Yesterday Once More by Vivek Mathew is a showing where the talented photographer has been having a mindful snapshot of a time. His showing that opens on March 4 at the Venkatappa Art Gallery explores the photographer as a gentleman who stands strong and tall, be it with his views, or his art.
Vivek overcame many odds, and his photography has evolved, matured and is a sight to behold. Getting set to host his fifth solo show in the city, for a photographer so young is indeed commendable. Vivek Mathew’s tryst with photography began with a simple thought — capturing the brilliance of a moment.
Doing what he does best, Vivek today, has travelled the world and experienced the essence of life, through his lens and it is an addiction he never wants to get over. Behind those sleeping slats defining the frame of every closed window, hidden to the human eye, lies a story from another time, another place.
Striding along main streets and quaint alleys in Bengaluru, Cambodia, Melbourne, Byran Bay, Dubai, Mysore, Singapore, Penang, Cochin and Kumarakom, Mathew found himself training his lens to explore stories, which seemed to call out from yesterday, behind closed windows of homes and public buildings.
These untold stories are now out in the open through Vivek’s trending photographic series, Yesterday Once More. Gaze at the closed windows in Vivek’s frames long enough and your ears will perhaps begin to pick up a whisper, a scream, a melody, even a banter from a day in the distant, and not so distant past.
Vivek, through his trending series, as with his previous works, is, at the aesthetic level, drawn by an inherent love for architecture. Designs, shapes and patterns seem to speak to him all the time, telling him stories that haven’t been written anywhere.
Having completed his education at Asia’s top notch institution — The Light and Life Academy, Ooty — Vivek has gone on to bring life into fine art, architecture, travel, nature, people and interiors, through his photography. Considered as one of the “Young and Unusual” photographers of today, he has also been featured in prestigious publications.
Vivek has also been a part of several commercial ad campaigns, like that of the Bangalore Traffic Police’s “Don’t Drink and Drive,” etc. His exhibition, Vivek feels, “Is an extension of my third solo show which was more on walls. I hope my versatile body of work is accepted by the audience.”
Vivek’s body of work has definitely captivated a lot of audiences and the current solo show based on windows for sure offers us many windows to open and explore.
— The writer is an art expert and curator. The exhibition is on at the Venkatappa Art Gallery till March 13.
