Intimate Cityscapes

by Ashvin Mehta and Introd. By Nancy Adajania

Intimate Cityscapes reveals the secret life of a metropolis. In these photograpes which record Ashvin Mehta's journey through cities across several continents we do not find the predictable exposure of the civic underbelly. Instead Mehta's urbanscapes obliquely portray the human presene obliquely portray the human presence through a conjunction of object, reflection and gesture. Here mannequins compete with pedestrians in claiming reality, Pedestrians complete with their own distorted images in the glass fronts own distorted images in the glass fronts of shops, curtains part to reveal abysses of sky.About the Author:-------------------Ashvin Mehta is one of India's most distinguished photographers. In a career that spans several decades, he has excelled in various genres, including nature photograpy destination photography and the cityscape. His work has been collected in a series of books, including Himalaya: Encounters with Eternity (Thames & Hudson London 1985).Nancy Adajania (1917) is a cultural theorist are critic and independent curator. She has written and lectured extensively on contemporary India art, especially new-media art and its political and cultural contexts at international venues such as documenta II,Kassel the Zentrum fur kunst und Medien Karlsruhe the Never Berliner Kunstverein contemporary art foundation copenhagen and Lottringer 13 Munich.