Art photography ‘Yantra Mantra’ - Sanjay Nanda

I have always been fascinated by the geometric architectural structures within the Jantar Mantar astronomical observatory; instruments that were used for keeping track of celestial bodies in time and space. Jantar Mantar – which is actually pronounced, as ‘Yantra Mantra’, yantra for instrument and mantra for formula – is not only a timekeeper of celestial bodies, it also tells a lot about the technological achievements under the Rajput kings and their attempt to resolve the mysteries regarding astronomy.

ARTIST PROFILE

I am a graphic designer by profession and passionate about photography and travel. Photography helps me release my intense creative urges and I communicate what I feel and see. My experience as a visual designer helps me see beauty in mundane things. In my images I like to use the interplay of light, textures, and colours to create unusual and complex forms that seduce the viewer. I have the ability to extract the beauty out of ordinary surroundings and convert them into visually appealing images and at the same time using concepts and techniques that are grounded in the domain of fine art.

My photographic process involves a persistent scouring of the urban landscape for: the uniquely unseen; compelling moments of light, texture and form; and, often times, decaying elements in the constructed environment. My works are attempts to extract and synthesize the less seen, yet strangely elegant, fragments of the urban landscape in order to reconstruct an urban aesthetic.

I see monuments and the processes of time as beautiful sources, resonating with strong form and textural interest. My work often combines multiple photographic layers of urban imagery forming resonant compositions much like the musical timbres of a jazz quartet.

Casting a wide net, I shoot a variety of subjects. I look for scenes that I can compose in a thought-provoking way and colour combinations that somehow stir me without attempting to edit the work or discriminate when in the field. When I get back to my studio, I sort through my images, and then choose the ones that have staying power for me. I’m not interested in merely reproducing a particular scene or image photographically; I am more interested in collecting the raw visual materials that allow me to explore the inherent dynamics and tensions of the picture plane.

ARTIST STATEMENT ON THE WORKS

I have been drawn to Jantar Mantar, where I have found colours and forms that I have not seen anywhere else. In this body of work, I have focused on two-dimensional surfaces and the abstract images that are formed through time, weather and/or human interaction with building materials. These images document the history of ordinary (or perhaps not so ordinary) moments and the end result is incidental beauty. My work is really a collaboration with forces and elements that have preceded me; it is about a connection between the physical world and the non-material world in an attempt to make visible what others may not have seen.

I have always been fascinated by the geometric architectural structures within the Jantar Mantar astronomical observatory; instruments that were used for keeping track of celestial bodies in time and space. Jantar Mantar – which is actually pronounced, as ‘Yantra Mantra’, yantra for instrument and mantra for formula – is not only a timekeeper of celestial bodies, it also tells a lot about the technological achievements under the Rajput kings and their attempt to resolve the mysteries regarding astronomy. These seemingly abstract structures create fascinating graphical forms which change throughout the day with the movement of the sun across the horizon.

From the moment the first rays of the sun strike its precisely calibrated surfaces and bathe it in soft glowing light to create a dream-like appearance; to the midday sun creating strong patterns and bringing our the fascinating textures with the interplay of light and shadow; and finally, to the golden glow of the setting sun, setting the earthy colour of the structures on fire in all the varied hues from deep yellow to orange to ochre to red…. these images are a result of numerous undulating days spread through many seasons spent in the presence of these forgotten wonders. The Jantar Mantar used to be a part of india’s rich scientific heritage. Used to be… but today, it has fallen into disuse, and is lost, in time and space.

All images © sanjay nanda / indipix images, 2008+. All rights reserved.