Nysha & the Sunbeam Talbot

Anirudh Agarwal brings together the staged and the spontaneous in a work of exploration, discovery and the joys of childhood. Raj Lalwani ponders over Agarwal’s visual sleights of hand.

- Anirudh Agarwal

Anirudh Agarwal’s work, unlike its name that is actually a red herring, isn’t really about Nysha, nor is it about her Sunbeam Talbot. And that is probably the greatest strength of the work, that it transcends the very premise of aboutness, and instead, moves into a space that is metaphoric, rather than informational, poetry rather than being mere prosaic.

The photographer himself is rather reticent when it comes to talking about the work, describing it simply as an outcome of a series of excursions with his niece. And yet, the moments when he chooses to press the shutter rarely conform to the conventional idea of anything that is momentous. In one photograph, the arm of a swimmer is mirrored all over the frame, in the shadow of the railing, in the child’s body language and in the water marks formed on the ground. Another photograph, one of the rare instances of actual drama, has the girl jump with joy, but her arm, outstretched, seems to extend seamlessly into the railing.

I hesitate while describing the aforementioned instances. It is much like explaining the punchline of a joke. But like the best of street photographs, and aren’t these street photographs, Anirudh’s work is about recognising visual coincidences, and celebrating them.