In photography, light is not merely a technical condition but a way of structuring perception, shaping what is seen and what remains unseen. For Bengaluru-based photographer, filmmaker and theatre artiste Bhaskar Gauribidanur, this understanding emerged from a career in the hyper-constructed world of advertising, where images are meticulously made, not discovered. With Illumination, his ongoing exhibition, he steps away from that style, working with pared-down compositions to explore light, shadow and the emotional undercurrents they reveal in black-and-white photography.
Bhaskar traces his visual style to the mid-1990s, shaped by his encounter with the work of British photographer Wilfred Thesiger. Disillusioned with commercial image-making, he recalls, “the world of advertising is one of excess and make believe. We had to produce pictures to satisfy somebody else’s so-called creativity.” He began rethinking his process and tools. “I just wanted to shed those large lights, heavy cameras and all other paraphernalia that had come to define me,” he says. Moving away from the studio, he started working with a film camera and a single 50mm lens, travelling across India and turning to black and white as a deliberate way of seeing.
Speaking about his exhibition, Bhaskar describes his engagement with light as both subject and method. “Life is all about light and darkness. One cannot exist without the other,” he says. The photographs focus on moments where this relationship is most evident, often through silhouette. “A silhouette is very interesting. It hides a lot and reveals little,” he explains. “But that’s what makes the picture so interesting. The darkness. The mystery of it all,” he adds.
Alongside photography, Bhaskar works as a theatre director, scriptwriter and voice artist. A recipient of the Mahindra Excellence in Theatre Award (META), he has built a parallel body of work on stage. Looking ahead, he plans to revive Witness for the Prosecution to mark 20 years of the play, around June or July. “My new challenge will be to shoot the holy cities of Varanasi and Ayodhya later this year; exclusively in black and white,” he adds.
INR 50. On till April 5. At Sublime Galleria, UB City, Vittal Mallya Road.
Written by Anoushka Kundu
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