Shahid Datawala’s photos see the creative in the mundane - Hindustan Times
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Shahid Datawala’s photos see the creative in the mundane

ByRiddhi Doshi
Jul 04, 2017 04:39 PM IST

In showcasing two of Shahid Datawala’s series, the Remains of the Day show at Tarq is giving viewers a dose of dark humour.

It looks like a photograph of a woman dressed in poufy purple gown and a hat. She is tilted oddly and has no face. Some part of her torso is missing too. Take a closer look. Could she be sinking into quicksand, suffocating underneath?

‘Telefish’ is part of Shahid Datawala’s Unstill Lives project, which combines photography and design.(Courtesy Shahid Datawala/Tarq)
‘Telefish’ is part of Shahid Datawala’s Unstill Lives project, which combines photography and design.(Courtesy Shahid Datawala/Tarq)

The image that makes you uncomfortable, even restless, is actually a piece of plastic debris that washed up along the Konkan coast. It’s part of Half Naked Nude, a series by Mumbai photographer Shahid Datawala, conceived while on a walk by the sea. “So many of people’s belongings were washed away and had become permanent installations,” says Datawala. “They are all different formations, which looks like a contemporary artist’s work.”

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Objects and forms also inspired Datawala’s other project Unstill Life, and combines his design and photography skills. This one began at his home, which the photographer calls a mini museum, given the amount of antiques and objects it houses. Datawala intuitively places one object along with another in different combinations to make something completely different.

In Cargear, one of his works, it seems that a gear is menacingly penetrating a car. Pinsqueezer features a lemon covered in pins, in a lemon squeezer.

‘Pinsqueeze’, a part of Unstill Life. (Courtesy Shahid Datawala/Tarq)
‘Pinsqueeze’, a part of Unstill Life. (Courtesy Shahid Datawala/Tarq)

Remains of the Day, a show at Tarq, showcases both his series, giving viewers a dose of dark humour, which creates a certain kind of turmoil. “These are all about unsettling. Making you squirm and feel a bit shaky,” says Datawala.

Remains of the Day

WHERE: Tarq, F35/36, Dhanraj Mahal, Apollo Bunder, Colaba

WHEN: July 6 to August 5, 11 am to 6.30 pm. Closed on Sunday and Monday

CALL: 6614-0420

Entry is free

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