From exhibitionist to voyeurist

Standing in front of an image of a warehouse at night we stare at what would otherwise seem like an unnoticeable structure As the seconds pass we notice the play of colours that pop because of the time of the day the picture was taken through long exposure While the imagination starts to wander and weave a story about the location a cheerful voice greets usSheetal Mallar who lit the fashion runways of India in the 1990s and early 2000s is at Art Musings gallery in Colaba which will host her first solo photography exhibition Titled Transients it captures the unspoken relationships that people share with the spaces and objects around themIt has been a workinprogress a longterm project which started many years ago The images were shot separately over a period of time When I was a model I had toyed with the idea of making a transition and the arts seemed an obvious choice I enjoyed sketching as a child she says By 2010 Mallar was done with the runway and became a selftaught photographer She started by reconnecting with her city Mumbai the neighbourhood she lived in friends and family It made sense because until then I had been away from home most of the timePoet and cultural theorist Ranjit Hoskote who has curated the exhibition remembers I came across Sheetals work in Motherland magazine five years ago which led me to her website It was a body of work called Dabolim featuring naval officers at their base in Goa What struck me immediately was the way she captured a slight slippage between person and role in terms of the expression of the officers and the ceremonial uniform that they were in She has a keen eyeAs we walk through the gallery we start to play out a reallife story in our head for each image but soon realise that its all been shot in a makebelieve world Ive chosen a nonlinear format with no specific story in mind Each frame features temporary worldsmdashspaces that people inhabit for the short term such as the makebelieve world of actors for instance Theyre in it for just a bit playing out interesting characters and once the camera stops running its all left behind Theres a juxtaposition between fact and fiction and because its in a nonlinear format every viewer will see each image in a different way she explainsThe exhibition that continues till February 10 also features photography of situations we see every day but dont give a second thought to but through Mallars lens we seem to start weaving a story from that one moment captured in a frame Some images when you first see them dont immediately reveal if they are about people playing out roles in the real or reel world I dont wish to give out too much information about where these images were shot or what they play out because I am keen that each one retells a different story to the viewer based on his or her imaginationSheetals a very reflective artist and theres an enigmatic undertone that she manages to capture in her work which starts to elaborate itself musically Her collection of images play out like a house of mystery says Hoskote adding One of the most robust aspects of Sheetals temperament is that shes always been very aware of the difference between person and persona and that comes through in her work Across any fieldmdashbe it athletes or poets or actors and modelsmdashwe all develop some kind of muscle memory in our work In her case the muscle memory would be knowing what the camera can conceal and revealCould being in front of the camera playing makebelieve have influenced Mallar for Transients Subconsciously maybehellipI was used to being around the camera But that had no correlation to who I was behind it The camera feeds on your exhibitionist side When you are behind it you feed into the voyeuristic side The latter is more tangible and stays with you longerCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news crime news current affairs and also a complete guide on Mumbai from food to things to do and events across the city here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates