Atul Bhalla: Contemporary Landscape and the Depths of the Historical Field

Abstract

Atul Bhalla’s finely wrought photographs reveal meticulous attention to compositional elements in a way that exemplifies his finely honed aesthetic sensibilities. While much has been written about the Delhi-based artist’s engagement with ecological concerns this essay follows a different trajectory to position his artful photographs within historically diverse zones of visual practice. By focussing on a selection of Bhalla’s landscapes produced between 2008 and 2014, this essay teases out the possibility of aligning his work with the visual conceits of the picturesque, the formal frames of binocular stereoscopy and the role of the photograph in early conceptual art. By locating these particular photographs within broader trans-historical, transnational frames, I posit how Bhalla’s images potentially recode both photographic and art historical antecedents and, as such, they dilate beyond the limits of the present to emerge as critically nuanced interventions into the field of contemporary Indian photography.