He was all of 22 when he wrote his first novel The Last Song of Dusk. A lush and imaginative fairy tale based in the 1920s of India, it picked up critical acclaim and snagged a few awards along the way. His second The Lost Flamingoes of Bombay, got him shortlisted for the Man Asian Literary Prize. But for Siddharth Dhanvant Shanghvi, words only cannot subsume his creativity and imaginative prowess, he has more to relate?he embarks on a creative visual journey through the medium of photography. Very few know that this artist-novelist pursued an MA specialisation in photography even before his books were out. His first photographic exhibition The House Next Door captured the stark albeit beautiful images of his father?s life after cancer. Now, he has crafted yet another visual story through Postcards from the Forest, an exhibition exploring the catalyst behind layered narrative, and also ?a moving meditation on love and the threat of its sudden retreat.? He chats with Diana Ningthoujam about the exhibit, his love for photography and what shapes his aesthetics. Excerpts:
You said that you haven?t given up writing novels, and that your love for narration finds resonance in photography. How do you connect the realms of words and images?
I don?t think of Postcards from the Forest any differently from my novels, narrative force and visual precision are as crucial. I find it difficult when people think only of their books as their art, or of their sculpture?but how can you differentiate this from the rest of your life? The friendships you inhabit, love affairs you end, politics you espouse, it?s all an elaboration on aesthetic.
How different is relating your thoughts through written words and visual images? As an artist which medium do you prefer?
It?s not about what medium I prefer?it?s about which medium serves the story best. In recent years I?ve been drawn to photography because it is more honest, direct. My last show of photographs was about my father?s life after his brain cancer; there was not so much I could say about it in words, but photographs honoured the solitude of his sickness, the deep abiding anguish that comes from having your body altered in a sudden force.
What is the story behind Postcards from the Forest ? What does this body of work mean to you?
I?d moved to Matheran to think about a friend I had lost. Often when I went for walks through this small forest town I stopped before a row of mountains or an old house with the impulse to point it out to my friend. But how do you say any of this to someone defined by their absence? So I collected these photos to bring back, send onwards, as if invisible postcards with the familiar cursive saying, I wish you were here.
Your first photography project The House Next Door captured the images of your father recovering from cancer, in a way, you recorded the fragility of human life. Your present project is about loss, solitude, lament? Why do you prefer to explore such themes?
Some veer to the tragic mode, others to the comic. Perhaps because my childhood was unhappy it shaped my aesthetic; I find myself looking for the end of things, rather than delighting in the commencement. I wish I could change that but right now this is how it is.
You have pursued an MA specialisation in photography even before you started writing novels. How did that happen?
I studied photography at university in London; it was part of my master?s degree. But I was drawn more to language then, so I wrote The Last Song of Dusk. I suppose in youth you believe language matters, the said things. Now I?m older the unsaid things, and silence, are more relevant. My books were frenetic, extravagant. Photography allows me to be quiet, it?s another way of learning to write, certainly a new way to think about the world around me.
What kind of relationship do you maintain with the subject of your photography?
One of tremendous affinity.
Do you have your next project planned out? Will it be photography or are you going to explore another medium?
I wish I knew. I find it strange when I go to literary festivals and meet people who define themselves as ?professional writers?. I could never be a professional anything. Work hard and leave it be.
You have won a string of awards for your novels and also quite a lot of controversy. How do you view your ?past? life as a novelist?
I don?t really think about my life, to be honest. My friends? lives, books, wines, forests, all this is far more engaging.
How different is the Siddharth Dhanvant Shanghvi of today from the days of The Last Song of Dusk and The Lost Flamingoes of Bombay?
I am kind of quiet these days. It might be a kind of sadness learning to live itself. It might also be that I am interested only in a kind of witnessing, with little room for comment.
The exhibition Post Cards from the Forest is on at the Seven Art Gallery, New Delhi till March 14.