Got a Gutman feeling about it

"History and culture have always caught my interest," says Judith Mara Gutman, a specialist in the field of social history of photography and author of visual book Through Indian Eyes which was first published in 1982.

The book features indigenous photographs that narrate the story of Indian culture. Judith donated her entire collection of Indian photographs to NCPA, with which launched its Piramal Gallery in 1988. The elegant author in town for another exhibition talks to CS:

WHO: Judith Mara Gutman
WHAT: On Indian contemporary photography
WHERE: Piramal Gallery, NCPA


Just one look
My late husband was a historian with whom I came to India. We were sitting with some friends in Marine Drive, when somebody asked if I was going to study Indian photography works because of my work on the visual book Is America Used Up? I said, 'Why not?' In those times, paper was very expensive in India and photographers refused to reproduce their work. The first photographer I met offered to sell his photograph for Rs 10! I then travelled across cities, small towns and villages in search of indigenous work. The Maharaja states used to preserve family albums with painted photographs and I managed to bring some with me. In Udaipur, while casually flipping through some books in a small shop, I discovered a carte-ga-visite, basically a photograph that's little bigger than a visiting card. This brown sepia tint painted photograph of the Maharaja of Baroda was probably one of the first painted photographs that I bought, that too for Rs 75! Thus came into being Through Indian Eyes.

Modern search
I've come back to study contemporary Indian photography. What I seek are expressions that break boundaries, not just necessarily art. It can be in the form of print or digital photographs, videos, sculptures, paintings, etc. In the last two decades, I've kept abreast of what's going on in India. But what propelled me to visit again are requests from Tisch School of Arts in NYU and another college to teach contemporary Indian photography. Indian artists are gaining popularity in the States and Americans are interested in Indian art. Galleries like Sepia or Talwar showcase Indian art.

Culturally sound
India as a country has many different characters -- an acute sensibility, a strong sense of respect and deep-rooted culture. What I've noticed about Indian culture is that it never gets lost. It may get transformed, manipulated or turn bolder, but it is very much a part of people's existence. In America, people are moving fast, willing to just let go of the past. Whereas, though India is also changing at a fast pace, people still hold on to their culture and values.