My memory is rather unreliable but as far as I can remember, I noticed a misted, foggy urban scape of Bombay on a lake and that image has been forever etched in my mind as a fine photograph that is not about a beautiful sunrise or a sunset but a photograph with a meaning and something to tell. The imperative métier of… Read more

My memory is rather unreliable but as far as I can remember, I noticed a misted, foggy urban scape of Bombay on a lake and that image has been forever etched in my mind as a fine photograph that is not about a beautiful sunrise or a sunset but a photograph with a meaning and something to tell. The imperative métier of an artistic genre is what an image conveys and if it conveys more than mere aesthetics that an artist is born. So for me if that were the starting point of a journey, I must admit Mayank Pandy has traversed many a miles since then. He has the innate ability to present something meaningful with his imagery from Bombay and his travels. Whether they are hissing rat snakes to arachnids in mid web existence or the grungy street life of urban metropolis or the sheer geometrical perspective that only the enlightened artist notices, Mayank has it all, crafted in pure imagery. His work is a fascinating treat as it captures the life of a civilization and its personae dramatis without resorting to the overly simplified clichés of Indian photographic ethos of Sadhus, snake charmers and beggars and the universal malaise of flowers, pets and boring sunsets and sunrises. It is treat to see any of his images that he chooses to show whether they are looming bow lines of boats from Indonesia to the elemental, existential lonely fisherman casting his line in a sea full of steel behemoths in the Arabian Sea. Images of powerful presence and sheer poetry. It is a treat to see his photo stream and I hope he continues to give us his vision of the world.