'Before Leaving Indian Snapshots' A Photography Exhibition By Marie-Caroline Schuh-Senlis at Galerie Romain Rolland, Alliance Francaise De Delhi, 72, Lodhi Estate > 4th to 11th April 2014

Time : 
4th April : 7:00 pm - Opening
5th to 11th April : 9:00 am to 8:00 pm - Exhibition on view

Entry : Free (Seating on First-Come First-Served basis)

Place : Galerie Romain Rolland, Alliance Francaise De Delhi, 72, Lodhi Estate, New Delhi - 110003
Landmark : Next to Annexe building of India International Centre
Venue Info : Events | About | Map | Nearest Metro Stations - 'Khan Market(Violet Line)' & 'Jor Bagh(Yellow Line)'
Area : Lodhi Road Area Events

Event Description : Alliance Française de Delhi Presents 'Before Leaving Indian Snapshots' An Exhibition By Marie-Caroline Schuh-Senlis.

Artist’s words about the work: In the exhibition I’m showing black and white photographs, that I colored the ancient way, just like the Indian photographers did for a long time. It’s joining the Indian tradition of portrait photography. India is not a country that leaves people indifferent, either you like it or you hate it, either you feel at home here or not, either you blossom here or you don't. To live in India for a few months or a few years can transform a person. The series "Before Leaving India" tells some stories, some slices of Indian life... people telling their story, talking about themselves. When you live abroad, expatriated as we say today, you are here and there, a bit rootless, you get to know some nice people, unfortunately it is very often ephemeral. At the end of my first year in India, I have seen some people who I liked leave for new horizons, some people who had inside them something I would have liked to keep, to relate, an energy, a way of living, a way of seeing things and human beings. A single photo portrait cannot represent this totally. The idea of this project sprouted, and if I had to do a photo portrait which gives an idea of the life of the subjects, I had also to tell and pass on their story, the story of their Indian slice of life. To make the testimonies more authentic and as spontaneous as possible, I did the interview and the portrait in a single session, choosing as far as possible a date which was close to their departure. My subjects did not read the questionnaire before the interview. Yet they had to try to find for the photo some objects or clothes which would be representative of their stay in India, and they knew that the questionnaire would turn around their stay in India, their interests and so on. I proposed the project to people whom I knew and who were about to leave India, trying to gather a varied panel of subjects, some men and some women of diverse nationalities and of various ages. I received a lot of positive and enthusiastic responses. Some friends also sent me some people who I did not know but who were interested in the project. Sometimes, but not often, I was also turned down due to the shyness, the lack of interest, the fear to show what they are made of or to participate in a public project. Those who took part in the project were satisfied or amused to find themselves at the center of attention, and to tell a more or less important part of their experience, to confess quite freely for most of them. I think that just when they were changing their life, the fact of confessing, of laying bare their experience of India, was a gentle way to put it behind them, to mourn over it. After these moments of intimacy, I often said to myself that it was a pity to see those persons leaving, these people about whom I just discovered more during these intense moments, a kind of concentration of several months or years. You can learn a lot about people, sometimes in just a little time you can learn more about them than if you rub shoulders with them without really get interested in their life, in what they do, in the way they look at things. These slices of life interested me, touched me, made me reflect. I tried to keep as much as possible the expressions used by my subjects during the interviews, to reflect their mood. For each of my subjects I took several portraits. Here I am showing black and white photographs, that I colored the ancient way, just like the Indian photographers did for a long time. It is joining the Indian tradition of portrait photography. I want to share these testimonies with you, with the full consent of their authors, hoping you will have as much interest and pleasure to read and to look at them, as I had to collect them. I would like to thank all those who participated in the game, who gave me some of their intimacy, with a lot of patience and kindness, sometimes just a few hours before their departure.

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