The entire show is a reflection on memory: Dr Sabeena Gadihoke on the legacy of twin photographers Debalina Mazumder and Manobina Roy

At Mumbai’s NCPA, Twin Sisters with Cameras traces an extraordinary visual journey that began in 1930s Ramnagar (Benaras) and travelled through Calcutta, Bombay, and 1960s Europe. The exhibition, curated by Dr. Sabeena Gadihoke, brings together decades of photographs that mirror both the shared gaze and distinct sensibilities of twin sisters Debalina Mazumder (1919–2012) and Manobina Roy (1919–2001).

Exploring the lives of 1919-born twin sisters, Debalina Mazumder and Manobina Roy

In an exclusive conversation with Indulge Express, Dr. Gadihoke reflected on the sisters’ enduring craft, their sensitivity behind the lens, and the curatorial thought that shaped this exhibition. Among India’s earliest women photographers, the twins were encouraged by their father to explore the camera and darkroom as teenagers. Their images—spanning portraits, travels, and social life—capture a world in transition, marked by curiosity, empathy, and quiet defiance. Manobina, married to iconic filmmaker Bimal Roy, bridged the cinematic and photographic worlds while sustaining a deeply individual artistic identity

A Shared Legacy of Light and Memory

Twin Sisters with Cameras brings to light the photographic journeys of Debalina and Manobina — identical twins whose artistic gaze chronicled six decades of change. From their experiments with light and shadow in 1930s Ramnagar to intimate portraits of family and friends in Calcutta and Bombay, and later, striking glimpses of 1960s Europe, their work reflects both curiosity and quiet defiance. Among the earliest women photographers in India, they transformed the still camera — once a symbol of modernity — into a means of personal and cultural storytelling.

A Curator’s Long Connection

Dr. Gadihoke has followed the sisters’ journey for decades, having first met them between 1999–2000 while researching women photographers in India. “I first met the twin sisters between 1999–2000 to interview them and document their body of work for a study mapping the presence of women photographers in India,” she recalls. “After publishing this, I continued to stay in touch with their families even after their death. I had always felt that their work, when displayed, should be shown jointly.”

That wish finally came true in 2021, when she collaborated with Tapati Guha-Thakurta from the Centre for the Study of Social Studies in Calcutta and Mallika Leuzinger, who had written a dissertation on the sisters. “Mallika had received a grant to put up a show with the work of both sisters,” she shares. “All three of us decided to pool our resources and individual collections together to curate a show on the twins.”

Two Cameras, One Vision

Speaking about what makes their work resonate even today, Dr. Gadihoke says, “They were incredibly gifted photographers in terms of both their craft — they made images and were adept in the darkroom — and their artistic value. They had a keen sense of using natural light and the ability to play with tones, shades, and textures.”

What stands out most, she adds, is their empathy. “They were great portraitists who made women in particular feel comfortable. You see this sensitivity in their early experiments in 1930s Benaras, as well as in their photographs from their joint trip to London, Geneva, and Paris in 1959, where they captured everything from street scenes to political demonstrations.”

Curating Connection and Contrast

The exhibition’s design mirrors their duality — both shared and individual. “At times we have sections on landscape, portraiture, and travels where we blur the lines, letting the work of the sisters appear side by side,” explains Dr. Gadihoke. “At other times we use limited captions that point out individual work. The idea is not to guide viewers but to encourage them to recognise what they see as the individual styles of Debalina and Manobina.”

On Memory, Modernity, and the Gaze

Reflecting on how the sisters’ work continues to speak to contemporary themes, Dr. Gadihoke says, “The entire show is in a sense a reflection on memory — its intimacy, its mystery — which cannot always be pinned down to an image. There are many unspoken stories here that would only be evident to insiders, but we hope it evokes reflections about one’s own collections.”

She’s careful, however, not to simplify their vision under any single label. “I am a bit uncomfortable with the idea of a universal ‘female gaze,’ as this can sometimes be essentialising and reductive,” she notes. “Perhaps it would be best to say that their experience of being women made them sensitive to the predicaments and issues facing other women.” Through her thoughtful curation, Twin Sisters with Cameras doesn’t just revisit two remarkable women — it reclaims a chapter of Indian photographic history where art, memory, and modernity converged through the quiet brilliance of twin lenses.

Exhibition: Twin Sisters with Cameras

Curated by: Dr. Sabeena Gadihoke

Venue: Dilip Piramal Art Gallery, National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA), Mumbai

Dates: On view till Sunday, 26th October

(Story by Arundhuti Banerjee)

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