Mahesh Shantaram is an independent art/documentary photographer based in Bangalore, India. He is working on a long-term project on Bangalore, as the city moves through an interesting transitory period.
TOP FROM BOTTOM, (from “Bangalore: Steady State 2012“)
© Mahesh Shantaram
His project, Bangalore: Steady State 2012, documents the rapid changes the city undergoes as it moves forward to become a sprawling metropolis. The old make way for the new, the past is removed and deleted as new buildings and infrastructure spring up.
He writes:
Following a long hiatus, I returned to Bangalore only to find myself having to resettle in a city that evoked memories, and at the same time, contradicted them. Photography became a way for me to reconcile myself to changes in me and around me. These are diary notes from the conversations I will continue to have with the city I call home until the transformation is complete and it reaches its steady state.
Likewise, things here move faster than most people can managed. In the span of my one-month holiday, two new shopping centers opened and a new one is slated to launch sometime later this year. Our memories of old are often altered by the urban landscape’s unstoppable metamorphosis. Perhaps one day we would all find our peace.
For more, visit his portfolio here.
Zhuang Wubin
Photographer/writer Wubin was commissioned by the Chinese Heritage Centre in Singapore to shoot and research on Chinatowns in Southeast Asia. The resulting work was published as a book earlier this year and he is showing his work at Bophana Audiovisual Resource Centre in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, from July 9 – 31.
TOP TO BOTTOM, from (”Chinatowns of Southeast Asia“)
© Zhuang Wubin, 2009
Chinatowns have always been a mainstay in most large cities in the world. During my travels, I’m inexplicably drawn to these places, perhaps due to my heritage and a longing for familiarity. Each Chinatown is unique yet similar in many ways. Wubin’s project could be easily lost without a contextual background or understanding of the subject. Do download the entire pdf to view the project in its entirety.
Visit his website to see this and other works. Also, Wubin has been researching thoroughly on photographers in Southeast Asia, of which you can read some articles on his blog.