Fantasia in the city's facade
Fayza Haq
In Bruno Ruhf's exhibition 'Dhaka Upside Down', one discovers the sensuality of forms, shapes and colours taken from the ordinary scenes of our streets, and displayed at Alliance Francaise. Bruno has settled down in Bangladesh after 18 months of his arrival. "This is not surprising," remarks Jaques-Andre Costilhes, the French Ambassador, as "so many Bangladeshis have settled in France." Apart from photography, Bruno does painting, drawing and sculpture. He also makes atmospheric lamps i.e. unusual household items from rejects like parts of a thrown away car, fan and iron. The light ensuing from the lamp creates an atmosphere that is unique. In the last set of photography he has also used ink and here he has taken the help of the computer at times. This is his second photographic exhibition on Dhaka. Apart from these, he had a drawing exhibition at Drik. He first came to Bangladesh to visit a friend, Pascal Janovjak, who was then the deputy director of Alliance Francaise, and with whom he had studied at the Strasbourg University. After 'The Walls of Dhaka' exhibition in which he had brought in the richness of the ordinary Dhaka walls, he has presented his second photographic endeavour which is an architectural aesthetic. The pictures are the everyday common sights but viewed in such a way that they appear different. Last time he had focused on walls and plastic elements on the walls but this time it is a wider element of architecture. He has brought in construction sights, boats, and clothes washing. Bruno says, "I did not take pictures of the natural scenes as I wanted to bring more than meets the eye and present old images in a new way. Natural beauty complements itself. Photography should show up those images that we are normally not aware of. " Plunging into the three dimension of our cityscape he introduces new visual habits without seemingly doing so, unexpected framing, imperceptible additions to introduce a sensuality of forms and colours. Boathead depicts different facial features if viewed from a distance. As the picture is hung upside down, it introduces different intriguing images, normally not seen, when merely passing by. He focused on a particular part where the strange elements could be found. Caterpillar brings in builder's items like bamboo and planks covered by jute sacking in such a way that one feels one is seeing a moving giant caterpillar. Shop window brings in images of faces of humans and animals if one looks hard at the photograph. Thus "the viewer is invited to explore the secret life of the city," as Pascal Janovjak put it," to view the fantastical creatures hidden in the details," maybe on a façade, maybe on a roof. Like most of the other photographs it is in beige, sepia and black. Swimming pool roof depicts blue plastic sheets and bamboo in such a manner that it appears like a swimming pool. Bruno has done a good job of depicting beauty in Dhaka's concrete jungle. The exhibition ends on May 9.
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Swimming Pool Roof |
