Jhuma Datta: Healing through the lens of nature
After surviving ovarian cancer, photographer Jhuma Datta turns to nature and the lens to rediscover healing, resilience, beauty, and emotional renewal
We spend so much of our time fighting the current when things fall apart. Maybe the real trick is simply letting the earth set the pace. That idea kept circling my mind at Prakriti Raga: A Melody of Nature. Jhuma Datta recently wrapped up this sixth solo photography show in New Delhi, and it felt completely different from a standard gallery evening. The opening night drew some of the most prominent names in the country. Chief Justice of India Surya Kant inaugurated the event, joined by Justice Vikram Nath, Justice PS Narasimha, Justice KV Viswanathan, and a former Vice President of India. Seeing them all standing there made one thing obvious. Datta has built a creative career from scratch, standing proudly on her own beside her husband, Supreme Court Judge Dipankar Datta.
When I asked her how falling ill changed everything, her answer came without hesitation. In 2016, an ovarian cancer diagnosis stopped her life cold. During the worst of the treatment, her camera and the natural world became her absolute lifelines. On her lowest days, just focusing on a tree or the open sky gave her some breathing room away from the reality of being ill. Nature never required her to be strong. It existed, and that steadiness helped her heal emotionally, reminding her she remained an integral part of something alive. On the days she felt physically wrecked, looking through a viewfinder at a random tree or an empty sky gave her room to breathe. The outdoors expected absolutely nothing from her. That quiet presence mended her mind, proving she was still deeply rooted in a living world.
Because she used to paint, Datta brings a trained eye for colour and form to the lens. You see it in her global captures. Out in Kazakhstan, she photographed the Tiramisu Mountain. This whole landscape actually sat under the Tethys Sea a very long time ago. Today it leaves behind these amazing stacks of white, red and beige stone that pile up to look like a massive pastry. Nearby at Bokty Mountain, she set her camera on Polaris and left the shutter open for three hours in freezing conditions. The stars carved bright circles across the sky. The final image shows a truth we usually miss. We are always moving forward, even when we feel broken.
Her work also takes you to the freezing sands of Jökulsárlón beach in Iceland. Arriving to a flat and grey sunset, Datta used her car headlights to light up the ice, creating a golden glow against the cold water. The surrounding walls featured Lake Antorno in Italy, bright tulips from Srinagar, Vagator’s quiet beaches, and the Godafoss waterfalls.
Every photograph reads like life seen through a grateful survivor’s eyes. By showcasing this immense beauty, her recently concluded exhibition leaves a lasting legacy that inspires a profound sense of responsibility to protect our precious planet for future generations.
