An ode to Mumbai

The Asian Age.  | julie sam

Life, Art

The city has turned muse for photographer Clemence Jacqueri’s latest exhibition.

Clemence consciously overlooked the popular tourist favourites like heritage sites and significant places of worship for the exhibition.

As a white woman living in Mumbai, Clemence Jacqueri is not a stranger to uninvited stares. But she looks at it as an opportunity to connect with people of diverse faiths and belonging to varied eclectic cultures. Armed with a camera, she goes about exploring the hidden streets in the city. The outcome is a series of 70 photographs that will be presented at the Cymroza Art Gallery this weekend. Titled Mumbai Through a Foreign Lens, Clemence states that this exhibition is only an ode to her affair with Mumbai. She says, “From the moment I arrived here as an expat, I was captured by the sights, sounds and smells of the Maximum City. It’s like falling into a kaleidoscope!”

Clemence consciously overlooked the popular tourist favourites like heritage sites and significant places of worship for the exhibition. “Everyone is in a hurry to photograph what has already been documented. It is when you go off-track that you discover hidden gems like street art, amazing entrances, architecture, street vendors, animals, children and idols,” she explains adding, “Moreover, you will always find a local person waiting to give you trivia about the place.” Understandably, it’s the streets that Clemence likes capturing the most. “The streets are the heartbeat of the city — whether it’s a street, a fancy suburb, a slum, a temple or a waterside. There is magic in these streets.”

While language proved to be a barrier, the photographer is impressed with the non-verbal language that its citizens communicate with. She says, “There is a universal language between parents who are proud of their children, vendors who want to sell products, the faithful entering places of worship and fisherman hauling their catch. I am interested in people’s stories and lives, and luckily, they can communicate non-verbally. At the end of the day, I have realised that if you can laugh at yourself, then Mumbai will laugh with you.”

However, Clemence believes there is a lot more left to be explored. She says, “Despite my best efforts, I am nowhere close to capturing this city. At best, I have just started to scratch the surface. Every time I left the apartment there was something new to see and experience.”
February 4 to 6, 11 am to 7 pm, At Cymroza Art gallery, 72 Bhulabhai Desai Road, Breach Candy

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