03 February,2011 02:51 PM IST | | Lalitha Suhasini
Novelist Siddharth Dhanvant Shanghvi pays poetic homage to his father in a debut solo photo exhibition titled, The House Next Door. Shanghvi took up photography after his father was diagnosed with brain cancer four years ago. Ageing, solitude and silences are captured on a simple Nikon D80
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In 2007, novelist Siddharth Dhanvant Shanghvi's father was diagnosed with brain cancer. And with the ailment came new realities and companions -- physical limitations and a daschund puppy named Bruschetta. Shanghvi moved next door to his father's bungalow in Juhu and began documenting his life. "I started to look at his life in the enforced isolation of an ailment. I guess, it was also a way to keep him company; he didn't speak much, and his silence was peerage to the camera's observing gauge," says Shanghvi in an e-mail interview.
Shanghvi, who has authored The Last Song of Dusk and The Lost Flamingoes of Bombay says he wanted to get back to the camera since the time he took up a course as part of a graduate study curriculum at the University of Westminister in London.
In his debut solo exhibition that opened in Mumbai this Friday, Shanghvi juxtaposes the crumbling Juhu mansion that was built in the 1970s with his ailing father. "One thing I gleaned from their review was questioning the idea of what we mean by longevity and how to age. Just because we may have access to healthcare, does it mean we must exercise this privilege in all health situations? When is the right time to leave your life? What is the difference between solitude and isolation? These were some of the questions I reflected on after photographing my father for a year," says Shanghvi.
How did his father react to being photographed during what can only be described as a painful and vulnerable period of his life?
"He was entirely indifferent to my doing it; luckily, he was not indifferent to the photographs. Right before they were being shipped off for their debut showing in Sweden, he looked at them, and I think it filled him with some robust measure of joy, which I hadn't expected, but was delighted to receive. It's astonishing how our parents continue to give us, in ways we never anticipate, or can predict. These photographs are yet another gift," says Shanghvi.
The House Next Door is open for viewing at Matthieu Foss Gallery, Fort till February 26.
Call: 67477261 for details
