Fete De la Photo 2014, organised by French institutions, will showcase award-winning photographs at public locations like Connaught Place, IGI terminals, bus stops and subways. By Karan Bhardwaj
Your morning walk through the inner circle of Connaught Place or the evening visit at the Central Park will be no less than walk through a gallery. Not just CP, but the entire central Delhi is set for a ‘photogenic’ makeover. Beginning March 4, the French institutions in the city are organising a photo festival, Fete De la Photo 2014 that will decorate the public spaces and buildings in city with variety of photographs by award-winning lensmen. The inner circle will host three exhibitions — Paris by Amit Mehra, Zishan Akbar latif and Shome Basu, Indiascope by Amit Mehra, Xavier Zimbardo and Nitin Akolia and Portraits of the World by Denis Felix. The Central Park will have black and white images by Raghu Rai. “The festival endeavours to reach out to the audience by taking photography out of traditional spaces such as museums and galleries and showcase them in public spaces to change the relationship between people and their city. Connaught Place will transform into an art gallery with life-size projections on the facades of inner circle, along with magical projections at the bus stops, subways to increase social inclusion. The idea is to explore all avenues to bring together amateur and professional photographers and photography enthusiasts,” says Aruna Adiceam, cultural attache of the French Embassy in India. The images aim to foster the friendly relations between the nations and will be put up by Institut Francais en Inde, the French Embassy and the Alliance Francaise.
The festival also highlights the social issues like women safety. Janpath Subway and Mohan Singh traders building will host exhibition titled Women in the Public Eye. It talks about the women vulnerability in these spaces especially in dark hours. “There are a series of images called The Fellowship of the Ring by Uzma Mohsin and The Pink Gang by Vivianne Dalles. It shows the women power with strong portraits,” says Aruna.
Palika parking roof top and Dilli Haat will showcase by Prisma by Wako by Cécile Plantin et Gaël René and an interactive video art exhibition on women issues. Simultaneously, a mobile photo studio will be set up at various locations where people can get clicked against iconic backdrops of France and take the frame as a free souvenir. Rajiv Chowk Metro Station will have images from Indian cinema.
“We are trying to democratise photography. We are putting art in places where people least expect it. The purpose is to create new audience and atmosphere where French and Indian photographers work together. We have chosen locations which get the maximum number of footfalls everyday,” says Aruna.
Fete De la Photo 2014 is a pan-India programme where nine cities including Hyderabad, Chandigarh, Goa, Bangalore, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Trivandrum, Delhi and Mumbai will have customised events. “The activities and photographs have been adapted citywise. We kicked it off in Mumbai in February,” says Aruna.