Pandit Bhimsen Joshi, Ahmedabad (1972) photographed by Navroze Contractor
Navroze Contractor was a world renown photographer and cinematographer from Ahmedabad who had made Bengaluru his home. A series of events titled Photography Strictly Prohibited, encapsulating the genius of his artistic abilities, marks the first year anniversary of his death as well as his birthday. He would have turned 80 on July 7, this year.
Curated by Sanjiv Shah, Anuj Ambalal and Himanshu Panchal, the exhibition will showcase photographs Navroze took over a period of 60 years, many of which have not been seen previously.
“We had travelled a lot together taking pictures while working on various projects. A couple of years ago, I talked to him about a retrospective of his work and he laughed it off saying retrospectives were “an end of career” activity. I countered that saying we’d title it a mid-career retrospective,” recalls Anuj Ambalal.
However, Navroze was “quite keen on doing a book on his work,” Anuj says, adding that on hearing of his demise, “One of the first things that came to my mind was to do this retrospective.”
Navroze Contractor
| Photo Credit:
Mallikarjun Katakol
“Sanjiv was a dear friend of Navroze’s and they enjoyed a long association on both personal and professional levels. So he knew a lot about the photographs that we began browsing through for this show.”
Between the three of them, they viewed more than 20,000 photos over a period of about six to nine months, to organise the exhibition and the publication. The result is Photography Strictly Prohibited.
“If we were to summarise this curation, I would say there came a point when we realised that subconsciously, intuitively, the three of us were structuring it in such a way that it was more about Navroze than his work.”
“When you look at their works, you tend to get an idea of what kind of person the artist could be. In a sense, Photography Strictly Prohibited is a portrait of Navroze,” says Anuj.
“Normally, there is a catalogue as part of photo exhibitions. However, our idea was different, that is why I call it a book. It is an attempt to bring out the person that Navroze was rather than just his photographs. It was essentially how he looked at the world as he was not a conventional photographer,” says Sanjiv Shah.
Photography Strictly Prohibited
| Photo Credit:
NAVAJIVAN TRUST
According to Sanjiv, Navroze never really followed a theme when engaging in his craft, with the exception of his work on jazz musicians which is on display at the Smithsonian in Washington DC. “He always carried a camera; it was rare to see him without one. Yet, I don’t think he was keen on showing his work to people — it was basically his eye to the world — and he shot whatever he thought to be relevant,” he says.
Sanjiv adds that the book, also titled Photography Strictly Prohibited is a compilation of Navroze’s works and two interviews — one on the shooting of his film Duvidha, and the other on his jazz images. “We have also included some of his writings, which give an idea of why he was doing what he did. It is our modest attempt to give viewers an insight into Navroze as a person.”
The exhibition will travel across India with a longer halt in Ahmedabad in October. For updates follow ambalalanuj on Instagram.
Photography Strictly Prohibited will be in Bengaluru from July 5 to 7 and will include talks and screenings of his films Duvidha and Jharu Katha. The book Photography Strictly Prohibited will be on display for pre-order. For event details log on to bangaloreinternationalcentre.org
Photography Strictly Prohibited retrospective on Navroze Contractor Special Arrangement
| Photo Credit:
NAVAJIVAN TRUST