Art photographer/visual artist Huthuka Sumi displays his photographs at the exhibition ‘O! Dimapur’ on Urban Nagaland which is being showcased at Hiyo Cafe, Aiko Building, Dimapur. (Morung Photo)
Dimapur, January 10 (MExN): A photo exhibition on Urban Nagaland is being showcased at Hiyo Cafe, Below Furtados, Aiko Building, Dimapur. 19 images encased in frames were put up at the cafe for free public viewing. The man behind the lens is Art photographer/visual artist Huthuka Sumi. Alumni of the Mass Communication Research Centre at Jamia Millia Islamaia, Delhi, he has also completed his advanced diploma in still photography from MCRC and MSW from D-School, Delhi.
Interacting with The Morung Express, Huthuka explains that he is concerned with the misrepresentation and misinterpretation of Nagas by/in mainland India. He feels that his pictures can portray a real Nagaland instead of the much exoticized or barbarized version that has been put forward till date. Huthuka narrates that while he was studying outside Nagaland, he came across people who had a wrong notion of what Nagaland and Nagas are and hence through his pictures he says he wants people to see the real Nagaland, one that is modern, diverse and developed.
Huthuka professes in his bio data that he likes photographs that are not just visual or aesthetic but also carry symbols or speak of the larger human condition. He admits that he has tried to incorporate his own history and background in the pictures while borrowing heavily from the photo journalistic approaches of stalwarts like William Eggleston and Stephen Shore. “These may not necessarily be either tribal or biographical: yet there is always the element of perception that invariably makes its way into my pictures. Perhaps these speak rather grimly because I like pictures that deal with conflict (and not just in the violent sense), confusion, angst, identity crisis, depression and change. The only constant in life is loss, is my personal belief and thus change or loss is what I constantly seek to document,” he says.
A look at the pictures and one is left a bit bemused. The pictures do not have obvious traces of urban development in Dimapur, as expected. It is only when you dig in deep, with a little help from the affable photographer himself, that you really understand how amazingly Huthuka has captured his theme concept. The collection was separated into pictures of people, street, buildings and an abstract concept of urban Dimapur. Each picture reveals a side of urban Dimapur, which has been captured in a very sedate and unobtrusive manner.
Huthuka plans on having a full scale exhibition of his photographs at a major gallery in Delhi. The exhibition is on till January 15 from 12:00 pm to 6:00 pm.
Huthuka professes in his bio data that he likes photographs that are not just visual or aesthetic but also carry symbols or speak of the larger human condition. He admits that he has tried to incorporate his own history and background in the pictures while borrowing heavily from the photo journalistic approaches of stalwarts like William Eggleston and Stephen Shore. “These may not necessarily be either tribal or biographical: yet there is always the element of perception that invariably makes its way into my pictures. Perhaps these speak rather grimly because I like pictures that deal with conflict (and not just in the violent sense), confusion, angst, identity crisis, depression and change. The only constant in life is loss, is my personal belief and thus change or loss is what I constantly seek to document,” he says.
A look at the pictures and one is left a bit bemused. The pictures do not have obvious traces of urban development in Dimapur, as expected. It is only when you dig in deep, with a little help from the affable photographer himself, that you really understand how amazingly Huthuka has captured his theme concept. The collection was separated into pictures of people, street, buildings and an abstract concept of urban Dimapur. Each picture reveals a side of urban Dimapur, which has been captured in a very sedate and unobtrusive manner.
Huthuka plans on having a full scale exhibition of his photographs at a major gallery in Delhi. The exhibition is on till January 15 from 12:00 pm to 6:00 pm.
