Lakes of Ahmedabad

Lakes of Ahmedabad

Ahmedabad Na Talav

Shilpa Gavane

‘Ahmedabad Na Talav’ Lakes of Ahmedabad

September 2010 © National Institute of Design

Shilpa GavanePG Photography Design 2010Photographs and Text by author unless mentioned.

Previous page: #1, Cyanotype, Malav Talav

Printed in India byPrint Well Offset Printers, Ahmedabad

Lakes of Ahmedabad

Ahmedabad Na talav

SHILPA GAVANE

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Dr. Deepak John Mathew, our course coordinator, for allowing me to do this project and constantly pushing me to get the best out of me. The photography staff at NID encouraged me throughout the course and so has all the people who went out of their way to help me.

I would also like to thank Sunil Gupta, who is very encouraging and kind. I am truly thankful to him for giving me time to discuss my project with him in detail. His critique and comments

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are highly valuable to me and his guidance helped me to follow the visual language which I believed in.

I express my gratitude to my friends Neha and Vineet who accompanied me to the various lakes; my friends Aksha, Rahul and Shweta; classmates Nikita, Jaimin and others for giving critiques and encouragement. Last but not the least my family who supported me and helped me to their utmost capability. This project would not have been a success without them.

Contents

Acknowledgements

About NID

Synopsis 1

Project Proposal 2

Introduction 4

Review of Photographer’s Work 16

Visual Language 30

Final Body of Work 48

Conclusion 84

Learning 87

References 88

Contact Sheets 94

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About NID

The National Institute of Design (NID) is internationally acclaimed as one of the foremost multi-disciplinary institutions in the field of design education and research. The Business Week, USA has listed NID as one of the top 25 European & Asian programmes in the world. The institute functions as an autonomous body under the department of Industrial Policy & Promotion, Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Government of India. NID is recognized by the Dept. of Scientific & Industrial Research (DSIR) under Ministry of Science & Technology, Government of India, as a scientific and industrial design research organization. The environment at NID

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is perfect for a holistic learning since one gets to interact and work with students from varied disciplines. This integrated and open-minded approach is beneficial to creative thinking. I joined the one year certificate programme in Photography Design at NID in 2009, when the program was still in its nascent stage with the first batch yet to graduate. I feel proud of being a part of the foundation batch. The institute has given me world class exposure through reputed visiting faculty like Anna Fox, Sunil Gupta and the UK exchange program. India has a long way in photography education and NID has taken a courageous and crucial step in this regard.

1Final Project : Ahmedabad Na Talav : Shilpa Gavane : 2010

Synopsis

What would be the portrait of a lake? One that shows its beauty, that hides its scars or one that shows the grim side of it dying slowly? The word lake brings in one’s mind an image of a beautiful blue water body surrounded by greenery; a place where one can imagine spending all day looking at ripples created in still waters; or just taking a walk or playing by the shores. When the project started, a documentary or straight photography approach was chosen, as it is the most objective way of representation, instead of taking either a positive or negative stand. The intent was to show the subject in clarity avoiding as much subjective or judgmental view

as possible. A sequence of the lakes according to their condition would have allowed to create a narrative which could instigate viewer to think about status of the lakes that have not been developed. Panaromas, were chosen to show state of lake from all sides letting viewer experience and judge from a neutral perspective. But this was not very effective and exciting as it did not bring any new perspective. Visuals that are abstractions of the lake surface, those that are universal, aesthetic were then decided to be apt. The aim was to document the surface and edge of lakes of Ahmedabad suggesting their present state.

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Project Proposal

• Aim

• Medium

• Objectives

• Research MethodologyPrimary research, Secondary research

• Audience

• Work Schedule1


Aim

The aim is to document the present condition of about 10 main lakes of Ahmedabad, to show their state; developed and maintained, developed and non-maintained and non developed lakes. The visual language is to be chosen such that it shows state of the lake from a new perspective, letting the viewer experience the lake and judge it from a neutral perspective. It should allow the viewer to relate with the lakes and also connect with the cause. Documentary photography approach has been modified to show only a part of the lake. It has been chosen over conceptual as it is more objective, instead of taking a strictly positive or negative stand. The intention will be to show the subject as an image of hope. Issues concerning the lakes will be described in text attached to each image. A narrative will be built up in the sequence of the lakes to make viewers think about status of the lakes which have not been developed.

Medium

Photographs will be shot using digital cameras Nikon D200 and D90, though a full frame or even a large format camera would be preferred. Fixed lenses, 50mm and 200mm were used.

Objectives

• Creating a set of about 10 photographs as the final body of work.

• Making project document supporting the photographs, describing issues concerning the lake

• Exploring ways of exhibiting and spreading awareness through the use of photography as a medium that can reach the masses.

Research Methodology

Primary Research : This comprises of previous project done on environment awareness, experiments with cyanotype, photograms, and printing technique that could be used for mass reproduction. It also includes photographs of lakes shot earlier on various visits to lakes of Ahmedabad as well as other cities of India.

Secondary Research can be done on:• Old photographs of the lakes from archives,

for e.g. Pranlal Patel’s photographs of Chandola lake

• Environmental documentary photographers’ works, Edward Burtynsky, Ansel Adams etc.

• Data collected from articles published on lakes in newspapers, magazines, internet

Audience

The audience has been decided as layman, people of the city, who may not be educated about art, and for whom the project is meant, as the aim is to convey awareness of lakes to people of the city. It could also be shown in art galleries and National Institute of Design. Other options of exhibiting the work using cyanotypes could be explored since low-caste reproductions of images help in creating awareness.

Work Schedule

The project spanned from Dec 2009 to Apr 2010. A month wise plan of action was decided.• December – Initial research, feasibility of

project, finalization of topic, submitting final project proposal.

• January – Library research, secondary research, visiting the main lakes and shooting photographic raw material of at least five lakes

• February - exploring cyanotypes, finalising visual language and possible views

• March – finalizing frames before shooting, actual shooting and selecting final images

• April – Editing and printing final images, creating supportive text document

2Introduction

• About LakesBrief, Inspiration, Why conserve water, Causes of degradation

• Importance of LakesHeritage, Social, Environmental, Economical

• Main Lakes of Ahmedabad

• AwarenessConservation, NGOs, Power of Awareness

• Changes over timeIn Chandola talav, Vejalpur talav and Malav talav

• Problems and SolutionsEncroachments, Ownership, Awareness


Brief

Among other famous places in Ahmedabad is Kankaria lake which almost everyone knows about. Thousands of tourists visit it and it hosts various festivals. It is a place for recreation and rejuvenation. Vastrapur lake is equally popular. But hardly anyone knows that more than 100 lakes exist in Ahmedabad and there were 204 lakes in 1960 but only few have survived. Some have been developed and only a handful are maintained. Among those neglected is Chandola lake whose rainwater catchment area is much larger than that of Kankaria, but now faces encroachment and pollution due to improper sewage disposal. Lakes are important to keep the local environment balanced; they allow natural drainage system to prevent flooding; and for groundwater recharge. Few lakes in new city have been developed by the Municipality Corporation with retaining walls and parks but this development needs more sensitivity.

Inspiration of the Project

The inspiration to do a project on lakes came from Udaipur, also known as the city of lakes. Every time I visit the city, I experience the joy of seeing beautiful large water bodies at the heart of a crowded city. Its lakes Pichola, Fatehsagar and Swarup Sagar are like an oasis. What is even

more touching is that they are connected to the hearts of the city’s residents. Lake Pichola like most lakes of Ahmedabad is an artificial fresh water lake created in 1362 AD. The lakes around Udaipur were primarily created by building dams to meet the drinking water and irrigation needs of the city and its neighborhood. When the water of Pichola dried during the low rainfall years, people were upset and numerous NGO’s sprouted to save the dried lakes, campaigns were held and people were educated about the lake’s importance. Those who unconsciously polluted its water were made aware of their actions. There was a common endeavor to save the people’s lake.

When I arrived in Ahmedabad, I surveyed it on Google earth and instinctively spotted the largest water body, Chandola lake. When I searched

Lake Pichola, Udaipur05

about it on the Internet and talked about it to my local friends, I got to know the sympathetic state it is in, different from what I imagined it to be, an oasis. This was a sad revelation. Over the next few months, when I finally came upon to doing a project to address the issue of environment, the lakes of Ahmedabad came to my mind.

Looking at the case example of the Pichola lake, it can be said optimistically that the lakes of Ahmedabad too can be resorted if proper steps are taken. In Udaipur, steps undertaken to restore the lakes by the NGOs, such as JSS and concerned government organizations were: * Water hyacinth eradicated * Biological measures undertaken * Sewerage plan implemented. * Catchment area conservation

* Water shed project of Rs 34.2 million covering an area of 12702 ha under funding of the Govt. of India is under implementation

The two lakes of Bhopal, Upper lake and Lower Lake, again artificial lakes, have now been included under the international Ramsar Convention for their conservation. The importance of lakes is being realized by many cities and it is high time that Ahmedabad too does something about the situation.

About Lakes

- Introduction

6 Final Project : Ahmedabad Na Talav : Shilpa Gavane : 2010

In India, there are various other cities which have lakes. Most of them have one main lake around which the city is built while few others like Hyderabad have many. The sad story of lakes is the same wether in Ahmedabad, Hyderabad or Bangalore.

Why Conserve Water ?

Water will turn out to be the world’s most precious resource soon. Half of the world’s population will face acute water shortage by 2030. In the next two decades, all the major Indian cities will run dry, says a World Bank report. Climate change is expected to worsen the situation by causing erratic and unpredictable weather, which could drastically diminish the supply of water coming from rainfall and glaciers.By 2025, India, China and select countries in Europe and Africa will face water scarcity if adequate and sustainable water management initiatives are not implemented, and an estimated 3 billion people will be living below the water stress threshold, says a study by Grail Research.Ahmedabad is a rapidly growing city, its population increasing exponentially. The rise in the demand for water will not be fulfilled if natural water is not conserved. As it is the ground water table is falling throughout. If extreme steps are not taken to improve the situation, the future will not look promising.

Global freshwater reserves are rapidly depleting and this is expected to significantly impact the most populated areas of the world. Low to middle income developing regions as well as highly developed countries will face water stress

Upper Lake, Bhopal

People crowd around a water-tanker in Ahmedabad

in the future, unless existing water reserves are managed effectively. Although low and middle income developing countries currently have low per capita water consumption, rapid growth in population and inefficient use of water across sectors is expected to lead to a water shortage in the future.

India has been blessed with large freshwater reserves, but the increasing population and over exploitation of surface and groundwater over the past few decades has resulted in water scarcity in some regions, states the Grail Research study.

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The Husain Sagar Lake of Hyderabad was built in 1562, to meet the water and irrigation needs of the city. It is a sprawling artificial lake that holds water perennially, built during the reign of Ibrahim Qutub Shah. The Sarkhej Roza lake in Ahmedabad can be said to have come about for similar reasons. But why is Sarkhej Roza now dry? Why cant it or the other bigger lakes of Ahmedabad like Chandola be like the Husain Sagar Lake have parks, scenic spots and is a host for sailing.

Introduction -


People crowd around a well near Ahmedabad

Untreated sewage directed to the lake

The growth of the Indian economy is driving increased water usage across sectors. Wastewater is increasing significantly and in the absence of proper measures for treatment and management, the existing freshwater reserves are being polluted.

Increased urbanization is driving an increase in per capita water consumption in towns and cities. Urbanization is also driving a change in consumption patterns and increased demand for water-intensive agricultural crops and industrial products. For e.g. in Ahmedabad itself, the water of Lake Chandola has been used by too many sources, from domestic to industrial by factories located on the fringes of the lake.

Causes of degradation of lakes

This crisis is not just the disturbance in the demand and supply curve but is also about mismanagement of water resources. India’s water crisis is a man-made problem. One of the major problems is water pollution. New Delhi alone produces 3.6 million cubic meters of sewage every day, but because of poor management less than half is effectively treated. The remaining untreated waste is dumped into the Yamuna River. Thus a combination of sewage disposal, industrial effluents, and chemicals from farm runoffs, arsenic and fluoride has rendered India’s rivers unfit for drinking, irrigation, and even industrial purposes. Also, the over-usage of ground water due to the unavailability of sufficient water for irrigation has led to a tremendous decrease in the level of ground water. Also, because of global warming, rainfalls have become erratic and unpredictable because of which the agricultural sector has been affected seriously.

One the lifeline of Ahmedabad, the water bodies are fast loosing water holding capacity, beauty and recharge capacity due to the indiscriminate use of these lakes as dumping grounds for garbage by the people living in the fringe areas.Arrival of bore wells which met the immediate

water needs of the community further added to the problem. The water bodies were further ignored as the ownership became vague and instead of a community resource. All these resulted in * Loss of water bodies * Reduction in water quality * Over exploitation of resources * Decrease in groundwater table * Threat to aquatic flora and fauna

With the emergence of these problems, the number and quality of water bodies have decreased corresponding to the fall in their value and environmental functions. Recycling nutrients, purification of water, recharging ground water, augmentation and maintenance of stream flow, providing habitat for wide variety of flora and fauna and also a get away place, recreation for people are also some of the emerging issues.

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- Introduction


It is important to be aware how lakes are important, not just environmentally but also socially, economically and as a heritage. Here I have described in brief what are the various points that all citizens should be aware of.

The Earth is called “the water planet” because it has approximately 14,108 cubic kilometers of water. However, 97% of this water exists in the seas, and nearly all of the remaining fresh water is locked up in the Antarctic or Arctic ice caps or as groundwater. Therefore, we can freely access only the water in lakes (0.007%) in rivers (0.002%). Of these, lakes are the best “available freshwater source on the Earth’s surface.

The lakes, which impound rainwater, store it for future use and ensure ground water recharge. They are live systems playing crucial roles in the life cycle of several thousand species of organisms by supporting them in various ways.

There is a debate in technical terms as to what is the difference between a lake and a pond. Scientists define a pond as a water body which is shallow enough for sunlight to reach the bottom, permitting the growth of rooted

Importance of Lakes

plants at its deepest point. If going by size, according to Ramsar wetland convention lakes are beyond 80,000 sqm, as per British charity Pond Conservation, lakes are beyond 20,000 sqm and as per European biologists, it is 50,000 sqm. It may be a trivial issue of nomenclature but it is important to be aware. The size of Chandola Lake is 12 million sqm, Makarba Talav is 1,04,099 sqm, Gota is 50,771 sqm, Chharodi is 42,439 sqm and Thaltej is 44,137 sqm.

Social

Lakes are like mirages in deserts and in a city they become places of comfort, refreshment. If maintained well, they can provide water for drinking after basic filtration. They can support fisherman, provide drinking water and grazing grounds for livestock. In a photograph shot by Jyoti Bhati, a fisherman is shown fishing in the waters of Chandola Lake in 1960s. But with the present state of this lake, it seems impossible that it can support any person’s livelihood.

Environmental

Lakes play a major role in keeping the ecosystem balanced. They are important for rainwater

recharge, natural drainage to prevent flooding, supporting fishes, providing feeding grounds for migratory birds and keeping the micro climate cool. Because of the high ground water level around the lake, the fertility of land around is high. A natural lake usually has a wetland area at the edges of the lake where amphibious life can flourish. It is quite possible to say that Ahmedabad’s temperature can be reduced by 2-3 deg C if all the lakes of city are maintained along with a green cover along their periphery.

Economical

A major source of financial return from lakes is tourism as long as there is sensitive design, allowing social and environment benefits to people living around lake. A seasonal lake can also be used for farming like seasonal rivers.

Heritage

In the current context of Ahmedabad being declared a world heritage city, it is important to realize that the lakes too form a part of the city’s heritage. As mentioned earlier, the largest ones like Sarkhej, Kankaria and Chandola were built in the 13th century. If these are allowed

Introduction -


to disappear, the city will loose its one of the most important natural heritages. Many of the lakes of Ahmedabad are artificial, built to serve as a reservoir by Mughal rulers owing to the hot summers and shortage of water in Ahmedabad. Sabarmati river was originally a seasonal river and therefore ground water used to be the single most important source of drinking water since a long time. Most of these lakes were designed in the shape of a polygon, from five to twenty sides and with a jetty going to the center of the lake. Lakes like Bapunagar and Asarwa lake are built on this design. There is a history and thus heritage value to some of the main lakes.

Heritage value of Kankaria Talav

Kankaria Lake is an artificial lake developed by the Sultan of Delhi, Qutb-ud-din Aybak, in 1451. Formerly known as Hauj-e-Qutub, this lake was the bathing ghat of late Sultans and their queens. This lake used to be the rendezvous point for the Great Mughal king Jehangir and his lovely spouse better known as Noor Jahan. It is polygonal in shape with thirty four sides and is located on the south-eastern outskirts of Ahmedabad. It has intricate sluice gates and also an island garden called Nagina wadi. Presently it is the most popular lake, a big tourist traction and has been developed as a ‘bal vatika’ for children. There is boating facility, toy train, a zoo, eating joints etc.

Heritage value of Sarkhej Roza

Sarkhej Roza is a complex of mausoleums and mosque, the construction of which was started by Mohammed Shah in the memory of Shaikh Ahmed Khattu Ganj Baksh, a Sufi saint. It was completed by Qutb’ud-Din Ahmed Shah in 1451 and later by Sultan Mahmud Begada who also built the large central tank amidst flowering and fruit trees. The steps and gardens around the lake/tank form a platform for social interaction. It is filled with people during festival and special prayer days. Presently the stepped tank gets filled with water only when there are rains but the undeveloped Makarba tank lying behind the mosque has water throughout the year and even supports visiting migratory birds. These are just two examples and other smaller lakes have a similar heritage value attached to them.

The stepped tank of Sarkhej Roza is fairly dry while the untouched Makarba Talav has ample water.

Kankaria lake Makarba talav

Sarkhej Roza

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- Introduction


Main lakes of Ahmedabad

1. Chandola lake

(Shahalam Roza)

2. Kankaria lake

3. Sarkhej Roza

4. Makarba Talav

5. Vastrapur lake

6. Chharodi lake

7. Malav talav

8. Isanpur lake

9. Pancha lake

10. Memnagar lake

11. Gota talav

12. Iscon mall lake

13. Vejalpur lake

14. Thaltej lake

15. Sarkhej talav

16. Bapunagar lake

17. Asarwa lake

18. Ghodasar talav

19. Khari lake

20. Bibi talav

21. Nikol lake

22. Naroda lake

23. Vatwa lake

24. Makarpura lake

25. Ambli lake

26. Lambha talav

27. Sola lake

28. Vinzol talav

29. Jasoda talav

30. Vastral lake

31. Odhav talav

32. Singarva talav

33. Khodiyar talav

34. Madhav talav

35. Saijpur lake

36. Shilaj talav

37. Chandlodia talav

38. Kali talav

39. Acher talav

40. Koteshwar talav

41. Lambha All water bodies are shown in blue. The main lakes are located and numbered here on the map.

Sabarmati river

There are about 109 lakes given in the last survey by the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation. I have been able to visit the first 15 given in this list, to give a fair idea of the state of various lakes.

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24

5

6

7

8

9

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12

14

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Introduction -


Power of Awareness

wrongdoing! Thus while the Court says that there has been “established neglect” of Urban Development authorities and local bodies which had brought the situation to such a pass, it adds that its interim orders in the case has “goaded them into some action” which has “raised a distinct ray of hope”.

NGOs

Few NGOs in Ahmedabad exist that work for improving the condition of lakes, rain water harvesting etc. For e.g. Pravah and Centre for Integrated Development. On a national level, there is India Water Portal, CEE.

Issue of Conservation

The Ramsar Convention (The Convention on Wetlands of International Importance, especially as Waterfowl Habitat) “ is an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable utilisation of wetlands, i.e., to stem the progressive encroachment on and loss of wetlands now and in the future, recognizing the fundamental ecological functions of wetlands and their economic, cultural, scientific, and recreational value.” Lakes and wetlands in India which have been included under Ramsar are Bhoj Wetland, Chhillika Lake. We need to take rational steps to manage water in India before it becomes an international crisis, as this will affect the nation’s economy and will also lead to various water-borne diseases. The Central Ground Water Board is the apex national organization, working under the ministry of water resources and is responsible for various activities related to exploration, development and management of groundwater resources in the country. There are other cities that face a similar crises of disappearing lakes include Udaipur, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Bhopal etc. NGOs alone cannot save the water crises unless people take action.

Public Interest Litigation

The Gujarat High Court delivered a judgment in August 2002 on a group of Public Interest Petitions demanding revival of the lakes of Ahmedabad. It requires Government authorities to notify all lakes in the State and protect them. Further, it directs the authorities to take urgent measures to regenerate the water bodies, to remove encroachments from it and to rehabilitate the affected slum dwellers. The judgment also precipitates critical State policy decisions on water management. It requires the State Government to constitute Water Resources Council headed by the Chief Minister “to oversee the programme for protection, preservation and improvement of water bodies.” The State Government is also ordered to constitute a Water Resource Committee headed by the Chief Secretary to monitor the implementation of the Programme in a time bound manner. But the major areas of concern for protecting water bodies remain. The judgment cannot escape the continuing problem of all such large-scale PIL cases -- of asking the very authorities to take corrective measures who were the wrongdoers or who allowed the

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Boating in Kankaria lake at night

- Introduction


Revival of Chandola Talav

Chandola lake, also known as Shah Alam Roza Talav is the biggest artificial lake built by wife of Tajn Khan Nari Ali, a Mughal Sultan at Ahmedabad. The tomb of Shah Alam stands adjoining to this lake. The domes of this grave were ornamented with priced jewels by Asaf Khan who happened to be Noor Jahan’s sibling.

In 2001, Chandola lake had dried up completely, as can be seen from the satellite image, mainly because its water was overused by various industries. In 2002 a PIL was filed by a local citizen demanding Chandola lake be revived, as a result of which the court ordered the municipal corporation to preserve the lake’s water, putting guidelines on its usage. Fortunately the lake is now a temporary habitat for migratory birds during the winter seasons.

Nowadays this lake mainly provides water for irrigation and a few small industries. Throughout most of its edge there are slums and one side is flanged with a main arterial road. There are few points where garbage is dumped; at some places it touches the lake. During lean months, locals

take their cattle to bath. An advantage of the fact that it has not been developed insensitively as tourist spot is that the lake becomes an important resting point for migratory birds like spoonbill, Godvit, red-headed ibis, pelicans etc. who come in great numbers and face no disturbance. There is a need to preserve this lake and develop it sensitively; i.e. without jeopardizing the environmental factors.

Since the notice for developing lakes was issued, few more lakes have been developed including Kankaria, Pancha talav, Malav talav and Memnagar talav. Some more are to be developed under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) including Gota, Ambli, Makarba, Chandkheda, Chharodi, Shilaj, Mohmadpura, Sarkhej, Jagatpur, Nikol, Vastral. But a point of concern is that if all these lakes are developed on the lines of Kankaria, there will not be any edge of the lake which is left natural as wetland area and thus not much scope is left for migratory birds to halt and rest there.

Changes over time

2001

2002

2009


2010

2005

2006

2009

Malav Talav

Vejalpur Talav

for a housing scheme, thereby leaving no land for rain water collection. The leftover land now lies in a degraded condition with garbage being thrown in it illegally. The ground water has become susceptible to contamination due to this garbage.

The reason why the construction was allowed maybe financial and political. Vejalpur lake is located on a 70ft wide main road and thus may have been sold as a high value property to the builders. It may not be as big in area as Chandola lake but it is easily noticeable. The area neighboring it is purely residential and it ought to have been preserved. In a similar case, Isanpur lake is being suffocated and slowly encroached upon by the slums. But the authorities don’t seem to bother.

Negligence of Malav Talav

Malav talav has been developed on the typical model of concrete embankment on edges and a park with a jogging track on its periphery. The park maybe fairly well maintained but the lake water, whatever little remains of it, is not. Residents flock to the lake in mornings and evenings for jogging and meeting friends but seeing the lake is a big disappointment for them. Algae grows in the lake unobtrusively covering

Disappearance of Vejalpur Talav

A clear example of encroachment can be seen in Vejalpur Lake. In 2007, a major part of the lake’s land was taken up by a private building authority

it almost completely, cutting off the lake’s exposure to sunlight and oxygen. This prevents the growth of fishes and other organisms that are important for the ecosystem of a lake. This is the similar state of other lakes like memnagar lake, pancha lake, isanpur lake etc.

- Introduction


• EncroachmentsEncroachment means building, constructing on land covered by water bodies as decided by the Town planning commission. Private builders encroach on the land where the lakes have dried up. The municipal authorities either get bribed by the private builders or continue to neglect the encroachment, even though they have the power to remove them. But the authorities took notice and acted only when the court ordered them, in response to PILs.

• Urban and legal GuidelinesThere is also the issue of determining the peripheral area surrounding a lake where building and other activities are to be prohibited. An interim order has restricted building activity around all the city lakes. The Gujarat High Court has reaffirmed the protection of these lakes as essential for proper and healthy environment guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution.

• ResponsibilityThe Supreme Court has declared all lakes and tanks to be the properties of the Government (which are not individually owned) and made clear that “The State as the trustee of all natural

Problems & Solutions

resources meant for public use, including lakes and ponds, is under a legal duty to protect them.” If the Governments of the day were to internalize this truth alone, the ‘war over city lakes’ -- between those concerned with Development and those bothered with the Environment -- would never had surfaced in the first place.” Is it the encroachers or the authorities? The court removed those people who supported construction on land covered by water bodies under the town planning schemes, and called them encroachers. But Videh Upadhyay suggests that this is will not help the problem. These people need to be paid due compensation.

• Public-Private PartnershipsAs is mentioned in the 1998 National Housing and Habitat policy, there should not be an excessive dependence on public agencies. Public-private relationships can help tackle the problem of degradation of the lake, providing tourism opportunities and housing facilities for slum dwellers. For e.g. for a start, the municipalities can work with Resident Welfare Associations to maintain water bodies with their catchment and storm water drains. This requires a lot of patience, cooperation and willingness from both the sides to work together.

• Self-governanceThere should be local self-governance, i.e. the societies living around the lakes should be completely responsible for their local habitat, which includes lakes and parks. But there is a risk in such a case of powerful private authorities getting rid of the green areas to use the land for commercial purposes.

Mosquitoes floating on the surface of Vastrapur Lake

Introduction -

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Problems

• Encroachments• Corruption• Ignorance• Ownership: Who’s lake is it? (Govt.’s, Builders or the people’s)

Solutions

• Ownership: Power to the people• PILs• Public-Private Partnerships• Self-governance• Awareness

Conclusion

Isanpur talav suffocating under the pressure of slum encroachment

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- Introduction

From the above analysis, it is evident that awareness is an important step to protect the lakes. And the rest of the solutions can be brought into practise when only when people come to know about the issue in the first place.

Photography is a strong visual medium to spread this awareness. A photography project on lakes justifies the cause and I as a photographer have not just the opportunity but a responsibility in this regard. The next step is to figure out

the style of photography, wether it is to be documentary or fine-art. Looking at the works of established photographers who have worked for similar causes will help in deciding the visual language.

Review of Photographer’s Work

• Introduction

• Ansel AdamsStraight photography approach to glorify natural landscapes

• Minor White Equivalents generating emotions using signs and minimalist compositions

• Keith ArnattSatire on garbage as landscape

• Sonja BraasStrong, unsettling photographs of natural and unnatural disasters

• Edward BurtynskyFormal abstraction of man-made Landscapes

• Chris JordanConceptual artwork of man-made objects causing pollution

• Robert AdamsBanal photographs depicting human use of land

• Joe DealMundane, anthropological survey of landscapes

• Learnings from Review3

17Final Project : Ahmedabad Na Talav : Shilpa Gavane : 2010 - Review of Photographer’s Work

Introduction

To derive a visual language for the photographic project, it is important of study works of photographers and artists done on the issues of environment conservation. This will give an idea of how they dealt with the subject, what problems they faced and which styles they adopted.

Ansel Easton Adams

Ansel Easton Adams (b. 1902) was an American photographer and environmentalist He emphasized the use of small apertures and long exposures in natural light, which created sharp details with a wide range of focus. Adams espoused “pure or straight photography” over pictorialism. Pure photography is defined as possessing no qualities of technique, composition or idea, derivative of any other art form.

Mostly resistant to the “art for life’s sake” movement, Adams began to deploy his photographs in cause of wilderness preservation. He was inspired by the increasing desecration of Yosemite Valley by commercial development, including a pool hall, bowling alley, golf course, shops, and automobile traffic. He created a limited-edition book in 1938, Sierra Nevada: The John Muir Trail, as part of the Sierra Club’s efforts to secure the designation of Sequoia and

Kings Canyon as national parks. This book and his testimony before Congress played a vital role in the success of the effort, and Congress designated the area as a National Park in 1940. He said, “Yosemite Valley, to me, is always a sunrise, a glitter of green and golden wonder in a vast edifice of stone and space. I know of no sculpture, painting or music that exceeds the compelling spiritual command of the soaring shape of granite cliff. At first the colossal aspect may dominate; then we perceive and respond to the delicate and persuasive complex of nature.”

The Tetons and the Snake River

Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico,1941Thundercloud, Lake Tahoe, CA, 1936

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Minor White

The “equivalents” of White (b. 1908) were often photographs of barns, doorways, water, the sky, or simple paint peeling on a wall: things usually considered mundane, but often made special by the quality of the light in which they were photographed. One of his more popular photographs is titled Frost on Window, a close-up of frost crystals on glass. However, in regard to an equivalent, the specific objects themselves are of secondary importance either to the photographer or the viewer. Instead, such a photograph captures a sentiment or emotionally symbolic idea using formal and structural elements that carry a feeling or sense of ‘recognition’: mirroring of something in viewer.

Poplar Trees

Shadow Snow Ice and Snow

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He “...recognized an object or series of forms that, when photographed, would yield an image with specific suggestive powers that can direct the viewer into a specific and known feeling, state, or place within himself.” He wanted his photographs to be experienced & was very particular about both technical aspects of his art and quality of the images. To transmit his messages—to ‘direct the viewer’—White employs a variety of methods; he creates symbols to represent emotions, he accompanies his images with text or places them in sequence.

Review of Photographer’s Work -

19Final Project : Ahmedabad Na Talav : Shilpa Gavane : 2010 - Review of Photographer’s Work

Keith Arnatt

Keith Arnatt (b. 1930) was a British conceptual artist and photographer. The series ‘Pictures from a Rubbish Tip’ has images of decomposing food, some in their plastic wrappers, some naked; all of which have a delicate, almost transcendental, beauty. Colour is important to him, and this comes out in one image depicting a strip of bacon and a piece of eggshell against a backdrop of plastic partially obscuring a pink floral pattern behind. But it is not the inventory of items depicted which makes this picture arresting, it is, rather, a certain undefined quality, perhaps the way the light falls on the objects, or the way the plastic conceals and mutes the things behind, in this instance, making a composition of rubbish appear as if painted in the manner of a Flemish painting. Perhaps it is because the effect of making what could be described as dirty plastic appear as fine gauze or muslin, or the care with which these items of rubbish are composed: each is attributed with a value by its relation to the others. What ever it is, Arnatt has transformed the unwanted into something, at least pictorially, highly desirable. But when Arnatt plays directly with the ambiguity of objects, as he does in his series ‘Canned Sunsets’ (1990-91) the transformation from literal into figurative seems contrived by comparison. In ‘Howler’s

Hill’ (1987-88) Arnatt depicts everyday objects: a blue embroidered cushion rests on a litter-strewn ground, its blueness so vibrant it appears to have seeped into the earth itself. And in ‘Tears of Things’ (Objects from a Rubbish Tip) 1990-91, he depicts single items on a makeshift plinth: the head of a doll, a brush with some of its bristles caked in gunk, a cracked red light bulb covered with a film of brown dust, a doll’s torso with a foot thrust forward covered in black gloss paint. In ‘Miss Grace’s Lane’ (1986-87), scenes of the countryside are speckled with items: an orange plastic bag caught in some bulrushes, or a child’s plastic kite fastened high in some tree branches.What ever else Arnatt does, he makes the observer aware of how we value things, and how things could be otherwise valued, given the

right conditions. What is the use of post-it notes except to convey instruction at a particular time? When he records his wife’s post-it notes, he is giving value to something essentially transitory.

Pictures from a rubbish tip (Bacon)

Pictures from a rubbish tip (Spaghetti)

Pictures from a rubbish tip (Cake)

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Robert Adams

As part of the New Topographics in the 1970s, Adams, b.1937 approach to photographing these landscapes was to take a stance of apparent neutrality, refraining from any obvious judgments of the subject matter. His images are titled as documents, to establish his neutral position. However, in the words of John Szarkowski, Adams... “ has, without actually lying, discovered in these dumb and artless agglomerations of boring buildings the suggestion of redeeming virtue.”

Adams’s photographs emphasize the redemptive beauty of nature in the face of humans’ widespread and unremitting use of the land and focus on the frontier between the human and natural worlds. He wrote, early in his career, “The job of the photographer is not to record indisputable fact but to try to be coherent about intuition and hope.” For about five years, beginning in 1974, Adams embarked on an experiment: he made a series of photographs at night—the opposite of the high-altitude daylight used in most of his previous photographs. The project brought an element of risk he had not experienced before. Passing motorists sometimes veered toward him on rural roadsides, and in urban centers police repeatedly questioned him about his activities.

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A backyard, Colorado

Along interstate On Signal Hill Overlooking Long Beach

Burning oil sludge

Eden Colorado



Joe Deal

Joe Deal, b.1947 rejected the sweeping romanticism of Adams and Edward Weston in favor of a jaundiced, dry-eyed inspection of the modern American landscape and its degradation at the hands of developers, corporations and suburban colonizers. It was an approach that Mr. Jenkins called “anthropological rather than critical, scientific rather than artistic.”

Instead of pristine vistas, viewers were presented with tract houses, industrial sites, motels, warehouses and highway projects. In a deadpan, uninflected style, Mr. Deal showed mundane, newly built homes in the arid landscape around Albuquerque and Boulder City, Nev.

“In making these photographs I attempted to make a series of images in which one image is equal in weight or appearance to another,” he wrote in an artist’s statement for the exhibition catalog. Believing that “the most extraordinary images might be the most prosaic,” he deliberately kept formal decisions to a minimum, preferring to manipulate the images as little as possible and eliminate, as far as possible, “personal intrusion.” After “New Topographics,” Mr. Deal turned his attention to the uneasy coexistence of man and nature along the San Andreas Fault in Southern

California, producing a portfolio of images, “The Fault Zone,” that juxtaposed the hasty activity of human beings with the inexorable, drawn-out processes of geology.

Mr. Deal adopted a style of close-up inspection in “Subdividing the Inland Basin,” a record of suburban subdivisions east of Los Angeles, and “Beach Cities,” whose images of Southern California oceanfront communities became some of Mr. Deal’s best-known work.

In recent years he photographed in the Midwest. In his portfolio “West and West: Reimagining the Great Plains,” he used the camera to impose a gridlike square that alludes to the grids mapped out after the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854.

“The pictures were stripped of any artistic frills and reduced to an essentially topographic state, conveying substantial amounts of visual information but eschewing entirely the aspects of beauty, emotion and opinion,.” “[...] rigorous purity, deadpan humor and a casual disregard for the importance of the images.”

Flint Hills From series West n West

Cloud Missouri Plateau From series West n West

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- Review of Photographer’s Work


Sonja Braas

The Quiet of DissolutionNatural disaster per definition only exist because of human presence. Destructive forces are essential for development, nature´s existence is based and depended on catastrophic, sudden changes. These necessary processes lead to destruction of human environment and thus to the catastrophe. The transition of when nature is perceived and revered as sublime and when feared as destructive depends on several aspects, among them physical distance, and whether exposure is by choice and temporary. The perception of natural disasters has gone through changes with the advancement of technology. Nature was no more perceived as the outside enemy but seen almost as a controllable entity, to the point where control achieved the opposite - man made catastrophes. There is a great fascination with nature´s forces, particularly when its activities become catastrophic.

Every society puts up clear boundaries, borders or categorizations to define itself: to define and separate the normal from the abnormal, the edible from the inedible, the clean from the dirty. We are alternatively fascinated, horrified or excited by the breaking down of these borders

and by the possibility of contact with what is „other“, with what is on the other side of our orderly world. Overall, culture becomes in many ways a symbol of control over nature - nature becomes its Other. I am interested in natural disasters as the symbol of this interpretation of culture equivalent to order against nature equivalent to chaos. Even though the definition of boundaries has become more complex as human involvement in causing natural disaster is becoming more apparent, there is a great fascination for what is threatening and out of our control. This juxtaposition will be found in my images, iconographic depicting of natural disasters, frozen images of the unforeseen, sudden and overwhelming, photographs of models that pretend and question authenticity, control and order of the chaotic.

The photography of Sonja Braas (b. Germany 1968) Braas makes photographs in museums of natural history or zoology in which one passes through different environment zones. These are constructed of three-dimensional materials with painted backdrops receding into a mysterious distance. These “sets” can feature stuffed birds with real feathers, plastic or real branches and rocks and artificially simulated daylight, all to instantly convey an atmospheric exotic vision of a far away place. These generalized

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Wave

Forest Fire



representations of distant “real” places are in themselves “non” places; though pass on an experience of progressing through rainforest, mountainscape, savannah, desert, wetland etc. Braas frames out the museum surroundings and information plaques of these displays so they appear as nameless natural wilderness. The reputation of photography as truth-teller, “the camera never lies”, seals the believability of Braas’ work.

Braas then approaches different environments around the world in the same way. She places her camera in real environments, which the museum displays, represent. When photographing landscapes, she mimics the composition style of the displays, which are constructed by humans to ensure that the given spot where the viewer stands reveals every feature of what is before him/her. The display is made to cater to a human viewpoint, and maybe also to our expectations and anticipation of what nature is like. In turn, when real landscapes when photographed like this they seem held in a suspension of reality where the leaves will never fall and the snow will never melt. When exhibited side by side, one may not know for a while that some are from displays and others not. This is because in interpreting the work, the artist stresses the importance of a lack of clear indicators (as to

which is which and where they are located), wishing for them to exist equally and eternally in our imaginations.

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Blizzard

Oil spill

Tornado

Firestorm


24 Final Project : Ahmedabad Na Talav : Shilpa Gavane : 2010Review of Photographer’s Work -

Edward Burtynsky

Burtynsky’s (b. 1955) photographs are meant as metaphors to the dilemma of our modern existence; they search for a dialogue between attraction and repulsion, seduction and fear. We are drawn by desire - a chance at good living, yet we are consciously or unconsciously aware that the world is suffering for our success. Our dependence on nature to provide the materials for our consumption and our concern for the health of our planet sets us into an uneasy contradiction. For me, these images function as reflecting pools of our times. His imagery explores the intricate link between industry and nature, combining the raw elements of mining, quarrying, manufacturing, shipping, oil production and recycling into eloquent, highly expressive visions that find beauty and humanity in the most unlikely of places.

He says, “Nature transformed through industry is a predominant theme in my work. I set course to intersect with a contemporary view of the great ages of man; from stone, to minerals, oil, transportation, silicon, and so on. To make these ideas visible I search for subjects that are rich in detail and scale yet open in their meaning. Recycling yards, mine tailings, quarries and refineries are all places that are outside of our

normal experience, yet we partake of their output on a daily basis. The grand, awe-inspiring beauty of his images is often in tension with the compromised environments they depict.” Burtynsky uses a large format to photograph his sites in detail. I admire the sense of abstraction

that is brought into the work owing to an aerial perspective of the earth. There is an irony in his images since they are sites of ugly destruction by man-made forces but look picturesque and beautiful, probably forcing the viewer to think about what the sites would originally look like.

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Rock of Ages # 1, E.L. Smith Quarry, Vermont, 1991

Mines #17, Lornex Open Pit Copper Mine. Columbia

Railcuts #1, C.N. Track, Skihist Provincial Park, Columbia

Mines #15, Inco Tailings Pond, Sudbury, Ontario 1985


Chris Jordan

In his project Midway, Chris (b.1963) photographs albatross chicks that die from starvation, toxicity and choking due to plastic fed by their parents, who collect what looks to them like food, from the polluted ocean to feed their young. To document this phenomenon as faithfully as possible, not a single piece of plastic was moved, placed, arranged, or altered in any way. These images depict the actual stomach contents of baby birds in one of the world’s most remote marine sanctuaries, more than 2000 miles from the nearest continent. He is best known for his large scale works depicting mass consumption and waste, particularly garbage using a serendipitous technique which started when he visited an industrial yard to look at patterns of colour and order. His industrious passion for conservation and awareness has brought much attention to his photography in recent years. Jordan uses everyday commonalities such as a plastic cup and defines the blind unawareness involved in American consumerism. His work, while often unsettling, is a bold message about unconscious behaviors in our everyday lives, leaving it to the viewer to draw conclusions about the inevitable consequences which will arise from our habits. Above is a detail from the photograph Oil Barrels, part of series, Running

the Numbers: An American Self-Portrait. He says, “This project visually examines these vast and bizarre measures of our society, in large intricately detailed prints assembled from thousands of smaller photographs.”

An American Self-Portrait- Oil Barrels- detail #1, Midway: Message from the Gyre

#2, Midway: Message from the Gyre

#3, Midway: Message from the Gyre

An American Self-Portrait- Oil Barrels

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Review of artists

A brief study of other artists shows how the subject of nature and environment was incorporated in works of artists in other fields of art and how abstraction evolved as an art movement. Environmental art or eco-art according to GreenMuseum.org is “in a general sense, art that helps improve our relationship with the natural world. It:• Informs and interprets nature and

its processes, or educates us about environmental problems.

• Is concerned with environmental forces and materials, creating artworks affected or powered by wind, water, lightning, even earthquakes.

• Re-envisions our relationship to nature, proposing new ways for us to co-exist with our environment.

• Reclaims and remediates damaged environments, restoring ecosystems in artistic and often aesthetic ways.

Sara Hall: Glass ArtistHall’s recent work in architectural glass focuses on the integration of art and solar technology. Energy that is gathered through the solar cells is used to illuminate both the artwork and its surroundings at night. Hall says, “By forging an

image with a source of renewable energy, we create a powerful story about how we can live in this world: It gives us a chance to dream about who we can be.”

John Dahlsen: Assemblage ArtAustralian artist Dahlsen creates works of art from the vast quantities of plastic and litter washed up along the Victorian coastline. Dahlsen says, “Making this art has been a way of sharing my messages for the need to care for our environment with a broad audience. I feel that even if just a fraction of the viewing audience were to experience a shift in their awareness and consciousness about the environment and art, through being exposed to this artwork then it would be worth it.”

Laurie Chetwood: ArchitectureChetwood’s “Urban Oasis” opened in 2006 as a temporary structure on Clerkenwell Green and is a demonstration of sustainability and renewable energy working. The 12 metre high kinetic structure mimics the design of a growing flower: its photovoltaic “petals” open and close in response to the sun and the moon utilizing daylight to generate power. This is supplemented by a hydrogen fuel cell and wind turbine to make it self-sufficient. It even uses rainwater it has collected for irrigation and cooling. At the base,

the Oasis has five “pods” inside which people are secluded from the noisy and polluted city surroundings, enjoying cleaner cooled air and relaxing sounds.

John Dahlsen’s artwork

Robson’s sculpture

Sara Hall’s glass sculpture

Chetwood’s installation


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Aurora Robson: SculptureNew York based artist Robson uses everyday waste such as discarded plastic bottles and junk mail to create intricate sculptures, installations, and collages. In the past year, Robson has intercepted about 30,000 bottles, saving them from their ultimate destination at the landfill or costly recycling plants. The fate of her junk mail follows a similar path and have now become part of her stunning ink collages. Robson’s environmentally conscious works grew out of her love and appreciation for nature and from the nightmares she had as a child. Her goal is to “take something inherently negative and transform it into something positive.” Her art is “ultimately about recognizing and embracing new possibilities while encouraging others to do the same.”

Andy GoldsworthyGoldsworthy is a British artist who collaborates with nature to make his creations. He regards his creations as transient, or ephemeral. He photographs each piece once right after he makes it. His goal is to understand nature by directly participating in nature as intimately as he can. He works with whatever comes to hand: twigs, leaves, stones, snow and ice, reeds and thorns. He says, ““I enjoy the freedom of just using my hands and “found” tools--a sharp stone, the quill of a feather, thorns. Here is where I can learn. The underlying tension of a lot of my art is

to try and look through the surface appearance of things. Inevitably, one way of getting beneath the surface is to introduce a hole, a window into what lies below.” Goldsworthy’s work is very interesting but it is not intended to address any environmental issue.

Susan DergesAn internationally recognized photographic artist, she says abstraction “offered the promise of being able to speak of the invisible rather than record the visible”, “the camera always separates the subject from the viewer”.For River Taw series she worked at night, placing photographic paper on river bed, allowing exposing images to ambient light, aided by use of a flash gun. Her technique involved a very direct and unmediated physical relationship with the landscape, while her Under The Moon series involved working with photographs of moon and combining these with water and branch patterns exposed to sound vibrations in the darkroom.

Dandelions & Hole Pebbles Broken & Scraped Iris Leaves with Rowan Berries

River rock finished with gold leaf


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28 Final Project : Ahmedabad Na Talav : Shilpa Gavane : 2010Review of Photographer’s Work -

Christo and Jeanne ClaudeThe use of inner/outer space became evident in Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s temporary environmental works of art such as: The Umbrellas. In 1958, Christo began working with oil barrels, because they were the largest containers he could find that were unbreakable and cheap. He has stacked numerous barrel structures sometimes with the intent to create massive, freestanding forms, and sometimes with the intent to create environmental obstructions. The structures were an early indication of Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s predilection for creating sculptures that almost pass for ordinary phenomena that one scarcely notices in everyday life. They prefer their work to be disturbingly ambiguous, thereby causing the spectator to do a double take. Many of Christo’s barrel projects, however huge, are not environmental: they do not modify or alter the surroundings, but remain discreet masses in the landscape.

Robert SmithsonSmithson (b.1938) was an American artist famous for his land art. While Smithson did not find “beauty” in the evidence of abuse and neglect, he did see the state of things as demonstrative of the continually transforming relationships between man and landscape. In his proposal to make process art out of the dredging of The Pond, Smithson sought to insert himself into the dynamic evolution of the park. He became particularly interested in the notion of deformities within the spectrum of anti-aesthetic dynamic relationships which he saw present in the Picturesque landscape. He claimed, “the best sites for ‘earth art’ are sites that have been disrupted by industry, reckless urbanization, or nature’s own devastation.

Broken Circle, Netherlands

Glue pour

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Learnings from the Review

The review has helped in understanding the subject, concept and styles. Reviewing such a varierty of work has shown that various approaches in visual language are possible to address the same issue. The approach that works best should be one that reflects present context of contemporary photography in India. The review has has also lead to the development of my own style of photography. Reviewing these works shows how styles of photography evolved or changed over the years. Starting from documentry by Ansel Adams to abstraction by Edward Burtynsky during the last few years.

Keith Arnatt’s satire is arresting in a sense that it catches one’s attention instantly. It has a subtle humour but one that helps in making the viewer think about the issue as well, at a more sub-consious level, not one that is hard-hitting and in-your-face. The photographs thus work brilliantly in that sense.

Chris Jordan’s work lies in the boundary bewtween art and environmental awareness. It is meant to astound, baffle and surprise to show the sheer magnitude of environmental problem, using facts and figures. Using digital medium a is unique approach.

Sonja Brass’s painting like photographs are visually very appealing but are not necessarily addressing any environmental isssue. Rather they are just natural or man-made phenomenons, large scale, meant to give one single emotion, one a negative side, of the dark forces of nature. It may be to appreciate beauty of nature or be afraid of its power. But there is a lack of intent, a lack of a message. I feel the work is beautiful to look at but the value of the work stops there. It would have given the work more meaning if there was a message attached to it. Though one doesn’t always have to make a propoganda out of every work, or get too journalistic, still if one’s art helps in spreading the awareness of nature’s degradation thereby helping to improves the world’s condition at large, it would be better. On a more philosphical note, I believe the world is heading in a direction towards improvement, betterment and goodness. It is an optimistic view but this belief is important to live a healthy happy life. People make different meanings of their life and if one really starts to think selflessly about what is the most important thing in the world, the answer is people. If some people are dying in some part of the world while you are happy, and if it is in your power to help them lead a better life, you have the responsibility to

do so. As a photographer, one has the power to bring awareness, to help those who are dying, to prevent damage. Balance in environment is a key to prevention of large scale unprecedented destruction and therefore prevention of loss of innocent lives. There have been many proofs to show how a photographer can prevent such destruction from happening. The forests prevented by Ansel Adams have helped keep climate of North America in check and therefore prevented desertification, ozone layer depletion and this in turn has prevented people’s life getting disrupted, health problems, habitat loss etc. This is not a far fetched analysis as some may believe but a very real issue at the core of our lives. Thus I feel that if Braas’s work had an intent and a narrative, it would have been more powerful than being just aesthetic art works.

I have started appreciating the use of abstraction as an aesthetic yet powerful way to convey a message, subtly. If the visuals are hard-hitting, often viewers will not be interested, as there is already an overdose of journalistic images in newspapers, magazines etc. If it intended to send a message, it should be done subtly, at a sub-consious level. It is the most impactful way I feel to make a difference.


4Evolution of Visual Language

• Introduction

• 1st Approach : Panoramas

• 2nd Approach : Reflections

• 3rd Approach : People living along the lake

• Analysis of the above approaches

• Final Approach : Abstraction

31Final Project : Ahmedabad Na Talav : Shilpa Gavane : 2010Malav lake

The Idea

The first approach was to make a sequence of eight to ten panoramas showing the status of lakes, starting from the dry ones to those which are in a good condition. After exploring a few options it was decided to take the panorama positioned if possible at the center of the lake.

As has been studied in the review, different photographers have followed different styles of photography from documentary to fine art. Considering the complexity of the project in terms of issues, environmental, social etc. I decided to explore various visual languages before deciding on one that suited the best. Here is a description of this process, the idea behind each exploration and why it was rejected.

1st Approach : PANORAMAS

Introduction

The idea of the degree of view from 180 to 360 degree was explored and along with it the way to exhibit them in a circular fashion so that they could be viewed only by standing inside each photographic display. This could make the experience more three dimensional with the viewer having to make an effort of turning around physically to see the entire continuous seamless frame.

Why it was rejected

Panoramas were not considered very effective as it was too literal a representation leaving no room for interpretation. After two or three photographs, the sequence becomes repetitive in style and subject which somehow makes it all look mundane. The power to make a connection with the viewer is lost because the viewer will assume what he/she is going to see next in the series. Also panoramas tend to look grand, but

if there is a series of them, it can get tiring for the viewer. This straight documentary approach would have been an easy approach to follow in the sense that it is not something unique and my photographic challenges would simply be reduced to overcoming the technical difficulties of shooting panoramas, for e.g. getting the angles correct using a panoramic head, merging the sections perfectly in photo-shop, perspective & distortion correction etc. This would not allow any evolution of my creative style except for the practical difficulties of going to the center of water filled lakes for shooting and printing the photographs in life sizes for the proposed display. Referring to other photographers, I realized that panoramas can look forced, meaning unnecessary if the same point can be made using a single conventional 35 mm frame. I thought of using an anchor in each frame, implanting a surrealist element repeatedly, collage etc and thus tried other styles of representing lakes .

- Evolution of Visual Language

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Chharodi lake (180 deg view)

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Chandola lake (120 deg view)

Pancha lake (180 deg view)

Sarkhej Roza lake (120 deg view)

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Pancha lake (360 deg view)

Memnagar Talav (360 deg view)


The Idea

Reflections in water has been a subject of many paintings. The still waters reflect an inverted image of the real world above it while the slightly stirred water distorts it. This distortion has been of interest to various visual artists as it allows another level of interpretation. Reflections help in multiple layering, juxtaposition and creating complexity and can give interesting results.

The second approach which initiated at Isanpur lake was to shoot the reflections in the lake, that could reflect the condition of the edges in an indirect way. The photographs indirectly talking about the condition of the lake and also looked aesthetically intriguing. The black and white treatment made them look abstract. If the reflection is taken in still water, as shown in the examples here and if the photographs are turned upside down, they could arouse the curiosity in the viewer. The process of photographing reflections has a meditative quality to it, as one searches in the water, thinking and looking for reflections. As the real objects are inverted, the symbolism associated with it also needs to be judge, meaning a viewer may wonder what an

2nd Approach : RefLeCtIONS

inverted tree without leaves would mean with a dump yard around it. Reflections have been popularly known to be aesthetic and it is difficult to get away from this kind of representation. If on the contrary, reflection are photographed as ugly or forms and color which are not pleasing to the eye, a new way of looking could be derived. I explored inverting the reflected image and putting it together with the reflection to enhance the effect. The tank or hauz inside Sarkhej Roza

Isanpur lake


Illegal Slum development extends to the edge of Isanpur lake and the effect of reflections heighten this conflict of land and water.

Why it was rejected

A practical problem of this approach, that I realized was that not all lakes had water. The photographs that were shown, also lacked a human element. Some of the images do create interesting meanings, for e.g. when the temple on the shore is inverted, or image of mosque is inverted. But they do not emote other than being merely interesting to look at. Moreover this style is cliched and is not something new and interesting enough even from the fine art’s point of view as the approach is quite common in popular amateur photography. Conscious photography is more than a gimmick. This ‘trickery’ would only make the viewer wonder and solve ‘what the reflection is’ rather than making him/her think about ‘what the problem is’. Although it makes the viewer work to solve the reflected image, to make sense of it, thereby making him participate in the interpretation of the photograph, the issue ends when the photograph is solved so to say. Moreover there is always a risk in making photography pleasing to the eye, because then a distance is created between the real issue and the viewer with the mask of ‘an artistic aesthetic’ in between.


The Idea

Another approach explored was to document the people living around the lakes. In neglected lakes like the Chandola lake, slums have been existing since a long time. There are people who do small scale business of their own like selling plastics, repairing works etc. Documenting people can give a clue about the lake’s importance to them and also create an emotional aspect for viewers to connect with the issue.

ProcessSince the life of a lake is interlinked with the life of people around it, I went around walking on foot to see the slums that exist around it. I did not ask the people to pose and photographed them in their surrounding environment. I also took multiple photographs using a handy digicam while travelling in an auto. It was shocking to heartening to see people living in sympathetic conditions, close to the garbage dumps and yet, trying to live comfortably and happily. An interesting observation I made is that every lake that I visited had at least one small temple somewhere on its bank. It might have been of interest to shoot them but this issue was not about religion but politics of land and water.

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Woman picking garbage at the illegal dump yard along the edge of Chandola lake

3rd Approach : PeOPLe AROuND the

Evolution of Visual Language -


Woman picking garbage at the illegal dump yard along the edge of Chandola lake. People who stay along Chandola lake are self employed in making small scale goods like brooms, baskets etc.


Why it was rejected

This issue is not about the people living just along the lakes but the people of the entire city. This perspective would have been limited and would have become very narrow minded and would not show the actual state of the lake.

Further more, even though photographing people would have been a big challenge for me as I am not used to shooting people, still I did not believe in photographing people, just because it creates a more sympathetic

reaction in the viewer. Photographing poor people is a romanticized and exploited trend in photography; it puts the viewer at a higher level and instead of emphasizing with these people, they are sympathized upon.

40 Final Project : Ahmedabad Na Talav : Shilpa Gavane : 2010Evolution of Visual Language -

Analysis and Learning exploring Abstraction

To go ahead with abstraction, a study was required of what is abstraction, how it evolved as an art movement and artists who practised abstraction. According to one definition abstract art uses a visual language of form, color and line to create a composition which may exist with a degree of independence from visual references in the world. An abstraction is a concept that may be formed by reducing the information content of a concept or an observable phenomenon, typically to retain only information which is relevant for a particular purpose. Strictly speaking, it refers to art unconcerned with the literal depiction of things from the visible world - it can, however, refer to an object or image which has been distilled from the real world, or indeed, another work of art.

In 20th century the trend toward abstraction coincided with advances in science and technology eventually reflecting an interest in psychoanalytic theory. Later it was manifest in more purely formal terms, such as color, freed from objective context, and reduction of form to basic geometric designs. In music, the term abstraction may sometimes indicate abandonment of tonality. Abstraction indicates a

Looking at the shortcomings of above three approaches it was decided to explore other means of representation. These approaches were not unique and did not reflect my style of photography. What interested me in photography is not literal representation. Through the approach of reflections, I was intending to create a subtle, indirect meaning. Photographing people, it would have been difficult to avoid the voyeuristic gaze plus the idea would have been diverted to solely slum development rather than the large issue of lakes of the city. It was certainly a good learning experience to try different approaches and opened my mind and way of thinking. It was important to go through this process of exploration but there was a need to arrive at the final visual language that would be not just my style of photography but also address all the aspects of this project.

After discarding previous approaches, I re looked at my collection of images, short listed about twenty photographs that looked interesting, satisfactory and went to discuss with Sunil Gupta. He further selected from them, eight that seemed to belong to one visual language. These were what helped me get a clearer idea of the visual language that was required.

departure from reality in depiction of imagery. This departure from accurate representation can be slight, partial, or complete. Total abstraction bears no trace of any reference to anything recognizable like geometric and lyrical abstraction. In geometric abstraction, one is unlikely to find references to naturalistic entities. Figurative and representational (or realistic) art often contains partial abstraction and includes art movements like fauvism and cubism. Much of the art of earlier cultures – signs and marks on pottery, textiles, and inscriptions and paintings on rock – were simple, geometric and linear forms which might have had a symbolic or decorative purpose. It is at this level of visual meaning that abstract art communicates.

Onement 1, Newman Adam, Newman

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41Final Project : Ahmedabad Na Talav : Shilpa Gavane : 2010 - Evolution of Visual Language

Abstract Art Movements

Three art movements which contributed to the development of abstraction were Romanticism, Impressionism and Expressionism. Abstraction came after renaissance, to create a new form, breaking away from the existing principles of perspective and realism. Expressionist painters explored the bold use of paint surface, drawing distortions and exaggerations, and intense color. Expressionists produced emotionally charged paintings that were reactions to and perceptions of contemporary experience; and reactions to Impressionism and other more conservative directions of late 19th century painting. The Expressionists also drastically changed the emphasis on subject matter in favor of the portrayal of psychological states of being.Here are some of the most influential artists from that time. The term “Abstract Expressionism” was first used in Germany in connection with Rusian artist Wassily Kandinsky in 1919 but later became associated with Post-WWII American Art. Colour Field Painters: Mark Rothko, Barnett Newman, Clyfford Still : worked with simple, unified blocks of colour.Gestural Painters: Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning and Hofmann used Surrealist techniques of automatic art.

Mark Rothko

Rothko (b. 1903), was a Russian-born American painter. He is classified as an abstract expressionist, although he himself rejected this label. Fearing that modern American painting had reached a conceptual dead end, Rothko explored subjects that would complement his growing concern with form, space, and color. The world crisis of war lent this search an immediacy, because he insisted that the new subject matter be of social impact, yet able to transcend the confines of current political symbols and values. In his essay, “The Romantics Were Prompted,” published in 1949, Rothko argued that the “archaic artist found it necessary to create a group of intermediaries, monsters, hybrids, gods and demigods” in much the same way that modern man found intermediaries in Fascism and the Communist Party. For Rothko, “without monsters and gods, art cannot enact a drama.” Rothko’s use of mythology as a commentary on current history was not novel. Rothko, Gottlieb, and Newman read and discussed the works of Freud and Jung, in particular their theories concerning dreams and the archetypes of the collective unconscious, and understood mythological symbols as images that refer to themselves, operating in a space of human consciousness that transcends specific history and culture. Rothko later said his artistic approach was “reformed” by his study of the “dramatic themes of myth.”

Rothko64

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42 Final Project : Ahmedabad Na Talav : Shilpa Gavane : 2010Evolution of Visual Language -

increasing importance in his teaching as well as in his painting, particularly circle, half-circle, the angle, straight lines and curves. This period was a period of intense production. The freedom of which is characterised in each of his works by the treatment of planes rich in colours and magnificent gradations as in the painting Yellow - red -blue, where he shows his distance from constructivism and suprematism movements whose influence was increasing at this time.

Barnett Newman

Newman (b. 1905), an American is seen as one of the major figures in abstract expressionism. He said, “What is the explanation of the seemingly insane drive of man to be painter and poet if it is not an act of defiance against mans fall and an assertion that he return to the Garden of Eden? For the artists are the first men.” Throughout the 1940s he worked in a surrealist vein before developing his mature style. This is characterised by areas of color separated by thin vertical lines, or “zips” as he called them. In the first works featuring zips, the color fields are variegated, later the colors are pure and flat. The zips define spatial structure of painting, whilst simultaneously dividing and uniting the composition. In The Wild, (8’ x 1.5”) the zip is all there is to the work.

Jackson Pollock

Pollock (b. 1912) was an influential American painter and a major figure in the abstract expressionist movement. He began painting with his canvases laid out on the studio floor, and developed what was later called his “drip” technique. Therefore, Pollock turned to synthetic resin-based paints called alkyd enamels, which, at that time, was a novel medium. Pollock described this use of household paints, instead of artist’s paints, as “a natural growth out of a need.” He used hardened brushes, sticks, and even basting syringes as paint applicators. Pollock’s technique of pouring and dripping paint is thought to be one of the origins of the term action painting. With this technique, Pollock was able to achieve a more immediate means of creating art, the paint now literally flowing from his chosen tool onto the canvas. By defying the convention of painting on an upright surface, he added a new dimension, by being able to view and apply paint to his canvases from all directions. In this process, he moved away from figurative representation, and challenged the Western tradition of using easel and brush. He also moved away from the use of only the hand and wrist, since he used his whole body to paint. “ When I am in my painting, I’m not aware of what I’m doing. It is only after a sort of ‘get acquainted’ period that I see what I have been about. I have no fear of making changes,

On White II, Kandinsky, 1923

Wassily Kandinsky

Kandinsky (b. 1866) was a Russian painter, and art theorist. He is created the first modern abstract works. The Bauhaus was an innovative architecture and art school whose objectives included the merging of plastic arts with applied arts. Its teaching methods were based on theoretical and practical application of plastic arts synthesis. Kandinsky taught here and also conducted a workshop where he completed his colour theory with new elements of form psychology. Geometrical elements took on

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43Final Project : Ahmedabad Na Talav : Shilpa Gavane : 2010 - Evolution of Visual Language

Man Ray’s rayogram

Jasper Johns

Johns (b. 1930) is an American contemporary artist who works primarily in painting and printmaking. He is best known for his painting Flag, which he painted after having a dream of the American flag. His work is often described as a Neo-Dadaist, as opposed to pop art, even though his subject matter often includes images and objects from popular culture. Early works were composed using simple schema such as flags, maps, targets, letters and numbers. Johns’ treatment of the surface is often lush and painterly; he is famous for incorporating such media as encaustic and plaster relief in his paintings. Johns played with and presented opposites, contradictions, paradoxes, and ironies, much like Marcel Duchamp (who was associated with the Dada movement). Johns also produces intaglio prints, sculptures and lithographs with similar motifs.

Number 8, Pollock

Lavender Mist, Pollock, 1950

Map, Jasper John, 1961

destroying the image, etc., because the painting has a life of its own. I try to let it come through. It is only when I lose contact with the painting that the result is a mess. Otherwise there is pure harmony, an easy give and take, and the painting comes out well.”

Man Ray

Man Ray was a significant contributor to the Dada and Surrealism. He named his photograms, ‘rayographs’ after himself. His series called delicious fields explores objects, forms and spaces in abstraction. He was the master of experimental photography, combining intuition chance and absurdity. He said that it is not ‘how’ about an image that one should question but ‘why’. Using many different objects for his explorations, he created surrealist visuals that the viewer could make associations with and interpret in their own way. He experimented with all kinds of media from painting, photomontages, sculpture and cinema. This experimentation with media brought another level of abstraction into the visuals. Though he was not aiming to address any issues, his work is inspirational from the medium exploration point of view.

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final Approach: Partial Abstraction

Why Abstraction?

Ansel Adams, a photographer and an environmentalist was successfully in adopting the straight photography approach because it was a new concept at that time. In contemporary photography, the visual language of Edward Burtynsky works because his images have a sense of abstraction, strict formalism and subtle beauty of destroyed landscapes. One will at once admire the beauty of the graphical composition, forms and colors and will then wonder if the natural landscape is supposed to be more beautiful. This is what makes his photographs ironical. I did not want to approach this project on the same lines of photographing the entire lake. As I feel that it gives the viewer a distance. A panoptic view makes the issue impersonal and has a risk of considering the photograph as an object of art only.

Going close to lake’s surface makes the photographs personal, making viewers observe the details which otherwise they would not, it makes them go close to the lake themselves. It is what draws one into the image. If I choose to document the subject in a direct straightforward

4th Approach

manner, the project will become like a campaign. It would be too direct and leave no scope for the viewer to connect with the issue. I believe if there is a room for imagination, if a viewer is able to make multiple meanings, add something to the photograph, participating in understanding and interpreting the image, he/she starts to connect with the photograph more. Thus there has to be an element of discovery. Abstraction provides one good way of adding that element of discovery and is a style I am comfortable with and admire strongly.

For e.g., the photograph at Chharodi Talav falls prey of being too literal, cliched and a romantic depiction of a water body. It comes in the pretty picture category, a good case of a popular aesthetic sense. Thus it is too strong, not subtle enough. It leaves nothing to imagination and does not talk about the issue of the dire state of the lake. It does say that there birds which come to lake but then it would be repeating this point of presence of birds in another photograph of Chandola lake which is included in the final selection of images.

The next issue is which part of the lake is to be consciously represented, as an image of the lake, its state, condition. If I photograph only the rubbish, it has the strength to bring out the sympathetic response to the viewer. But this is something everyone is aware of already, the sad state of the lakes. Also it is a very cliched way of getting the desired emotional response.

Degree of Abstraction

I had to be wary of the degree of abstraction that was possible. As Roland Barthes says in Camera Lucida, “A specific photograph in effect, is never distinguished from its referent (from what it represents).” But, if a photograph is taken away from its referent, by eliminating the question of someone or something, it suddenly becomes a different object in itself, an object

Yellow wattled stilts at Chharodi Talav



which is it, a piece of photograph. Thus an abstract, when completely devoid of meaning of ‘what’ has been photographed, becomes a piece of art object, a print. This would distract the viewer into something that is not of importance, especially when trying to address an issue. He/she would stop interpreting the photograph after it has been figured out ‘what’ the object is. But if is made obvious what the object is and the photograph still has an abstract quality to it, the viewer will be then be interpreting what it means, what it is trying to say. I had to be careful of both the extremes of abstraction, not too close and not too far.

Thus my aim was to make a set of abstracts which would in one sense represent different states of the lake, and are subtle in making their point, leave room for imagination and do not

impose the issue forcefully or literally. Taking the first image as the starting point I analyze each image. There was a challenge to first decide what it was that I wanted to portray about a specific lake and which visual would represent it the best.

In the case of Kankaria lake, there are many good things to say about its maintenance but then of course it is not a lake designed for birds. The concrete embankments all around leave no scope for a wetland kind area so important for birds. And though the tourist activities like boating and eating stalls generate a handsome revenue for its maintenance, it puts pressure on the organisms living inside the lake. What is required is to have a balance of both. Thus I wanted to show the pressure of tourism, i.e. boating on the lake but not make a completely

negative point of view. It was indeed very difficult to avoid the picturesque sense of aesthetics that I had been so accustomed to.

There was also the fear that some abstracts are so minimal that not much can be concurred from them. Since I considered it important to include the element of water in cases where water was present in the lake even if a small amount of it, there was a fear of images being repetitive. For one would wonder how much variety is possible in photographing a lake’s water? Thus I had to stay away from photographs such as the one on right which shows nothing but ‘beautiful’ ripples and grass growing inside the lake.

Extreme minimalism has the risk of missing the point. Though abstraction is about minimalism, some degree of complexity was required in this

Boats anchored at shore at Kankaria Lake A Boat at night at Kankaria Lake

Grass and Ripples, Kankaria Lake



case to engage the viewer and allow freedom of imagination. If its too much, the image would get too confusing and distracting and if too little then it might be boring. This understanding of how much to minimize was important because my audience was not only people who understood art but also layman, people of ahmedabad who could relate with the subject. Because the main aim was of awareness. If the visuals don’t have the power to attract, and make people aware,

Sewage water flowing into Gota Talav

Kanju Seeds, feather and leaves in Kakaria Lake

Sewage water flowing into Gota Talav

doing this project would be in vain. Getting right kind of image was important and this is why I went to some two or three times to get as much variety and clarity as possible.

Interpretation and Meaning

In some cases I would get two diametrically opposite view of a lake, one that would say something bad about it while the other being optimistic and good. For example in the case of Gota Talav, I had an image which showed the black sewage water flowing in one area of the lake and in the other, where the water was cleaner, there were different birds feeding at its shore. In this photograph, the lake looks healthy with a high water table and no sign of any pollution. This dilemma I had to deal with at a later stage when making a final compilation where I decide which photograph to include to make a comprehensive view of the state of lakes of Ahmedabad.

Over the course of shooting, I was able to make abstractions that were subtle. They did not make any literal claim of representing any issue and had enough sense of discovery to make viewers think about them. After further explorations and discussions with Sunil Gupta and my guide Deepak John Matthew, I was able to finalise the visual language which was to be

followed. The abstraction of lake allowed to convey the state of the lake subtly. Even though they showed only a small detail or part of the lake, it was possible to convey a message of either positivity or hopelessness through these visuals. Thus from this point onwards, I shot a number of photographs at the various lakes following this language. There were decisions to be taken on which detail is to be chosen and what is to be the final impact. There were clear color patterns in the selected photographs. Since this was a project which was formalist in that sense, it was evident that a mixed color palette would give a more optimistic perception rather than just monochromatic colors of blues and greens. Thus the photographs were saturated to some extent to give a brighter feeling to prevent making the subtle into imperceptible or ignorable. The final color scheme has oranges, blues, browns and greens.


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The lake behind Iscon Mall had water sometime ago but now has weeds in it and visitors have started throwing garbage in it.

The undeveloped slums around Memnagar lake are having an adverse effect on the lake which has this green-black colored water due to untreated sewage.

The wild grass growing on the concrete embankments of the Iscon Mall lake shows not only that water has not filled up the lake in a long time, but also the struggle of nature against man-made development.

The fountain at Vastrapur lake attracts the city crowd and the lake is a definite relief in the heart of the city that is dry and has shortage of water. But the mass of stone embankment here seems to dominate the lake rather than beautify it.

5Final Body of Work

Ahmedabad Na talavLakes of Ahmedabad

Imagine a city that has more than two hundred lakes. Lakes that are clean and beautiful. A lake who’s water is a life savior its city’s people, one that is home to migratory birds and other animals. They are like an oasis in the desert, a place for contemplation, a place to meet, a place to rejuvenate.

Ahmedabad had more than two hundred lakes. Now less than fifty are left. What if all the lakes are revived and sensitively cared for? It doesn’t need fences and concrete embankments to conserve a natural resource. All it needs is awareness that these lakes are important and can still be brought back to life; a sense of responsibility to take care. All it needs is the vision, to let people of this city live sustainable and peacefully.

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Malav Talav

Malav Talav, holds the possibility of a small but beautiful lake in the heart of Ahmedabad. People go for evening walks to the park around the lake, that is only a strip of green with a stone pathway and a few benches. All it needs is a little care and maintenance. Even when water is negligible, evening sun shines and lights the lotus leaves thriving in its shallow water.

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Memnagar Talav

Memnagar Talav, is in a completely dilapidated state. Though there is a concrete embankment, the trickling water that is collected here is untreated, further polluted with sewage from slums next to it. There is an immense possibility in this lake because it is close to ring road and thus easily accessible.

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Malav Talav

These buds of lotus seeds and leaves are a hope, an optimism implying that there is still life thriving in this lake. I spotted different varieties of birds here which would otherwise not be found in such a dense urban area. If this can be a relief for birds as well as residents around the lake, its condition should improve.

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Pancha Talav

Pancha lake is one of the small lakes which were developed a few years back to restore but probably because of low ground water table (as was evident when I looked inside the recharge wells) it does not fill up with water easily. Nevertheless it holds a promise, of a greener future if maintained.

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Vastrapur Talav

If Kankaria is a soul of the city then Vastrapur lake is its heart. Compared to other neglected lakes, Vastrapur is maintained and is thronged by a lot of people in evenings when the fountain located at its center is lighted up and vendors come around the lake. Though under pressure, it is beautiful and stands as good example.

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Chharodi Talav

An otherwise quite and lonely lake, in evenings children play on its banks and numerous birds like yellow wattled lapwings and stilts feed on its shores. But the shore, is also lined with a waste of coconut shells, baskets etc, thanks to a temple at one end of the lake.

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Malav Talav

At Malav Talav, the lotus leaves have spread throughout the water that is left in the lake. The trees around it are reflected in this photograph which resembles Calude Monet’s painting of lakes. A beautiful sight which probably others present at the lake wound not have seen because of it being overshadowed by the black earth and garbage strewn at its shores.

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Memnagar Talav

Memnagar lake is not going to get revived until the untreated sewage inflow continues from the nearby slums. The pollution is not only depleting the ground water quality but is also a host for diseases to develop. The lake is in a dire state of maintenance.

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Vastrapur Talav

Fishes and turtles flourish in Vastrapur lake, probably since there is no disturbance by boating. Few residents come regularly to feed the turtles popcorns and ‘murmura’, a touching way in which people connect with the lake of their city. Many other residents are unaware of their existence in a lake right in the center of their city.

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Pancha Talav

Pancha lake is under pressure not just because of real-estate development around it and the long dry months of Ahmedabad’s summer but also pollution due to polyethenes and other things thrown into it by people passing along the road along it. If a lake is seasonal, it is important to keep it clean and free of pollution at all times.

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Chandola TalavChandola lake is the biggest lake of Ahmedabad but is a hidden treasure. Since the PIL was filed for preserving the water in the lake, its non-development has actually helped in making it a resting spot for various migratory birds. I imagined what it could be if maintained, i.e. if the water hyacinth are removed, sewage from surrounding slums is diverted, illegal garbage dumps on its shores removed and the highway along it barricaded (with trees and shrubs), it holds a huge possibility of becoming the best environmental treasure of Ahmedabad.

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Vastrapur Talav

This view of Vastrapur lake tries to portray the burden of its walled embankment. If the lake is not within a reach of people, if people are not able to touch its water, they will not be able to connect with and always treat it as a distant object. It is important for the people of the city to make that connection.


further explorations

Cyanotypes

Though the final body of work was satisfactory in terms of visual language, it still had an element of naturalism owing to color. Thus the work was expanded further by exploring another medium, of cyanotypes. Cyanotypes is a traditional technique of printing photographs and gives the print the added value of being made manually. The prints were made by hand on paper by first painting it with photosensitive cyanotype chemicals and then exposing it to sun.

The visual language of abstraction was explored further in terms of various mediums and techniques. This added another layer of abstraction suited the project’s purpose as it could be devoid of color and realism. The blue color further complicated the subject of lakes. The idea of making cyanotypes evolved from my first project where I experimented with cyanotype photograms. Following which, I was able to print large sized photographs by printed its black and white inverse on a transparency sheet which acted as the negative. This negative can be used to print cyanotypes through contact printing. The cyanotype thus printed is high in

Cyanotype print of photograph of Malav Talav printed on a T-shirt

Final Body of Work -

contrast, and its quality depends on the quality of the transparency printed, weather and the exposure time. Cyanotypes were made for five

photographs selected from the final body of work and one of them was printed on T-shirt as shown above.

#1, Malav Talav (Cyanotype, 16” x 11”)

#2, Malav Talav (Cyanotype, 16” x 11”)

#3, Memnagar Talav (Cyanotype, 16” x 11”)

#5, Pancha Talav (Cyanotype, 16” x 11”)

#4, Isanpur Talav (Cyanotype, 16” x 11”)

6Conclusion


Conclusion

The photographs of this body of work can be used easily to spread awareness about not just the lakes of ahmedabad but also as an example to bring awareness about similar crises in other cities. The visual language succeeded in achieving that which was the aim of this photographic project. It was an interesting experience to document the state of surface of lakes in abstraction. These photographs can be used to spread the message of awareness. It is high time that people of Ahmedabad wake up to the reality of the water crisis looming in the near future. Much is left to be done in this case, this is just the starting point. There are many other issues that need to brought to focus, for example the issue of gallons of water being dammed in Sabarmati just for the sake of beautification while millions of poor people in slums go thirsty in undeveloped areas of the city. It is not an easy task but requires a lot of effort on the part of not just people who bring the issue to notice but also those who make it happen, and that is the residents of city. Awareness needs to be brought not just by the visual media but by written media and other means like going and talking directly

with the people. Many interactive activities can be planned using photography as the starting point to bring people closer to this issue of bringing them closer to the lakes. For example, using cyanotypes as a medium, children could be invited to participate in making cyanotypes, keeping the lakes near the venue itself. These photographs could be exhibited along the lakes and people should be encouraged to give suggestions on how to keep the lakes clean with their participation. If the photographs achieve their aim of doing this, their purpose is solved and only can one say that photographs have the power to bring out real change in lives of the people. They should not remain only in books and admired in galleries. I believe in bringing photographs about environmental issues to the streets, to public places, in newspapers; any way in which it can reach the common man and touch their hearts. NGO’s should be supported by the government to organise such events that bring people together. Social behavior, ownership of the natural resources can be made to happen only if people are brought in touch with the roots and for this only proper visual communication

has the power to make an impact. It is an issue that not be ignored any longer How many more projects like these will be required to make us grasp the loosing battle we are fighting against the environment. Many people contradict and argue against those who ask for sustainability and environment conservation. But if we look at great photographers like Ansel Adams and in the contemporaries Edward Burtynsky, it is clear that change can happen through photography and in a good way. The long term effects of their photography can still be seen when we now try to preserve our natural habitat, not for the sake of environment but for the sake of our children.


This body of work can be expanded by taking up the case of lakes in other cities. These photographs can be used to spread the message of awareness, to prevent drying and pollution of the lakes. The documents such as this can also be presented to the government bodies responsible for maintenance of the city’s common public natural resources. If there is support of people of the city, government and NGOs, it is not impossible to include Ahmedabad in the Ramsar Convention of lakes. There is also scope to include another related issue, i.e. of rivers. They too form an important part of the natural water resource. In Ahmedabad already 80 crores has been invested in the riverfront development. But is the development sensitive enough to Ahmedabad’s environment, only time will tell.

Magazines like Down to Earth and Environment India will be contacted to propose publication of this project and also if there is requirement for other projects. NGOs like Pravah, CSE and CEE area already working on conservation of water

Scope

as natural heritage. This project can be taken forward to other cities with lakes. Following is a list of some of the main cities of India with similar concerns:

• Udaipur• Hyderabad• Mysore • Bhopal • Mumbai• Pune

The idea of printing cyanotypes can also be taken forward to easily make multiple copies in posters and can also be printed on T-shirts to spread the awareness. Since the printing cost is negligible, it can be made sold at very low prices, reaching a wider number of people. I will be continuing my explorations of alternative photography techniques in my following projects. This is just a beginning and slowly the project will be expanded to the above cities as and when the time and funds allow.


The project was a great learning experience for me. Doing a documentary cum fine art project on environmental issue is difficult and debatable. It is important to be clear of the goal and a strong visual language goes a long way in creating the right impact. There was a lot to learn about abstraction, how it came about to be practised in photography and photographer’s who use the same style in their work. I learnt about new equipment, techniques in creating panorama. It is interesting to learn that Ansel Adams did not initially think of photographing Yosemite national park to save it but out of his personal interest to photograph the beautiful landscapes and later used those images to promote its conservation. Edward Burtynsky also used landscape photography to work for conservation of the natural landscape but more so from an observer’s point of view. Thus it is good if a meaningful cause is given to your photography and it is even better if photography is done solely for that purpose but it does not

Learning

need to be necessarily journalistic. There can be many ways to express a particular issue but a personal style is important. This has to be new, unique and different from what is already present in the vast continuously growing archive of images presented to us. It is important to be aware of current issues and after doing this project I realize that it is importance to do projects based on conservation of environment, otherwise it feels pointless to be doing something only based on personal interests. I learnt about the state of lakes of Ahmedabad, and about the neighborhoods that live around these lakes. I researched and realized the shortage of potable water in the city is a problem facing many Indian cities. I also learnt the problems of politics and corruption which is lurking but it needs to be taken care of before it affects the future of our kids. The role of NGO’s and strong individuals in making a change can do more than what one perceives. Overall this project has taught me a number of things and has been beneficial.


References

Books

Adams, Robert, 1974. The New West: Landscapes Along the Colorado Front Range. Boulder, CO: Colorado Associated Univ. Press.

Barthes, Roland,1981. Camera Lucida. New York: Hill and Wang.

Berger, John, 1972. Ways of Seeing. London: BBC and Penguin.

Bolton, Richard, 1990. The Contest of Meaning: Critical histories of photography. London: MIT Press Cambridge.

Burgin, Victor, 1982. Thinking Photography. London: The Macmillan Press Ltd.

Goran, Sonesson, 1989. Semiotics of Photography. Lund, Aris: Lund University Press.

Grosenick, Uta & Seelig, Thomas, 2008. Photo Art - ‘The New World of Photography’. London: Thames & Hudson.

Gupta, Sunil & Singh, Radhika, 2008. Click : Contemporary Photography in India. New Delhi: Vadehra Art Gallery.

Heron, Liz & Williams, Val (Ed.), 1996. Illuminations: women writing on photography from the 1850s to the present. London: I.B. Tauris & Co. Ltd.

James, Alinder & Szarkowski, John, 1986. Ansel Adams: Classic Images. New York: A New York Graphic Society Book/ Little Brown and Company.

Sontag, Susan, 1977. On Photography. New York: Rosetta Books.

Tagg, John, 1988. The Burden of Representation. New York: Palgrave Macmilan.

Willaume, Alain, Singh, Devika Daulet, 2007. India Now. New Visions in Photography. London: Thames & Hudson

Webb, Randall & Reed, Martin, 1999. Spirits of Salts: Working Guide to Old Photographic Processes. London: Argentum.

Thomas, Denis, 1976. Abstract Painting. Oxford: Phaidon

Thaddeus C. Trzyna (Ed.), 1995. A Sustainable World: Defining and Measuring Sustainable Development. Califoria: IUCN.

Norton, Bryan G. 2003. Searching for Sustainability: Interdisciplinary essays in the philosophy of conservation biology. New York: Cambridge University Press.

White, Minor, 1978. Rites and Passages. New York: Aperture.

White, Minor, 1984. A Living Remembrance. New York: Aperture. Documentaries

References -


Edward Burtynsky, Manufactured Landscapes. Dir: Jennifer Baichwal. Foundry Films, Mercury Films, National Film Board of Canada, 2006

Of All The People In All The World (USA). Dir: Paul Horton, Wesleyan University, Stan’s Cafe, Birmingham, UK. 2009.

The Story of Stuff. Dir: Louis Fox. Free Range Studios. Tides Foundation & Funders workgroup for sustainable production and consumption, 2005.

Websites

Museum Graphics, 2010. The Ansel Adams Store. [Online], Available at: http://www.anseladams.org [Accessed 20 July 2010]

Burtynsky, Edward, 2010. Edward Burtynsky [Online], Available at: http://www.edwardburtynsky.com [Accessed 20 July 2010]

Braas, Sonja, 2010. Sonja Braas Works [Online], Available at: http://sonjabraas.com [Accessed 20 July 2010]

Braas, Sonja, 2006. Galerie Tanit- Sonja Braas [Online], Available at: http://www.galerietanit.com/bios/braas/braas.htm [Accessed 20 July 2010]

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Fabbri, Malin & Fabbri, Gary, 2010. Cyanotype: the classic process [Online], Available at: http://www.alternativephotography.com/wp/processes/cyanotype/cyanotype-classic-process [Accessed 20 July 2010]

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References -


1. Malav Talav. Source: Author

2. Chharodi Talav. Source: Author

3. Tree at Eames plaza, NID. Source: Author

4. Makarba Talav. Source: Author

5. Pichola lake, Udaipur. Source: http://www.travellingbee.com/UserFiles/2009/8/26/Most%20Luxurious%20Landmark.jpg

6. Upper lake, Bopal. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Upper_Lake_(Bhopal)

7. People crowd around a water-tanker in Ahmedabad, Reuters. Source: http://business.rediff.com/slide-show/2010/jun/04/slide-show-1-world-

environment-day-2010-water-shortage-grim-future-for-indian-cities.htm

8. People crowd around a well, Reuters. Source: http://business.rediff.com/slide-show/2010/jun/04/slide-show-1-world-environment-day-2010-

water-shortage-grim-future-for-indian-cities.htm

9. Memnagar lake. Source: Author

10. Kankaria lake. Source: Author

11. Sarkhej Roza. Source: Author

12. Makarba talav. Source: Author

13. Yahoo Map of Ahmedabad. Source: http://in.maps.yahoo.com/#?lat=23.0190762&lon=72.5739670&z=5&addr=ahmedabad

14. Kankaria talav. Source: Author

15. Isanpur talav. Source: Author

16. Vastrapur talav. Source: Author

17. Rock of Ages # 1, E.L. Smith Quarry, Vermont, 1991. Source: http://www.edwardburtynsky.com

18. Mines #15, Inco Tailings Pond, Sudbury, Ontario 1985. Source: http://www.edwardburtynsky.com

19. Railcuts #1, C.N. Track, Skihist Provincial Park, Columbia. Source: http://www.edwardburtynsky.com

20. Mines #17, Lornex Open Pit Copper Mine. Columbia. Source: http://www.edwardburtynsky.com

21. Thundercloud, Lake Tahoe, CA, 1936. Source: http://www.anseladams.org/ansel-adams-postcards.html

Source of Images

- References


1. The Tetons and the Snake River. Source: http://www.anseladams.org/ansel-adams-postcards.html

2. Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico,1941. Source: http://www.anseladams.org/ansel-adams-postcards.html

3. Shadow by Minor White. Source: http://www.masters-of-photography.com/W/white/white_articles2.html

4. Snow by Minor White. Source: http://www.masters-of-photography.com/W/white/white_articles2.html

5. Poplar Trees by Minor White. Source: http://www.masters-of-photography.com/W/white/white_articles2.html

6. Ice and snow by Minor White. Source: http://www.masters-of-photography.com/W/white/white_articles2.html

7. Pictures from a rubbish tip (Bacon) by Keith Arnatt. Source: http://www.studio-international.co.uk/photo/arnatt.asp

8. Pictures from a rubbish tip (Cake) by Keith Arnatt. Source:http://www.studio-international.co.uk/photo/arnatt.asp

9. Pictures from a rubbish tip (Rubbish) by Keith Arnatt. Source:http://www.studio-international.co.uk/photo/arnatt.asp

10. An American Self-Portrait- Oil Barrels- detail Source: http://www.chrisjordan.com

11. An American Self-Portrait- Oil Barrels. Source: http://www.chrisjordan.com

12. #1 Message from the Gyre. Source: http://www.chrisjordan.com



15. A backyard, Colorado by Robert Adams. Source: http://www.masters-of-photography.com/A/adamsr/adamsr.html

16. Along interstate by Robert Adams. Source: http://www.masters-of-photography.com/A/adamsr/adamsr.html

17. Burning oil sludge by Robert Adams. Source: http://www.masters-of-photography.com/A/adamsr/adamsr.html

18. Eden Colorado by Robert Adams. Source: http://www.masters-of-photography.com/A/adamsr/adamsr.html

19. On Signal Hill Overlooking Long Beach by Robert Adams. Source: http://www.masters-of-photography.com/A/adamsr/adamsr.html

20. Flint Hills From series West n West by Joe Deal. Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/23/arts/design/23deal.html?_r=1

21. Cloud Missouri Plateau From series West n West by Joe Deal. Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/23/arts/design/23deal.html?_r=1

22. Wave by Sonja Braas. Source: http://sonjabraas.com

23. Forest Fire by Sonja Braas. Source: http://sonjabraas.com

24. Blizzard by Sonja Braas. Source: http://sonjabraas.com

25. Oil Spill by Sonja Braas. Source: http://sonjabraas.com

26. Tornado by Sonja Braas. Source: http://sonjabraas.com

References -


27. Firestorm by Sonja Braas. Source: http://sonjabraas.com

28. Sara Hall’s glass sculpture. Source: http://www.dailyartfixx.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/Sara-Hall-Lux-Nova-for-UBC-Regent-College-Pho

to-by-Michael-Elkan-150x150.jpg

29. John Dahlsen’s artwork. Source: http://www.dailyartfixx.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/blue-river-150x150.jpg

30. Chetwood’s installation. Source: http://www.dailyartfixx.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/Urban-Oasis-Laurie-Chetwood-150x150.jpg

31. Robson’s sculpture. Source: http://www.dailyartfixx.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/Tiffany-Aurora-Robson-150x150.jpg

32. Dandelions & Hole by Andy Goldsworthy. Source: http://www.morning-earth.org/artistnaturalists/an_goldsworthy.html

33. Pebbles Broken & Scraped by Andy Goldsworthy. Source: http://www.morning-earth.org/artistnaturalists/an_goldsworthy.html

34. River rock finished with gold leaf by Andy Goldsworthy. Source: http://www.morning-earth.org/artistnaturalists/an_goldsworthy.html

35. Iris Leaves with Rowan Berries by Andy Goldsworthy. Source: http://www.morning-earth.org/artistnaturalists/an_goldsworthy.html

36. Installations using oil barrels by Chirsto and Jeanne Claude. Source: http://christojeanneclaude.net/otherOil.shtml

37. Installations using oil barrels by Chirsto and Jeanne Claude. Source: http://christojeanneclaude.net/otherOil.shtml

38. Broken Circle, Netherlands by Robert Smithson. Source: http://www.robertsmithson.com/

39. Spiral jetty from rozel point by Robert Smithson. Source: http://www.robertsmithson.com/

40. Glue pour by Robert Smithson. Source: http://www.robertsmithson.com/

41. 6 Stops on a section by Robert Smithson. Source: http://www.robertsmithson.com/

42. Oinment and Adam by Newman.Source: http://www.tate.org.uk/collection/T/T01/T01091_9.jpg

43. Color filed compositions, Blue by Rothko. Source: http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_zk_rWJLn9jc/SWQXrCpT9lI/AAAAAAAAALo/1N9Ps4cnRng/s400/

sothebys_mark_rothko_blue.jpg

44. Color filed compositions, Yellow by Rothko. Source: www.abstract-art.com/abstraction/

45. On White II, Kandinsky, 1923. Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/3/39/Kandinsky_white.jpg/220px-Kandinsky_white.jpg

46. Lavender Mist, Pollock, 1950. Source: http://www.terraingallery.org/Pollock-Number-One-1948.jpg

47. Number 8, Pollock. Source: http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_BBmOm1l_P08/TBas5yWb0pI/AAAAAAAAAuo/LTVYb-ViUYU/s1600/pollock.number-8.jpg

48. Map, Jasper John, 1961. Source: http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_-W_q18Br_RY/SdisP8nz_TI/AAAAAAAACn0/7pj5DBa7TdY/s1600/Jasper_Johns

%27s_%27Map%27,_1961.jpg

49. Man Ray’s rayogram. Source: www.manraytrust.com/

- References

Contact Sheets7

91Vastrapur Talav

92

Malav Talav

Chandola Talav

93

Memnagar Talav

Iscon Talav

Lakes of Ahmedabad

Documents

Transcript of Lakes of Ahmedabad