Frigid Frames from a Frozen Land by Nandakumar (Nanda) is a series of photos depicting people and places that brave one of the bitterest winters on the planet. The people in the Himalayas, while blissfully separated from the chaos of the cities are not spared the chaos of nature. This series of photos shows them in this chaos – paradoxically smiling and carrying on with their lives just like they do throughout the year.
The photos serve to depict these hardy people, most of whom put what they were doing aside and posed for the camera. The places photographed are not the monuments that one would see in brochures and travel guides. They are just humble homes and places of worship which turn magical with the seasoning of snow on roofs, fields and mountains.
Nanda stayed with the inhabitants and got to know their stories. Their unsurpassable physical and mental endurance helped him trek on ice, climb up mountains and battle the cold to come out unscathed.
A traditionalist by training and practice, Nanda shot the photos with film, using Rolleicord Vb, Yashica 24 and a Mamiya RB 67 with an assortment of lenses. He has actively promoted photography by serving as the president and darkroom chairman of the NTU Photo-Videographic society for three years. He is also the co-founder of Phocus Academy and continues to teach a range of workshops both in and out of Singapore under Phocus.
The Provia 100F, 400X, Kodak 100G, Ektar 100, Portra 400 and 800 were the most commonly used films on this trip. Scanning of the negatives and transparencies were done by Kingston Chan of Planar Productions. Printing of the negatives and scanned slides was done by Kwa Boon Kee of Wallyourphotos.com.
Himalayan Winter
Venue: Gallery @ CRC Spaces, 23 New Bridge Road #02-01 Singapore 059389
Exhibition date: 21 August – 28 September 2014
Official Opening: 21 August 2014, 7pm – 9pm
Opening Hours: 11am – 6pm (Monday – Friday), 12pm – 3pm (Saturday), Closed (Sunday and Public Holiday)
Admission: Free
