looking back

Snapshots from the homeland lead to HSC success for visual arts

student Tanaya Deshpande

BY RAJNI ANANd luTHRA

India, it is said, is an amazing place for photography.

For budding Sydney photographer Tanaya Deshpande, her native India turned out to be a wealth of opportunity – and a cause for HSC success.

The Turramurra youngster picked photography as her medium for her Year 12 visual art course last year. Tanaya’s major work, entitled Made in India, is based on a series of stunning images from her homeland. It won her a Band 6 result.

“I was looking for the real India, stripped back from the commercial,” Tanaya, who finished her HSC at Pymble Ladies College (PLC) in 2012, told Indian Link

Getting down to the bare basics, the young photographer found beauty in shots of nature, just as much as in those of people.

Poignant photographs of street kids, the colours of life on streetsides, even moments from the daily routine of life, captured her interest. For sure, you will find hints of the western stereotypes about India – the Taj, elephants, henna tattoos. But this, ultimately, is the beauty of the work: it shows the artist looking at India from the vantage point of a native, as well as that of an outsider.

The striking feature of the composite image is that the individual shots are projected on to the bare backs of human figures.

“My statement is that travel changes you: it leaves a mark on you that stays forever,” Tanaya revealed.

She might as well have been saying that India leaves a stamp on you forever.

The work was presented on 9mm-thick wood, with other photos on thermacol.

It comes as a surprise to learn that Tanaya only took up photography three years ago.

“My uncle is a keen photographer and inspired by him I began to play around with the camera,” said Tanaya.

Her first pieces were based on flowers.

“I wasn’t even going to do visual art as a subject in Year 12,” Tanaya admitted. “It just occurred to me while thinking about my possible subjects that perhaps I should do something creative to get a break from the rigour of other subjects, so I picked it. And then I couldn’t decide between photography and ceramics, both very popular options at my school, and both of which scale well”.

In the end of course, it all