“Institutions” is a series by France-based
British photographer Christopher Taylor that explores the interior spaces of
imperial buildings in Mumbai and Kolkata. Its eloquent depictions of some of
the quintessential emblems of British rule consider the legacy of colonialism,
its ambiguous meanings in postcolonial contexts, and impact on
contemporary India.
A trained zoologist and self-taught photographer, Taylor has travelled
extensively in India. From his very first visits in the 1980s, he was struck by
its architecture, and particularly fascinated by the manner in which the two
cities featured in this series, once proud centres of the British Raj, serve as
windows into history. Struck by the palpable residue of colonialism that seeped
beyond architecture into the organisational structures of everyday life, and
the resemblance of these places to London, he began photographing them in 2002.
Rather than functioning as documents of historical truth though,
Taylor’s photographs operate as displays of an imagined past. These images
explore our notions of memory—both real and forged—and are shaped by the
understanding that the past can be revealed, understood and revisited through enduring
symbols and emblems within social landscapes and realities.
Capturing the stasis of places ravished by the years, Taylor’s
photographs expose the transformed faces of what are the last redoubts of
colonial rule; accentuating the traces of glamour lingering in these
structures, they traverse time effortlessly—underlining in a frozen moment,
narratives of the missing and lost that nevertheless, resist being entirely
dismissed
and forgotten.
“Institutions” is organised by Tasveer, and enabled by the support of
Vacheron Constantin and The Singleton of Glen Ord. It is currently on show at
Saffronart, Mumbai till January 5, 2015.
Images courtesy Tasveer
Bharda School Theatre,
Fort, Mumbai, 2005.
Belgachia Mullick
House, Kolkata, 2008.
City Civil Court,
Mumbai, 2005.
House of Rani
Rashmoni, Kolkata, 2006.
Freemason’s Hall, Mumbai, 2004.
Tagore Castle,
Kolkata, 2006.
Drawing room, Tagore
Mansion, Kolkata, 2005.
United Cotton Mill No.
1, Warehouse, Parel, Mumbai, 2005.
Sir JJ School of Art,
Mumbai, 2006.
Royal Insurance
Building, BBD Bagh, Kolkata, 2006.
trained as a zoologist before becoming a photographer. Based in France, he has held solo and group exhibitions in Paris, Arles, London, Beijing, Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata.
