A Better View
Documentary photography is a style of lens based art that provides an accurate representation of what was seen by the artist through their lens. There is an elegance in weaving a deeper meaning into documentary photography, one that makes us question the assumptions we had before saw the photograph.
Ashiq MK
Fine-art photographer with a collection of emotions.
A question is posed by Ashiq in the work 'Winds of Past.'
"How would you react if your favourite moments from your past were to pass in front of you?"
A bunch of heart shaped balloons representing a younger self, a time of colorful joy and in start contrast to the towering concrete greyness. The question hints at the larger thematic of Ashiq's work.
"My work largely looks at human beings conflicts with themselves and with the great beyond."
In contrast to the architecture and fashion photography Ashiq captures for commercial project assignments, his style hints at a blend of documentary and street photography styles.
"I am a photographer who attempts to capture beyond the obvious."
There are three collections minted on OpenSea, each 'Lives stuck to magnets', 'The curious bunch' and 'Gems of travel.'
'Burden' is a gritty black and white portrayal that casts the boy with his heavy slung rug bag traipsing through a chokingly ashen scene, with cows in the background and black-eared kite birds circling above.
A boy wading through years of waste in hope of finding something that he can sell for food, atop a 40-year-old landfill in the suburbs of Delhi.
Each day, millions across India earn a living by working with trash. These include waste pickers, waste traders, and workers who process what's found. The photo was taken at Ghazipur dump yard which over the last 37 years, has polluted the ground water and the nearby air with a plethora of diseases (Source CNBC). Over 3,000 people rely on Delhi's 70 acre dumpsite to earn a living.
This story is in stark contrast to the upstream fashion editorial work of Ashiq's, perhaps explaining his own connection with the conflict his lens captures side by side. Another conflict appears in 'Gap in everything;' a powerful photograph that could be interpreted as the divide in any large city.
A glimpse from one side is possible, nothing more. That is the deeper meaning that Ashiq is able to paint with his lens, to go beyond the obvious.
"The villagers who built the stadium were not able to get in since they couldn't afford the entry ticket. None of them had ever seen anything like it and the roars of motorbikes took their curiosity to the sky. They lined along the wall to find gaps and heights to get a view inside the arena."
While most photographers would be content in capturing the action inside the stadium, documenting the competition between motorcyclists, Ashiq placed his lens on the corrugated front lines of a deeper conflict.
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