A body of work

Sanjib Sen is showing a collection of nude photographs. But his intention is not to shock, he tells Aabhas Sharma

As an advertising industry veteran — he has almost 10 years’ experience in various agencies, first as an art director and then as a photographer — Sanjib Sen is no stranger to the deliberate use of shock to get the message across.

Yet, he insists that Skin, his solo exhibition of photographs of nudes that’s currently on at the capital’s Visual Arts Gallery, is not something which he has done for shock value. His argument?

“When you think of something, it’s in the purest or rawest form in your head. These pictures are just a reflection of that.” Sen says that his pictures are of women who are trying to express their state of mind. But why only women? “Well, if I had chosen only men, I would have been asked the same question,” he counters.

Sen is showing photographs in both black and white and pastels. “It’s like doing a simple pencil sketch in black and white or using watercolours.”

Intriguingly, it’s not drawings but sculptures that a number of the photographs on display resemble. “The idea is to depict how the body can express a state of mind.” For instance, the picture where the model’s shoulders and feet are all pointing towards the sky is a pure evocation of worship.

Sen, a graduate of the Delhi College of Art, is also an amateur sculptor, and clearly the inspiration for his photography comes from his knowledge and interest in the human form.

Sen says that at one time he used to shoot a lot of landscapes but gradually felt that those were not his calling. “I felt that something of the essence of the subject was missing in those pictures. Anyway, I found it limiting as a means of expression.”

Sen says that he isn’t sure whether, in future, he’ll concentrate on only nudes or try out other things. One step at a time seems to be his watchword, for now. “Let’s see how this exhibition goes.”

As of now, Sen has no plans to take the show either to foreign countries or to other Indian cities. But the one place that he would like to show his work is Kolkata. “I have been told by a lot of people within the fraternity that people truly appreciate such work in that city.”

While there are very few artists or photographers working only with nudes, Sen knows that it is something most lensmen have tried their hands at.

The black and white prints, priced at Rs 30,000, are available in editions of six, while the colour, going at Rs 1.5 lakh, are in editions of a dozen.

That’s not cheap, but Sen had managed to sell two works within a few hours of putting them up at the gallery — even before the show had its formal opening. So, perhaps, Sen has reason to be quietly optimistic.