ByIANSlife

December 29, 2021 (IANSlife)  Hasnain Soomar's show "The Meeting Point" is a multi-dimensional confluence of memories, dualism, reality, and simple pleasures presented via his lens.

Hasnain, who is influenced by Raghu Rai's coffee table novels, uses his highly personal and idiosyncratic style to rediscover India.

He imagines mystical beauty and presents us with these powerful visuals that speak to the true essence of our many religions, as well as the human coexistence of love and compassion.

He visits a few ashrams, ghats, mosques, and Mughal sites frequently in pursuit of a connection between the human spirit and inner serenity.

With the help of written walls, Hindu and Islamic architecture, numerous facets of light and pattern, sometimes juxtaposing these with a sense of human existence, the photographer appears to peer inconspicuously into the world of astonishing symbolism, while remaining a silent distant observer.

The photographs taken during the current pandemic transport us to a time when individuals suddenly discovered the value of personal space and solitude. As we explore the succession of photographs, we may have a sense of uneasy solitude and human alienation. On the other hand, one can see things through the eyes of a new era of peace, spirituality, hope, humanity, harmony, wellness, and, most importantly, inner and personal happiness. This contradiction is enthralling and leaves the observer perplexed.

Soomar said, "Meeting Point expresses my spiritual explorations and learnings over the years. Photographed during and before the pandemic, this series of photographs is evocative of the times we have been living in. The jaalis are symbolic of the filters we use in the age of social media. While we are caught up in portrayals, our ultimate spiritual freedom is also bound to come through the crutches we use to stay in the material world. Sometimes, they become symbols of the inevitable change we are meant to go through when we are done with it all."

Adding, "The jaalis also symbolise my attempt to filter the fear within and without, allowing light to travel through the core of our being. As Rumi puts it, "The wound is (indeed) the place from where the light enters." The other photographs in the series also come from a deep spiritual space. They look like mun-danes on the surface, but capturing these with my lens was a meditative experience by itself."

Hasnain, "A man at the mosque performing the Wazu (cleansing ritual before offering a prayer) is an image that ad-dresses the present and the future, holding time in a delicate balance, creating a meeting point between what is and what is to be. The birds dancing around the water is a moment of discovering unbridled joy in per-forming a routine task that holds the mundane and extraordinary all in one go! When I photographed the two boys jumping in the river, it was a reminder of the ultimate taste of freedom from all fears and limitations.

For me, the meeting point is where the opposites unite and merge in such a way that the dark-ness gives way to light, fear to hope, and movement to stillness. "

Dhoomimal Gallery organised a Solo show "Meeting Point" by Hasnain Soomar from December 10th till February 10th  2022 from 11am to 7pm at Dhoomimal Gallery 8-A, Block A, Connaught Place, New Delhi

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