APARNA AJI
As the art director of UK-based publication Wonderland, Aji’s images are heavily influenced by domestic life in India. Visuals cleverly packaged with a satirical undertone which she calls carefully constructed puns” abound in her portfolio. The Thiruvananthapuram-born photographer toys with concepts and disrupts preconceived notions of Indianness by bringing into the frame an authentic depiction of everyday life through social commentary.
‘The Central Saint Martins graduate describes her introduction to photography as a happy coincidence that manifested while fiddling with the camera as she took photos of her family around the house. It was the spark that encouraged her to experiment with images as a medium that questions the portrayal of South Asian culture. I’ve rarely come across pictorial representations that capture the essence of South Asian identities in an honest, non-exoticised light. It’s not always obvious to the eye, but it brings about a strange feeling, as if you're part of a case study in a faraway land,” she confesses.
‘There’s an intentionality to the way Aji’s pictures turn out; they’re a far cry from a romanticised representation of the local landscape. Instead, she attempts to quash antiquated notions of Indian cultural identity through seemingly unflattering aesthetics. Through my work, I like probing traditional ideas of errors and inaccuracies that separate the aesthetically good from its bad counterparts. I see it as my way of taunting photography’s colonial legacy and unselling the exoticised perspectives I had internalised as a child.”
ANU KUMAR
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Denne historien er fra December 2022-utgaven av VOGUE India.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Breathe In, Breathe Out
A powerful tool to help you master your nervous system or another biohacking buzzword? SIMONE DHONDY explores the inhalations and exhalations of breathwork
Red Pill, Blue Pill
India's nutraceutical industry is booming thanks to advanced technology, distrust of the medical system and rising vanity. With multivitamins becoming purer and more effective, NIDHI GUPTA finds out if supplements have become the new serum
Sign of the times
No longer do you need to have an answer to, \"What is the significance of this?\" when people point to your new tattoo. ARMAN KHAN discovers that everything is on the table when you get inked temporarily
Return to form
Watching the world's most elite athletes deliver the best performances of their careers rekindled SONAKSHI SHARMA's own love for sports
Dimple, All Day
YOU MAY HAVE WATCHED HER ON THE BIG SCREEN FOR OVER FIVE DECADES, BUT DON'T MAKE THE MISTAKE OF ASSUMING THAT YOU KNOW DIMPLE KAPADIA.
MUSIC, TAKE CONTROL
As someone who had always sought safety in numbers, ALIZA FATMA often wondered what her own company would feel like. The answer arrived unexpectedly when she attended her first-ever music festival, one of the largest in the world, all alone
Let it grow
When we think of hardworking farmers toiling in India's scorching heat, we often think of men, the sweat on their brow, the sinews in their arms. JYOTI KUMARI speaks to four women who are championing the invisible female labour that keeps these fields running
YOU'LL NEVER WALK ALONE
When armless archer Sheetal Devi set her sights on the Paralympic Games this year, she knew she had a tough journey ahead of her. Luckily, her mother was with her every step of the way.
Beauty and the feast
The appeal of Indian weddings has always been in a sprawling spread. For additional bragging rights, Aditi Dugar recommends going beyond designer tablecloths and monogrammed napkins.
Sweet serendipity
From a scavenger hunt-inspired proposal to a Moroccan-themed baraat, Malvika Raj and Armaan Rai's love story prioritised playfulness throughout their blended celebrations.