Photograph © Nandini Valli
Photograph © Nandini Valli
Photograph © Nandini Valli
Photograph © Nandini Valli
Photograph © Nandini Valli
Photograph © Nandini Valli
Photograph © Nandini Valli
Photograph © Nandini Valli
Photograph © Nandini Valli
Photograph © Nandini Valli
Remembering to Forget, is a project conceived in 2008 for a fellowship grant for upcoming photographers, received from the Tierney Foundation, New York.
Essentially an ode to childhood memories, the series features photographs of children in fancy-dress costumes. The project was executed over the next four years, at a school in the photographer's hometown of Chennai. November 14th (the birth anniversary of the first prime minister of India, Pandit Jawarharlal Nehru) is celebrated as Children's Day in schools across India. On this occasion, fancy-dress competitions are invariably a part of the celebrations. The young participants come onstage and recite poems, nursery rhymes, monologues etc, to win prizes for Best Costume and Best Performance. Dumbstruck, stage-shy tots sometimes forget their lines and have to be prompted by parents. But that is all part of the game. For an outsider (in this case the photographer and, through the photos, the viewer) these proceedings make for compelling viewing.
This series is about transcending the idea that it is just a child dressed in a costume. The little 'doctor' or 'lawyer' might just be reflecting his parents' dreams for his or her future. This competition is also about the daydreams of a child. Children love nothing more than to daydream about being someone else - a superhero, perhaps, or any character with authority and attitude. It's a chance for the child to reach, as someone else, the one place that seems like the antithesis, to one’s freedom … To be Spiderman, Superman, an angel, a queen, a teacher, a policeman, a house, a bulb, Dora the Explorer - absolutely anyone or anything imaginable.
Vicarious dreams aside, another viewpoint of this project is about how, on such occasions, we resurrect iconic personalities from (Indian) history. It is from this thought that the title of the show arises. Remembering to Forget refers to how we, as audience or as a society, experience the process of momentarily remembering these personalities through the miniature avatars on stage, only to forget them again, until the need arises to resurrect them for the next occasion. One is left wondering if these icons have been reduced to mere caricatures.
On a lighter note, one notices that some character costumes are more popular than others and as many as 6-8 children will be dressed as the same personality. There are certain categories that form naturally during such competitions; the animals, the professions, and of course, the most popular category of Gods and Goddesses.
All said and done, in the end, one cannot expect much from a child taking part in a fancy-dress competition. They dress up and look good. Now and then the pictures you took remind you of the effort you put into that event and how wonderful your child looked. And then you forget it. Until you remember again ...
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At the time of our 1:1 Interview with Nandini, she was asked these questions about Remembering to Forget.
PSA: Your project Remembering to Forget is a comment on middle-class aspirations. Did you make this work with this intent?
NV: No. I made this to remember an event / memory from my / one's childhood - 'one' being most children. As a child, nobody thinks it is uncommon to dress up as a character for a party or any event. When you do it in your 20s or later, it is in another realm altogether. This project may, to you, represent middle-class aspirations because the children I shot come from middle-class backgrounds. Their idea of a 'fancy-dress' competition and that of an upper-class school's fancy-dress competition would differ greatly. I chose the middle-class theme because it is, in a way, a stereotypical representation of the Indian society at large. So, I guess in a way, yes, I am commenting on the middle class.
PSA: You say that 'identity and the gaze - your own and that of the person you photograph' underlies your work. Please elaborate.
NV: It is a tough statement to elaborate given that I hardly ever like to talk about my work. When I speak of my 'gaze,' it is that I am looking at the people in a particular series with a gaze that, for me, is filled with, say nostalgia, as in this series. I am gazing at the subject, recollecting my past and my childhood, and placing that memory upon the subjects as I photograph them. So, when I shoot someone or something, that image has a particular sentiment that it has already created in me, which is why I am shooting it with my gaze. This is MY gaze. The gaze of the subject will not necessarily be coinciding with mine, and so I am looking at them looking at me, looking at them! They view me with a completely different notion and intention, and my gaze is filled with so many emotions and a completely different purpose.
About identity: The people I shoot are usually from a middle-class background, and their world is so different from mine. I come from a well-to-do family. To me they have a certain preconceived identity with which I am shooting and, to them, I am someone completely alien to their world. (Probably when they see a woman behind the camera, they create a stereotype of me in their minds!) I am putting them in a pigeonhole that they have created for themselves and giving them that existing identity or reinforcing that identity in the image I make of them. Like with the Sabarimalai 'Devotee' Project - there are these pockets of people who make the pilgrimage to Sabarimalai every year, and they have a certain identity that makes them stand out for a certain period of time before they set out to Sabarimalai every year. I am shooting that identity of theirs, which may not even be how they see themselves. Identity is a funny thing. We want to be perceived in a certain way and how others see us is not how we see ourselves.
PSA: I read many years ago that you collaborate with your husband on your projects. Can you talk about this collaboration?
NV: Yes, I work with Joseph, my husband. He is a commercial photographer and works at a much faster pace than I do. He does my production work for me, as well as the DOP work on projects for me. He has far more experience than I do and, considering my projects are few and far between, it made sense for me to work with him.
PSA: What prompts you to work with the staged and the performative in photography?
NV: I have no idea.
PSA: The use of color is very central to your work. What draws you to work with color?
NV: Color, for me, is life. Somehow the juxtaposition of complementary colors in my work happens most often, naturally. It gives me pleasure to see colors working well in my work. Like with my Krishna series, I chose the saris that were draped on the model without even thinking about whether it would work or not in the frame. Probably my subconscious does all the work and I do not give myself enough credit for bringing the colors together in an effective way. I like to ensure that there is a balance in the colors in my images. At the same time, I don’t like to break my head over what color to place where.
20 November
