The artistry and grit of documentation

Berlin 1998-2010, by Eric Chacra

Most Aurovilians know Eric Chacra as a worker in Baraka community and AuroOrchard who also moonlights as a computer repair whizz for Auroville’s Mac enthusiasts. Perhaps less well-known is his photography expertise, but his recent exhibition Photos from Berlin 1998 -2010 provided a welcome showcase of his skills as a documentary photographer.

Eric has long had a love of street photography, which he started doing in Paris. However, he found that Parisians were image-conscious and rather sensitive towards strangers taking photographs of them in the street. In contrast, he found Berlin to be a place where subjects would participate in the image-making process. In Berlin, he could carry his camera and “relax” along with his subjects. 

There is a natural spontaneity to Eric’s images of Berlin street life, where a certain abandon is captured in a split-second of action. Yet the captured moment often alludes to much larger context: for example, the claiming of rights by sexual minorities in a street parade, or a child playing amidst the Holocaust Memorial, suggesting how the remembering of devastating histories can have different registers. 

This is not glossy Berlin. The grit and greyness of the city is ever-present (even in the colour images), as is the diversity of Berlin’s counter-culture – from smoking teenagers dressed as angels to a heavily tattooed man. 

In his artist’s statement, Eric talks of “trying to keep the heart open” while practising the art of photography – that is, trying to remain inspired without interference from social conditioning, external constraints or an overthinking mind. In that sense, the act of photographing is a meditative moment for him – an authentic collaboration with the expression of life in the moment. 

He points to a zen proverb as his inspiration: If you understand, things are just as they are; if you don’t understand, things are just as they are. 

Repressed Memories, by Arun

Consisting of photos taken in Tamil Nadu over the last five years, Arun’s exhibition depicted the subtle interactions of rural people with their environment and traditional culture, while alluding to the effects of the contemporary forces of development on Indian identity.

A self-taught freelance photographer, Arun grew up in Chennai. He initially took up photography to earn money, but then realised he had become “a production machine”. He decided to take a breath, and seek other approaches. He studied the history of photography, and took up an apprenticeship where he experimented with different techniques such as analogue printing. 

A meeting with French documentary photographer Yannick Cormier was instrumental for Arun: Cormier’s artistry and emphasis on social rituals, myth, masquerade and symbols encouraged Arun to express himself more through his craft. 

He became curious about exploring the culture of Tamil Nadu, so he set out on his trusty Enfield motorbike. He borrowed a Holga camera (a cheap plastic camera known for its low-fidelity aesthetic), which “knocked something loose” in him, and he began to “explore as a foreigner” in his own land, capturing the rich diversity of rural Tamil Nadu culture in his images. 

Arun stayed in small towns, observing the nuances of people’s interactions with their ritual, cultural and physical environments, including “the vernacular of daily life, rituals, influences, dilemmas, contrasts, dramas and dreams out of which my identity must have evolved”, as he says in his artist’s statement. 

He notes that as he grew to accept his own vulnerability over time, his images began to show more empathy with the subjects. 

Shot in black and white medium, with strong contrasts of light and shadow, his grainy images convey a strong sense of intrigue and otherworldliness. While ritual objects in rustic settings may be commonplace in Tamil Nadu, Arun’s unconventional composition and unusual use of light serves to displace the usual framings and adds an eerie emphasis. In some images, everyday objects are foregrounded in ways that suggest a ritual significance that is beyond the quotidian. This focus on unusual objects and settings, enhanced by moody lighting and framing, elevates the material to a certain intensity and artistry.  

“Through the journey across many landscapes, I came to recognise the loneliness that so often lies at the heart of sadness,” says Arun.”By presenting this story and leaving many clues from the subject – but no specific answers of my inner life – I suggest much about the emotional experience that is reflected in the vision of the world.”