Mad In India
Indian Odyssey
HT City
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
By Sarika Sharma
The first journey these 11 french photographers undertook was from one corner of Europe to another.
But how would they cross the length and breadth of the huge land mass? A car was hired and every 300 km, one photographer would hand over the wheel to the other and followed the rule of clicking a picture every 50 Km. It’s with this madness that they came to India and compiled ——Mad In India——–a book that holds their impressions from Dharavi to Kolkata to the unflinching spirit of Tibetan protestors in Delhi to rural heartland of Punjab.
On Monday, Alain Willaume, programme co-ordinator of the photographers’ collective called Tendance Floue came to City, courtesy Chandigarh Lalit Kala Akademi, the French Embassy and Alliance Francaise for an interactive session and showcasing a projected exhibition of the photographs.
Since Tendance Floue was formed more than 15 years back in Montreuil near Paris in France, the group has been travelling around the world, bringing in their perspectives, Alain tells, “the group became a part of the anti-globalization movement, of protest against how world was altering because of the market. But they protested as photographers, “mad In India” too sees influences of that ideology in colour and B&W. and is explained by text-fact, poems, travel writing – from Indian writers and journalists. But the foreign eye obvious Dharavi, Kolkata, Shantiniketan— why not traverse the unexplored? “I think it covers a range of subjects, but there are some obvious choices.”
And india is one of the most photographed countries, he says, “Even if you are not a photographer, you want to become one in India. The visual appeal is such. And it is a reflex to go to the slums or palaces or a modern city. That is why when I chose a subject for my book (India Now, Published five years back), new India was uncovered. Today, the subject is a stereotype.”
Mad In India is available at Alliance Farncaise-36.
Mad Art
Simply City, Indian Express
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
By Navdeep Sandhu
When in India, it’s impossible for any visitor to not pick the camera and capture the world around him.
The country’s visual appeal makes it the photographed country in the world,” Alain Willaume tells us. Precisely the reason why he keeps coming back. Alain is in town to launch “Mad In India” a collection of Photographs by 12 French photographers of Tendance Floue (Translates into ‘out of focus tendency’) group. Earlier Meyer, a participant in the venture, was to do the task but he fell seriously ill before his visit.
The coordinator of the project, Alain shares that his four years in India made him wonder why photography was not considered an art form here. “I have been quite interested in the development of contemporary Indian photography. In another project India Now, 15 Indian and 15 western photographers worked on the new phase of India.” Then the ‘Mad in India’ project ensued that was shot in China. “The idea was to spend two weeks clicking in Beijing, another week for editing etc and then launch in a discotheque” Replicating the same to India “the 12 photographers came to India in April and went all over the country shooting places like rural Punjab, slums of Mumbai, InfoTech Bangalore, architecture of Gurgaon, Shantiniketan, Varanasi ashram etal. Coming back to our hotel in Paharganj Delhi, we all had a great time doing the editing on the huge terrace.” Since the photographers were keen on interacting with Indians, writers, poets and journalists were asked to write the texts. “We asked them to write whatever they wanted to say about the country, we were sure it would fit” smiles Alain. So we have words of Indrajit Hazra, Jayati Ghosh, Anita Roy, Shiva among others accompanying the twelve photographs.
“Though each work is different, it completes the book, a feature that is synonymous with the group as well. Existing since 17 years, the group brought together people who are anti-globalization. They chose to speak differently about the concept at times when media was not doing the needful.” Is that a theme of the book? “Though there was no specific guideline, one cannot rule out the intrinsic aspects.”
Priced at Rs. 890, the book will be available at Alliance Francaise.
Mad In India
Times Of Chandigarh
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
By Bhavneet Bhatti
A projection of photographs on India by a French group, brings out the country vividly.
The entire length and breadth of India is so splendid that anybody could turn into a photographer to capture its beauty.” Says Alain Willaume, director and coordinator of a photography project ‘Mad in India’. The project, which includes a group of 12 French photographers coming together to capture different hues of India, was first screened in the city in India, aided by Chandigarh Lalit Kala Akademi, French Embassy and Alliance francaise. However, the screening consisted of a projection of the photographs than displaying the real works.
Recollecting the initiation of the project, Willaume speaks of the group “Tendance Floue’ which came to India and traveled across its cities to capture different shades of the land. Besides photographing India, this group also complied their experiences in a book and collated the pictures under 12 subheads.
Accompanied with texts and graphic illustrations by Indian authors, journalists and designers, the book titled ‘Mad In India’ draws a rich portraits of the country. “The group has been known for their unconventional and challenging projects and has earlier completed the project Mad In China,” says Willaume. “However with India the group members travelled individually to various cities like Hyderabad, Kolkatta, Mumbai, Delhi, Varansi and Punjab to cull out the varied lifestyles of the country,” adds Willaume.
He furthers, “the most striking feature in the project was to see individual egos getting shaped into a collective project,” explains Willaume. “The entire project was completed in three weeks and I appreciate the group for this feat,” smiles Willaume, adding that the entire experience has been like a journey across India.
The photography project was screened at the Art Gallery with an elaborate soundtrack and excerpts from the text of the book on Monday evening. The event also saw the release of the book ‘Mad In India.’
A Maddening Experience
The Tribune
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
By Neha Walia
Twelve Photographers from across the globe give us an insight into India.
Twenty – one days of apprehension and then admiration. That’s how one can define Mad in India, an independent magazine put together by 12 photographers across the globe, which gives an insight into the contemporary India. And, sharing notes on this mad experience was Alain Willaume, the coordination and director of the project.
Tendence Floue, or ‘out of focus tendency’ in English, as this group of unconventional photographers is called, was formed 15 years back and are based in France. “Their earlier works include Mad in China, for which they went to Beijing and for two weeks shot a chaotic vision of China before the Olympics. And watching the work of this incredible team and their originality (the book was released at a discotheque), I wondered if they would do the same in India, “says Alian, who himself has been working for the past two years on contemporary photography in India and has published a book called India Now that features 15 Indian and 15 western photographers.
So, in April this year, they were invites by the French Embassy in India to work on the project. What followed was an exploration across Chandigarh, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkatta, Varanasi and many other Indian cities and catching some of the perfect and striking shots of one of the most photographed countries in the world. “The book is a rich mix of everything yet each entity stands out on its own. It reflects a strong perspective of 12 people, with huge amount of creative energy and brings out a complete portrait of the country,” says Alain.
It comprises of twelve series of topics explored by each photographer, like the portraits out of frames, townscapes of cities rising out of nowhere, the life of New Delhi and wandering in the streets of Kolkatta or a visual conversation with Tagore. The various perspectives are displayed visually by using black and white to color to montages.. The book also provides a textual flow of ideas, contributed by some of the best writers in the country like Samit Basu, Indrajit Hazra, Devangshu Dutta and others.
And, just like an unconventional approach, they had an unconventional work place too. “It was a continuous party and hard work throughout the three weeks of the making of this book. We worked 24/7 at the terrace of a hotel in Pahadganj in Delhi,” says Alain.
The most striking feature of this project observed by their Indian counterparts was their collective effort. Every photo had an individual identity yet an integral part of a larger perspective, “he adds. It also brings out the anti-globalization philosophy that the group propagates through its works. The Chandigarh Lalit Kala Akademi in collaboration with Alliance Francaise de Chandigarh organized the first projection exhibition of this project at the Government Museum and Art Gallery -10 with an elaborate soundtrack and expert from the book. Ask him to sum up Mad in India and he answers, “It’s crazy and challenging but results in an interesting and unique experience.
