The photographic exhibition of Patrick Faigenbaum is exhibited in Aperture Gallery. When I come out from the elevator, I directly see the exhibition in the right side. All Patrick Faigenbaum’s photographs are hanging on the wall, and not a thing is on the floor. Therefore, the exhibition show is concise and explicit, and people easily find out the way to go through the photographs by wall- following. There are about 35 photos in the exhibition, which Patrick Faigenbaum captured the daily life of an artist named Shreyasi Chatterjee, in her neighborhood and the local countryside to reveal the local culture of Kolkata. So the order of the photographs on the wall is started from the portraits of Shreyasi Chatterjee and her families, her artworks, and then the landscapes of her neighborhood.
I think the expression of people that the photographer captured in his photos is very natural. Compared to most modern urban centers, the pace of life in Kolkata is slow, tranquil, and gentle even through the life quality of Kolkata people is not better the life quality of residents who live in prosperous city.
The photograph I love in the exhibit is ‘Mrityunjoy taking an afternoon nap in the sitting room’. At first, this photo is long shot, and the pose of the man is not only low-angle view point and a strong diagonal line but also create rule of thirds, above the man is the wall and door and below him is the bed; besides that the color of wall contrasts the color of the bed sheet. Secondly, the expression of the man is tranquil, and I like the shadow’s silhouette of the fold of the man’s clothes, which enhance the stereo feeling of the man’s body.
Overall, the exhibition of Patrick Faigenbaum shows us about the local culture of Kolkata through the daily life of people in the neighborhood and the country side. In there, people enjoy a more relaxed pace of life.
You state the photographer’s intention well. I find the idea of starting from an artist and then photographing the world around her an interesting way to get into a culture that is not one’s own.
I too love the photo of the man napping. it is very intimate and we get a real sense both of the richness of the culture in the ornate bedspread and the poverty in the condition of the walls. Not sure though what you mean by “stereo feeling of the man’s body.”