Indian way of drying clothes gets an artistic twist at this gallery in Bandra

A photo exhibition at a Bandra venue will deep-dive and decipher the common practice of drying clothes in India to find a common thread

There are more things keeping this country together than breaking it apart,” shares photographer Karan Khosla, with a certain conviction in his tone over a phone call. Given the current state of affairs in the country, we wonder where Khosla might be drawing his inferences from. The answers to our questions are displayed in the form of 23 vibrant photographs at Khosla’s new exhibition — Where India Dries Its Clothes — an exploration of the shared practice, an equaliser in an unequal society.

“There was no masterplan; or a plan at all,” admits 33-year-old Khosla. The photographs of humble clotheslines stretched between trees in backyards and weary pillars in balconies of houses are a culmination of Khosla’s decade-long travels across the country. “As a Mumbai-based freelance photographer, I would spend months travelling with my camera. It was only in 2019 that I realised my photographs had a recurring element, the clotheslines. It slowly evolved from there,” he recalls.

Clothes left to dry in the balcony of a home in Bidar, Karnataka

The cover photograph of the collection, for instance, reminds Khosla of his trip to Mayurbhanj, Odisha in 2021. “The world’s eyes were on Mayurbhanj. It was witnessing what was possibly its worst forest fire at the time. A little far away, I was able to capture a child playing around a clothesline, seemingly unbothered,” he shares.

Another highlight from the collection, and one of the newer photographs, comes from the West Garo Hills in Meghalaya. “Rengrampara, a village nestled in the hills, was to get its first-ever solar electricity station. While I was there to cover it for a magazine, I took a moment from the usual coverage to capture a solitary clothesline with bright flowers in the backdrop. Visually, it’s one of my favourites,” he smiles. Spread across 23 photographs, the exhibition features many such stories encompassing everything from tiger territories in Madhya Pradesh’s Pench to the beach fronts of Goa and the slums of Mumbai.

The clothesline that Khosla spotted at the West Garo Hills

While throwing light on this shared practice, Khosla tells us that the project also aims to break one in the process. “I hate the Western practice of intruding into the personal lives of the poor and presenting a pitiful picture to grab a few eyeballs. It must be stopped,” he sighs, adding, “There is much more to the country outside the slums of Mumbai and Old Delhi. Not everything needs to be exoticised. There is beauty, in a much deeper sense, in the mundane.”

A solitary hut and a clothesline in Pench’s tiger territory

To that end, the photographer has laid down a few ground rules for his practice. “All my photographs are captured from the eye level of the subject. The moment you tilt the camera down at your subject, you risk presenting a detached outsider’s gaze. I also try my best to let the subjects know they are being clicked. Surprisingly, India is a camera-friendly country. You don’t have to try hard. A smile and a nod from both parties seals the deal,” he chuckles.    

A child plays near a clothesline amidst the forest fires in Mayurbhanj

As for what the future holds for the project, Khosla hints at a possible photo book featuring the photographs. “The ongoing exhibition is limited by space, and so, many of my works still remain hidden from the public eye. I plan to turn them into a book, chronicling the story behind each photograph in detail. Until then, I will continue to travel with my camera, looking for the next clothesline,” he signs off.

Karan Khosla

Till June 30; 8 am to 10 pm
At Method Bandra, Pearl Haven Apartments, Chapel Road, Bandra West.

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