Although in Delhi it is illegal for more than two people to be on a two-wheeler it takes place everyday all over the city. This in itself is an interesting indication of the amount of influence the state has over the everyday lives of individuals in 'developing' countries as opposed to those countries that have been deemed 'developed'. The ways in which people are capable of acting as a law unto themselves spells out a different idea of freedom.
I became enthralled in the ways in which people’s bodies engaged with one another on these two-wheelers. It seemed to raise a whole range of issues relating to the different degrees of physical contact and intimacy taking place on these two-wheelers amidst the whirling public streets of Delhi. There was this constant unveiling of these binary sort of dynamics that connected this real beauty that existed between people (aesthetically as well as emotionally) and the inherent danger of motorcycles and people and traffic.
Furthermore, underlying all this remained these subtle but ever present tones of trust and dependency, as they existed and developed between friends, lovers, married couples, children, parents, inlaws, work associates, neighbours and all those sharing a two-wheeler in one way or another. However an undeniable sense of machismo (otherwise understood as mardangi in Hindi) also creeps in, especially when coupled with the fact that on the streets of Delhi women are repeatedly on the back seat.
These photographs beautify a very normal and everyday occurance. As visual treats, so to speak, the images offer a different way of viewing the world around us while also being underwritten by a series of more serious concerns.
While this is more of an ongoing work consisting of various forms of public distribution – at present I have glued the images to walls in places around Delhi, within a close but safe vicinity to roads, where pedestrians (and the public) become the viewer and the images can be seen in relation to the environment they sprung from – places where the real content of each image is seen passing by each minute.
These photographs have been taken just shortly after the works were glued to the wall. During each and every installation process a predominately male crowd gathered almost instantly....while this sort of 'spectacle' is fine and to some degree expected I do not see the 'crowd' as being the defining element of the work. Where this work really lives, is when I walk away and the crowd and hype disperse. Maybe then one person walking past has something catch their eye, it is these photographs, and then they turn and stop for a minute and start to piece together the story of what these images might tell.