A sense of all-pervasive calm is what you feel when you see ‘Lines of the Divine’, a series of ‘digitally layered drawings and photographs’ by Gita Kumar Pandit and Poonam R Ahuja. We spoke to the artists on the unique collaboration that is as deeply relaxing to enjoy as a deep breath.
(L-R) Gita Kumar Pandit, Poonam R Ahuja
The technique is really unique. How did you arrive at this presentation of a photograph?
Gita: Poonam and I are both artists but with different artistic abilities. Being a professional photographer and Poonam being an artist of sacred geometric forms, the decision was to combine our creativity and present our works in this way. The idea was that combining sacred geometric forms with photographs of spiritual sites (that we had visited together) would be a compelling and powerful way to present our art.
Gita, you have been photographing for how many years now?
I have been photographing since I was a teenager, which would now be almost 42 years since I first began.
Poonam, what about you?
I paint as a hobby, but my interest and passion lie in drawing sacred geometric forms, as each of these forms carry a depth of meaning within them. Additionally, I teach numerology and astrology along with sacred geometry, as all three subjects are closely interconnected.
How did the two of you meet and when did you collaborate for the first time?
Gita: Poonam and I initially met in the ’90s, briefly. Then, after a gap of several years, we reconnected in August 2012. We had similar interests in subjects such as the esoteric, metaphysics, philosophy and spirituality. It was in August 2012 that we decided to visit sacred places in India together. Lines of the Divine is our first collaboration.
Gita, what do you shoot with?
I love new technology and have photographed with various cameras over the years. However, I mainly shoot with Canon and Nikon and on occasion, Leica and Hasselblad.
What can the visitors expect?
On a deeper level, one may engage in the beauty and harmony expressed in the artworks, where the sacred geometry of nature exerts its influence on one, in transforming and balancing ways.
Is nature your favourite subject?
Gita: Yes... nature surrounds us and is within us... nature is divinity and the divine is in everything.
Who are your favourite humans to photograph?
Gita: Children... their spontaneity, their innocence, their transparency... and the ‘child’ in everyone.
What is a good photograph?
Gita: To me a good photograph is being able to capture and bring out the inner essence of a place or person or whatever one is photographing... lighting and framing being most important.
Who are your favourite photographers?
Gita: I have been inspired by Ansel Adams, Richard Avedon... Hiroshi Sugimoto, but more by artists like Paul Cezanne for his colours and how he creates his own universe, by bringing rhythm and geometric shapes into his landscapes; by the French painter of the 1600s, Claude Lorrain for the amazing use of light in his paintings; by the German painter Caspar David Friedrich for showing “the natural world as a creation of the divine”, and, more recently, by painter Nicolas de Stael’s abstract creations, geometric composition, and bright colours. I have always wanted to paint with my photographs.
More about it
What: Lines of the Divine
Where: Taj Bengal
On till: September 4
Timings: Open 24x7