LANDSCAPE IN INVESTIGATION

​The bed of the river Sabarmati behaves like an open ground, devoid of any volumes of water near the Indroda village in Gandhinagar district of Gujarat. The Sant Sarovar dam was built here in the year 2006 in order to recharge the groundwater levels in the neighboring areas. One could argue that this huge ground contains nothing. This remains true until we step down on the dry plateau of pebbles, which draws the line of distinction of it being the riverbed. A change of vantage points gives access to the various realities present, eliminating the illusions of seeing. It’s a behavior that one might observe of the interaction between the various elements that come to this hub or are present there itself. The landmass keeps creating new illusions as the topography allows its creation, leading to the eye’s confusion. It’s also interesting to imagine the topographic history of this place, the constant facelifts thus affecting our perception.

The series of photographs here try to understand the difference in what we see, what interests us, and what we perceive in accordance with the limitations of our human vision. Although, a change in vantage points and the use of a mechanical lens-based device might make us see the same piece of earth in a new light, where the elimination of the rest of reality present around the frame chosen here for the photograph, eliminates the distraction and helping us deal with the eye’s confusion. It is also about connecting these dots and making an observation at how elements around the riverbed, which acts as the largest entity in this context interact with it, becoming a part of a different illusion and realization.