Somebody has rightly said, “A picture is worth a thousand words.” And Biju Ibrahim’s photographic works on display at the ongoing exhibition titled ‘Transcendence/Kochi’—documenting lifestyle of 39 communities living in a radius of five km in Mattancherry—at Fort Kochi, surely speak a lot and evoke a vivid image in a viewer’s mind.
In one of the pictures, 98-year-old Sarah Cohen sits in the middle on a wooden armchair, looking to one side, relaxed in a printed frock and slippers. On her right is the bespectacled, Thaha Ibrahim, in a shirt and jeans, who is leaning towards Sarah with a smile on his face. Right behind the nonagenarian is Thaha’s wife Jasmine who leans forward and places her hands protectively on Sarah’s shoulders. On the right is the maid, Selin. “This image represents three communities,” says Biju. “While Sarah is Jew, Thaha and Jasmine are Muslim and Selin is a Christian.”
Thaha and Jasmine have been looking after Sarah for past 15 years ever since Sarah’s husband Jacob died. “Sarah is famous in Jew Town, Mattancherry, for her embroidery work,” says the 35-year-old artist. “Now Selin is doing the work.”
All these monochromatic pictures feature people from communities, including Gaud Saraswat Brahmins, Vellala Pillais, Kashmiris, Anglo-Indians, Bohra Muslims, Tamil Vannars, Telugu Naidus, Gujarati Banias, Jains, Kannadigas, Tulu Brahmins, Malabari Muslims, Ezhavas and Syrian Catholics.Asked how he got the idea, Biju says, “Riyas Komu—one of the founders of the Kochi Biennale and the Uru Gallery in Mattancherry—told me to document the diversity of life there.”
For this project, Biju was given a five-month residency by Uru in August. So, he wandered in the narrow lanes of Mattancherry, befriending people, and noting their habits and rituals. “All the communities observe different rituals. At every 100 metres, the community changes, the food changes, and there is a different way of talking,” Biju says.
Over the course of several months, Biju took over 25,000 photos. But only 200 photos were selected by Riyas. Though Biju took the photographs in colour as well as black and white, he opted for greyscale because details in these picture are clearer. “In a colour photograph, viewers are drawn to the colour. I wanted them to focus on the people and their emotions,” he says.
Some subjects even became emotional. Biju visited an elderly Anglo-Indian couple who were going abroad the next day to attend their daughter’s marriage. But after the shoot was over, and Biju was leaving, the man came out to the courtyard and gave his wrist watch to Biju. “He was moved by what I was doing,” says Biju.And so were some of the guests at the exhibition. Wrote Dr Moideen Kutty AB, director, Kerala State Minority Welfare Department, in the visitor’s book: “This is a unique idea. Directly or indirectly, the people have promoted national integration. Let this benefit the future generations.”
A self-taught photographer, Biju had spent more than a decade travelling all over India taking photographs. He has also worked with the late Mollywood scriptwriter TA Razzaq and director Kamal. But to earn his living, he has been taking photographs for architect firms.Meanwhile, his plan is to bring out a coffee-table book on the subject. Thereafter, he is planning another project on the day-to-day life of people in Mattancherry.