Bruxelles Late Colour


These images were created during a residency at Contretype, Brussels. Interview by Kévin Lemaire.

█ To begin with, what makes you feel like participating to residence program?

I'm a fan of JH Engstrom's work. I came across the book La Residence and was inspired by the legacy of the residency at Contretype. In 2015, I had the opportunity to meet Danielle Leenaerts in Arles and expressed my interest in the residency. She was kind enough to set the discussions in motion, and two years later, I arrived at Cité Fontainas with my suitcases.

█ Did you choose Bruxelles for any reason?

When I was a starry-eyed teenager in the 90s, the first time I left India and travelled to a faraway land was on a student exchange programme to the University of Namur. Belgium made some deep impressions on me during my very early years. I am still in touch with my Belgian friends from back then. I have my personal photos of Brussels from the mid-90s. It was such a tempting opportunity to accept this residency and relive this city on my own terms 20 years later.

█ Did you find any similarity or difference from your previous residence experiences?

In my previous two residencies, I suffered from depression and became homesick. Contretype was much kinder to me. In fact, I remember feeling the happiest I have ever felt during my stay at the Cité Fontainas (despite the events mentioned below!). Alain Jottard allowed me so much freedom and was a friend indeed.

█ How did you approach the city?

I don't have any ready or set process by which to engage with a city. I have to feel it and then think of what to do. It is purely circumstantial.

█ Why did you choose to almost exclusively shoot at dusk/dawn?

I am unable to work in bright light. I had underestimated how much sunlight there is in the European summer! I eventually got into a rhythm where I stepped out of my apartment only after 9pm. I would return home at 1am by the last bus or metro service.

█ Why, contrary to a major part of your previous works, is there almost no human being on your pictures?

It was not meant to be that way. I tried to make connections but it had disastrous consequences. Once, I spent a night at the Atomium. Due to a misunderstanding with a school group that also resided there overnight, the Atomium management banned me (and very likely any future artist of Contretype) from ever visiting again. Another time, I invited a couple of guys over to my apartment for a chat and to make portraits. We had a fun conversation in Arabic. Then they robbed me of my valuables on their way out. After this, I really didn't want to talk to anybody. I found immense satisafaction in walking the streets and neighbourhoods of Brussels at night and making pictures in solitude. Of course, sometimes people called the cops on me but there was nothing more than a quick chat. Overall, I felt a uniquely liberating sense of freedom after dark that I don't think I can find, for example, in my own home city of Bangalore.

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