World Nature Conservation Day just went by but photographer Kandukuri Ramesh Babu believes in celebrating nature everyday. The thought is manifested in his ongoing photography exhibition Her Presence through which he captures the biography of a neem tree over a span of 10 years in Secunderabad’s Parsigutta area. Though the tree was cut in 2022, however by then, Ramesh had inadvertently created a collection of over 3,000 images of the tree and the life it nurtured with its existence.
Capturing the ordinary
Ramesh Babu is known for his celebration of the most elementary things in life. This has been the guiding vision of his photography, literature and teaching career. The photographer was initially a lecturer in the early ’90s and later forayed into journalism and creative writing in 1997. However, he still felt that he was unable to realise his passion of focusing on the narratives of ordinary folk. As a result, he took up photography in 2012. Telling us about his career shifts, he shares, “In 1995, as a lecturer, I used to draw around `10,000. At that time, I had a very comfortable life with a stable job but I always had this itch to serve the ordinary. So I quit my job and ventured into Telugu media. Finally, I took up photography as a full-time profession as it was a more independent medium to express myself as an artist.”
With such creative stints, Ramesh today has a stellar oeuvre that comprises 13 books, 15 solo exhibitions and popular feature columns in vernacular media. All of them are bound by a universal theme — a zest to acknowledge the unsung people. As he shares his life’s creative journey, one can see how even his gallery, Samanyashastram, projects a modesty that’s free of any superficial ritz. His gallery has become an open walkable space for anyone and everyone. He tells, “Last Sunday, a friend came to spend a night in the gallery’s hall to get some sound sleep. People often come here to meditate. Also, the cleaning crew uses the space as per their comfort during their working hours after their job is done. It’s a space that embraces all without any social barriers.”
The symbiotic bond
In his ongoing exhibit, he captures the story of a neem tree — though nurtured by a generation who held it in deep reverence, when the tree started to claim its natural space and became a safety hazard for humans, it was felled. As we gazed at his works, in one of the frames, a woman is standing opposite to the tree, her hair adorned with a marigold flower, matching the marigold pattern painted on the tree — which is meant to signify the connection between man and nature. In another, an old woman with a hunched back takes the support of the tree which depicts interdependence. In many frames, men and women are seen catching up under the tree, while children play in its shade and street hawkers use it as a place to rest on balmy afternoons. In a way, the neem tree epitomises the Tree Of Life, whose growth gives us offshoots of wisdom and spread richness in everyone’s life.
Ramesh masterfully shows how the tree’s end quelled a part of life that once was a source of joy and happiness. “Prosperity in life is not about the financial goals that most of us are chasing to be extraordinary. It’s about perception of a lifestyle where materialistic aspects are relinquished in the embrace of ordinariness. That makes us more grounded and gracious.” His latest exhibit asks us to cast aside the egoistic traits as a man and respect nature in all its manifestations — as humans, animals, flora and any other life form.
Her Presence is on display at Samanyashastram Gallery, Manikonda till August 5.
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