With Great Ease: A Celebration of T.S. Satyan’s Photographic Gaze
Untitled (A Photographer Taking a Portrait of a Man), mid-late 20th century - T.S. Satyan. Courtesy: Museum of Art & Photography, Bengaluru
An exhibition of work by T.S. Satyan—dubbed ‘the father of photojournalism in India—presents him as an image maker who found lightness and joy in chaos.
Several years ago, the T.S. Satyan Family Trust handed over a large archive of photographs, newspaper clippings, negatives, contact sheets and other documents to the Museum of Art & Photography (MAP). This year—on the occasion of Satyan’s birth centenary—the archive went on display at the museum in Bengaluru as part of the exhibition “With great ease”.
Flash Flood, Delhi, 1970 - T.S. Satyan. Courtesy: Museum of Art & Photography, Bengaluru
Held from August 12 – November 20, 2023, the “With great ease” exhibition uncovers Satyan beyond his photojournalistic work, reframing him as a photographer who deeply cared about the people he photographed, more than the frame and composition. One of the first images presented at the exhibition is a black-and-white photograph with three people in the frame, showing a partially covered photographer, who looks through the viewfinder of a large-format camera at a man sitting in front of the camera. The subject’s arms and legs are cross-folded. There is an almost relaxed yet prideful posture and expression of the man being photographed. Satyan presents an ability to capture a nuanced expression, a posture both relaxed yet assertive.
Golden Temple, Amritsar, Punjab, 1976 - T.S. Satyan. Courtesy: Museum of Art & Photography, Bengaluru
It’s in nuances like these where the photographer’s genius comes to play. Another landscape-oriented photograph that shows a portrait of people carrying the heavy burden of jute or cloth gunny bags tied together with a thick rope on their head. The subjects are three men and a crowd of people along with temporary structures in the background. Their expressions seem like they are unimpressed by the person photographing them, as if this moment of documentation is insignificant to them and will not impact their lives in any way creating an image within an image.
“We wanted to focus on the fluidity and the empathy within these photographs,” says Rahul Mahesh, Content Writer, Communications & PR, MAP. “There is a sense of kindness with which his lens focuses on people and these are rarely ever a planned endeavour. This is what makes Satyan unique in how he approaches his subjects and the art of photography. His authority in photojournalism is undebatable yet this time we wanted to focus on what makes the person behind the camera such an artist.
“During the process of getting this exhibition together, we were really moved by his compassionate worldview,” adds Mahesh. “His photographs are so full of life and love amidst the landscape of hardship and chaos, and that is what we wanted to truly capture.”
Satyan’s gaze holds tenderness at its core: By immersing himself in the world he occupies, he reveals the flow of life, the hardships and the tumultuousness in times of conflict, and he does all of this in the most humane, sympathetic, and tender ways.
The museum’s curatorial team went through about 1500 photographs to make the selection of 40 that are seen in the exhibition, picking images that stood out for their reflections on a certain moment. There are two more photographs of Satyan himself, as captured by other photographers, one of whom was B.S. Achar. In one of these portraits, he is a young man, holding a camera; and the other is him sleeping on top of his frames in a gallery, a subtle display of his sense of humour. This image was taken when one of his exhibitions was being dismantled, and Satyan jokingly asked for a picture to be clicked in the pose.
The exhibition also includes one of Satyan’s first cameras, a Kodak Brownie Box camera, which was a purchase that had been encouraged and supported by his English teacher and a loan from his grandson Madhav Moorthy.
Most of Satyan’s photographs in the exhibition were taken in the 1960s and 1970s, across India, but also Tehran, and in the Himalayan borders. “We realised very early on that there is a lot of tenderness, friendship, and lightness in his work, and at the same time the photographs link very easily to moments in the history of India post-Independence,” says, Arnika Ahldag, Head of Exhibitions, MAP.
Photo: T.S. Satyan. Courtesy: Museum of Art & Photography, Bengaluru
There is a two-fold charm in the subjects or events that Satyan has photographed: he presents a document; while simultaneously, urges the viewer towards a different interpretation of the visual. An example of this is the image of two visually impaired boys, who are part of his documentation of the living realities of people with visual disabilities in India. The photo seeks to comment on friendship, support, and care. This photograph was one of the images commissioned by the World Health Organisation and shows how Satyan had the ability to bring a humane angle in his images. Although it features blind boys, it is their camaraderie that one notices and a testament to his craft of making one see emotions in his images.
“With great ease” looks at how TS Satyan’s work goes beyond traditional notions of photojournalism and presents him as an image maker with individual authorship. Satyan’s gaze holds tenderness at its core: By immersing himself in the world he occupies, he reveals the flow of life, the hardships and the tumultuousness in times of conflict, and he does all of this in the most humane, sympathetic, and tender ways.
“There is a lightness and joy that encapsulates his frame even in the most chaotic of situations,” says Mahesh, “Be it his assignments covering the floods in Assam or the time he spent at various locations across the world covering major events, he somehow manages to find that silver lining of a moment among the pandemonium. This makes him a unique photographer in our opinion, his ability to not nullify the magnitude of an event but find glimmers of hope in all of it.”
One of the photographs on display shows an image of former prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru walking towards the dark corridor in the Parliament House with his back towards the camera. Taken on a cold October Delhi morning of 1962, one can see how Satyan uses the interplay of light and shadow in his work to highlight his subject. In this photograph, light shines through minaret-like ventilators in the background with a suspended fan from the top. Nehru—who had just had his portraits taken by Satyan—is looking down and holding a note or a paper.
Jawaharlal Nehru, Parliament House, New Delhi, 1962 - T.S. Satyan. Courtesy: Museum of Art & Photography, Bengaluru.
A similar photograph was published by Satyan with his article titled “Remembering Nehru”, where Satyan elaborates on the ‘decisive moment’ in 1962 when Nehru tried to establish bi-lateral relations between India and the People’s Republic of China.
These images show Satyan’s ability to be moved through situations and assignments with an irreplicable ease. At its core, “With great ease” portrays Satyan’s capacity as an artist who is adept at capturing fleeting moments in its complete glory.
“There is a vulnerability that echoes through his photographs that we have tried to bring forth through this exhibition,” Mahesh adds. “The ability to capture the milestones in Indian history yet bring forth humanity in all is something that we find really intriguing about the way Satyan works behind the camera.”
Interestingly, Satyan was also an avid writer, and the exhibition also hosts two articles he wrote: one of the opportunities of having been called to Delhi to photograph Nehru, and the other is a retelling of the photographer encountering monkeys on his travels and his relationship with them.
“With great ease” is a celebration of Satyan’s gaze. He admired the resilience in people, and this admiration has helped him capture even the tiniest moments of hope. In a world that is moving towards divisiveness and anger, this exhibition showcases people in moments of love, happiness, and laughter. The simple joys in life are captured through the lens of a man who knew how to seek out the humanity in this world.
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Bindu Gopal Rao is a freelance writer and photographer based in Bengaluru. She is passionate about all things to do with the environment. You can follow her on Instagram @bindugopalrao.
