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A tribute to Mumbai of the 70s and and 80s though the camera lens

‘Chronicles of a past Life —70s and 80s’by Pablo Bartholomew will showcase black and white archival footage of the city at Sakshi Gallery, from February19 to March 7.

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‘Chronicles of a past Life —70s and 80s’by Pablo Bartholomew will showcase black and white archival footage of the city at Sakshi Gallery, from February19 to March 7.

‘Chronicles’ is linked to his previous exhibition ‘Outside In! A Tale of Three Cities: 70s and 80s’, a visual diary of the artist’s teenage work. Bartholomew says, “The city offered me and thousands of others like me the opportunity to be cradled and mentored professionally. It gave friendship, food and shelter and the chance to be discovered, the chance to become someone. Having escaped bureaucratic Delhi, leaving behind my troubled teenage life, I found acceptance in this city for my skills and talents.”

Whether it is the intensive concentration of the watchmaker surrounded by his paraphernalia (circa 1979, archival print) or the long sweep shot of Masjid Bundar area  (1979) his attention to detail, atmosphere and lighting is to be admired. None of the images are computer aided and he made his own enlargements, even today and relying on the infinity focus.

There’s a shot of a motley crowd of people waiting in the pouring rain to see ‘a solid love story’ starring the evergreen Dev Anand at Capitol Cinema. Another is a print of a ‘Roadside photo studio’ (1979) with grinning ‘aspirants’ definitely from outside Mumbai, taken with floodlights and false backdrops for that escapism. ‘Man in a racing car’, ‘Asiatic Library,’ ‘Astabal in the Bombay Central Area’ (1979) and ‘a small office in the fort area’ (1979) give us a glimpse of the bygone era.

The show debuted at the Recontres De Arles  in July 2007, before travelling to the  National Museum, Delhi in January.

Bartholomew adds, “This exhibition is a way of paying my dues to this city and its people. I am always amazed by the infinite visual joy in each discovery of this place that came to be called home.”

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