Freelance photographer Sridhara TM’s abstract photo collection ‘The World After Nuclear War’ is on display at the Alliance Française de Bangalore.
The 15-day exhibition, which began on February 19, comprises 41 photographs clicked over 15 years. Sridhara has clicked 23 more photos in the series, displayed on his website.
Sridhara got the idea for the photo series about 40 years ago when he read Peter Pringle and James Spigelman’s The Nuclear Barons by Peter Pringle and James Spigelman. That was when he came across a Bhagavad Gita verse in Sanskrit that translates to, ‘Now I become Death, the destroyer of worlds’. This line, famously uttered by Robert Oppenheimer, inspired Sridhara to do the photo series.
He read more about the dangers of nuclear warfare, which remains a looming threat for humanity. Wanting to spread awareness, he travelled to the Western Ghats on multiple occasions from 1990 to 2005 — mainly near the catchment area of Sharavati river — to click photos of chopped trees.
About the extensive use of wood in the photos, Sridhara says, “It symbolises fire. The other four elements serve as the backdrop with which I’ve created different versions of the catastrophe of nuclear power.”
“It has been an attempt and shall always be to educate our future generations and to make them aware of the perils of the most powerful nuclear sources of destruction.”
None of the photos, Sridhara claims, are digitally altered. “I waited for the right lighting and shadows to click them. That’s what makes them unique,” he says.
The exhibition at Alliance Française de Bangalore ends on March 5. You can also check out the photo series at www.sridharaabstractphotoslides.com