Photographer Iman Sengupta’s works make ordinary moments from everyday appear as clusters of magic — children on a bus, people waiting at a train station, sunlight casting dark shadows, or a woman feeding pigeons on a dusty afternoon. Sengupta's first solo show in monochrome, ‘In Plain Sight’, was recently on view at Delhi's India International Centre (IIC) Annexe.
Sengupta majored in contemporary arts in Bengaluru. He later moved to Singapore to pursue his master’s at Lasalle College of the Arts. “I was very enamoured by how artists present their ideas and works,” he remarks.
Sengupta's camera is always by his side. ‘In Plain Sight' features streets, people, and architecture across cities such as Taipei, Singapore, and Johannesburg — taken during his travels to different countries. The photographer adds that the exposure to different cultures through travelling has also evolved his work.
“As I travelled to many places,” Sengupta tells TMS. “I found myself gaining new perspectives as I met people from different cultures, races and backgrounds. You really learn through interaction and communication. My work has evolved through learning about people’s struggles. I realised that every part of the world has its own set of challenges, often very different from one another. This made me curious and passionate about exploring diverse experiences.”
From learning about Black culture and the freedom movement in South Africa to discovering artists like James Turrell and Olafur Eliasson, these experiences have influenced the way he sees and creates art.
Chasing light
For Sengupta, photography is as much about instinct as it is about patience. “You just have to keep taking photos,” he explains. “Maybe out of 80 images, you will like one. You have to constantly subject yourself to bad photography until you get that one picture you are happy with.”
In his works, he shows individuals within architectural spaces, staircases, and corridors — as small but significant elements in larger compositions. By doing this, the photographer thus turns routine activities — of walking up the steps, standing by a railing, or waiting in a station — into picturesque spectacles. Sunlight slices through walls and shadows blur identities, giving an abstract touch to each photo.
Additionally, light plays a major component in Sengupta’s works. “Light is everything,” he stresses. “What I'm most drawn to about light is its material quality. It can make or break a composition.”
His understanding of light is influenced by Sumi-e paintings from Japan’s Edo era, which taught him the value of negative space and minimalism. The more precise and intentional the use of light, Sengupta says, the more powerful the image becomes. He sees light as an integral element that shapes how a composition feels and looks, but also as something fleeting and unpredictable — changing every second. A photographer, according to him, must stay alert and mindful of these quick shifts to capture the right moment at the right time.