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N.
Sukumar
We
all feel attracted to nature. And by nature we mean the mountains, rocks
and landscapes, the forests, trees and plants that grow on them and the
wildlife that inhabit them. Nothing can be more graceful than the sight of
a bird gliding through the air or a dolphin swimming in the water. This is
the essence of natural beauty, the high art of nature. But a human being?
Although I have been photographing since my teenage years, until recently
most of my photography consciously separated humans from nature. We tend
to think of humans as belonging in cities, as being separate from nature.
This reflects the divorce of our human civilization from the natural
world. But can it be otherwise? The increasing separation between the
human and natural worlds also engenders in us a yearning for the primeval,
the pure, the natural. Like it or not, we humans are a part of nature, not
separate from her. Can we see it thus?
Perhaps it is necessary to shed all vestiges of our civilization in our
images before we can truly see humans blending as part of the natural
landscape. The surreal, romantic images you see here portray a different
reality, one that is beyond the limits visible to the human eye, existing
as if in a parallel world, the twilight zone of photography. Here we see
the human figure blending naturally into this natural environment, an
integral part of this surreal landscape.
Being in nature is to me not just a hobby, a recreation, but the very
essence of existence: it is as I explore this world, investigating the
blending of the human and natural forms, feeling their common pulse and
the contrast between their textures, that I feel fully alive, it is when
all my senses are alert, it is when I live with my full consciousness. My
photography reflects this heightened sensitivity, it is the expression of
what I experience in nature. The scientist in me appreciates the marvels
of nature and sets the path for my unique vision of the natural landscape,
but it is the artist in me that expresses my human reactions to nature's
beauty. I am a scientist, photographer, conservationist, wilderness
enthusiast and educator. I was born in Calcutta, India, and have a Ph.D.
in chemistry from Stony Brook, New York. My work and wanderlust have taken
me to the far corners of the world and I have made use of the
opportunities this provided for photography. My main photographic subjects
are nature/landscape and figure, my approach to the two being somewhat
similar.
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