BENGALURU: Dheeraj Khandelwal, a fine art photographer based in Chennai, was one of the lucky few to be at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre when Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) Chandrayaan-3 launched on July 14, 2023. The precious images he captured in the finite moments of the launch are on display at an exhibition at Bangalore International Centre (BIC), over this weekend.
Having been deeply interested in astronomy with a wish to become an astronaut, life took Khandelwal in a different career path. But the fascination stayed the same, making this project – his first of this kind – that much more personal. The exhibition at its core is fuelled by the ethos of enthusing people, especially children, towards astronomy and science. “I’ve had children visit my exhibition in Chennai, and ask me questions about the subject; that is incredibly rewarding to me,” said Khandelwal.
The exhibition room has been set up with a light, eerie mist, preventing the viewer from seeing anything beyond what is immediately before them. This is intentional on Khandelwal’s part, who wanted to mimic the strangeness, apprehension, and unknowability of space.
The photographs, arranged chronologically, were taken in the short span of about 40 to 50 seconds from lift-off to the point where only the thrusters of the Launch Vehicle Mark-3 (LVM3), which carried Chandrayaan-3, could be visible. Khandelwal had to take prior permissions, and took about six hours to prepare for the meagre, yet monumental, seconds.
“The viewing gallery was set 3 km away, which had a good view. There was an immense release of energy, which shook us and underlined the gravitas of the moment,” Khandelwal mentioned. An avid geek, he has designed the exhibition with the photos being backlit, which according to him symbolises the quiet persistence that ISRO’s scientists must have harboured within, only which could have made them go back to the drawing board after Chandrayaan-2’s failure, and deliver Chandrayaan-3 while the world’s eyes were on the nation.
Visitors will witness photographs that depict the incredible upward propulsion of the rocket, which can be seen to traverse incredible heights in the matter of time as little as two seconds. “The clouds can be seen to reflect light from the rocket propulsion [beneath the rocket] to clouds still beyond the rocket’s reach, showing how like the rocket, ISRO’s work guided its own path,” explained Khandelwal.