The Japan Foundation is pleased to organise the photo exhibition of Ishan Tankha –  The Inbetweeners : In the Shadows in Tokyo and New Delhi, which is also a part of  Delhi Photo Festival 2013.

Mr. Ishan Tankha, an Indian photojournalist, captures the mood of two cities – Delhi and Tokyo through common man activities.  The photographs in his own words:

“Some years ago, I had the opportunity to spend a few days in Tokyo on an assignment. I work as a photojournalist. In my free time, I wandered around the city taking photographs, a little lost, a little aimless, unsure of what I was looking for. If I was looking for anything at all. I didn't have enough time to know Tokyo in even a superficial way, never mind hoping to take pictures that would capture such a sprawling city in its entirety.

 Instead, I found myself drawn, unconsciously, to people who seemed, like me, to be in some sort of liminal state, in-between people who had found a moment, in an otherwise busy day, for stillness that disrupted the norm of the purposive city-dweller. A salary man slumped over a beer in the middle of the day, for instance. He hadn't got to where he needed to be, he wasn't yet subsumed in a blur of activities. He had what in megalopolises like Tokyo, and Delhi, is arguably the most precious commodity — time, blank, and gloriously empty time.

 Unlike Tokyo, Delhi is a city I know intimately. And while the two are vastly different, I found there a shared sense of time, or rather a state of being in spite of time. In the down at heel market in Shapur Jat ­­­­what drew me was a similar sense of inalienable comfort in otherwise alienated city lives, an undeniable in-betweenness.

 Afternoon drinkers, day-dreamers, wandering photographers—bound to the city at our own pace. These images cause me to wonder about an alternative imaginary of urbanity; could they encapsulate a moment, which lingers just long enough to cause one to pause and reflect?”

Brief Bio:

Ishan Tankha is a Delhi-based photojournalist, whose work has featured in a number of publications, including South China Morning Post, Le Monde, India Today, Suomen Kuvalehti, The Guardian, Le Soir, Time.com, BBC, Open Magazine and Tehelka. He graduated from St. Stephen's College in 2001 with a Bachelor's Degree in History and is currently the Photo Editor at Tehelka.

 

Date :  24th Sep – 26th Oct, 2013 (closed on Sundays and holidays)

Time : 11:00 – 19:00

Venue : The Japan Foundation, New Delhi

  • Opening Ceremony is on 23rd Sep. at 18:30