Learning from People: From photography to Painting

Standing in front of a chalkboard and wearing a suit, is a teacher. On the wall, a periodic table, a balloon, and posters featuring Hindu deities. Perhaps it’s a maths lesson for there are numbers on the board, or maybe they’re the residue of the last lesson. The image, a photo by Vikram Kushwah is a compelling one. The title tells us that the teacher is the artist’s father, smart and professional, he stands upright and looks ahead earnestly towards the camera. As is often the case with images featuring people, the photo is rich in narrative and storytelling. It is open and full of possibility. For the most part, the class are engaged, engrossed in their work, their backs to the camera. We only see two faces and they seem hesitant, perhaps they don’t want to be photographed. Are they bored or do they resent the presence of the camera? It’s up to us, as viewers, to make sense of the image. What clues does it provide? We notice one student is wearing studded boots, elsewhere a sports bag is on the table. Perhaps the class has just come in from PE. Maybe they’ve just finished break time. The photo is one of several images in our curated selection, ‘People’, a grouping that spans painting, drawing and photography, with each work containing its own possibilities and stories. Each is a space for thinking, a moment for reflection.