subcontinent, these majestic homes of Maharajas and Nawabs have lost many of their privileges and their power. They are still given the utmost respect by their subjects, but can no longer afford the lives they once did.”
“Karam Puri is a very talented photographer with a keen acumen to capture a story. His series “Extended Play’ takes the audience on a journey to the spaces lost in time and consumed in stillness. As a gallery, we are committed towards presenting the best of talent across all mediums to the art lovers and this exhibition is a step towards that belief.” says Renu Modi, Director, Gallery Espace.
About the Artist:
Karam K. Puri
With a decade of experience behind him, Karam Puri’s strong imagery and character portraits are built around travel photography and draw inspiration from early technicolor film. Karam, was born in India and has lived worldwide, including New York, Shanghai, Paris and Seoul. He studied at the Doon School, India, Ithaca College, New York, and the International Center of Photography in New York City.
His work on the Mozambique Civil War in 2005-06 has been widely published and exhibited. He published his first coffee table book, “Gujarat: A journey. His second book on the Doon School in Dehra Dun was released by the President in 2010. His work extends to editorial, documentary and street photography. His clients include BBC Homes, The Robb Report, Travel Plus and Andpersand. Karam’s photographs have also been published in Photography Review, National Geographic 10 Best of Everything, Verve, Platform Magazine, and on the National Geographic website. His work has been showcased in numerous solo and group exhibitions both nationally and internationally. Recently his work was shown in Bombay by The Fine Art Company along with Vivaan Sundaram, T.S. Satyan, Meera Devidayal and Samar Jodha Singh as a part of a tribute to famed author Khushwant Singh.
E.P.: Extended Play by Karam K.Puri
Preview – 17th July, 2015
On view till – 8th August, 2015
At – Gallery Espace
16 Community Centre
New Friends Colony
New Delhi 110025
11 am – 7 pm (Monday – Saturday)