Whether in Mumbai, India or Perth, Australia, young photographer Amit Madheshiya finds that, when lost in the urban jungle, the pull of the ocean is an inescapable draw.
A stunning collection of images from the Commonwealth Photographic Competition was exhibited at the Commonwealth Festival in Perth in October 2011. With the support of the Western Australian government, the top two prizewinners in the senior category (18-30), Amit Madheshiya and Rehnuma Tasnim Sheefa, were flown to Australia for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM). They spent the week attending debates and lectures, visiting local schools and shadowing a photojournalist covering the CHOGM protests.
At the end of the trip, Amit produced a photo essay exploring what he believes is the universal lure of the water’s edge:
Living in Mumbai – which houses over 21 million people – there is a constant craving for a moment or two of being alone with oneself… With its constant flux of people – be it on the streets, trains, elevators, toilets and at home – one always belongs to the great inescapable mass.
The city compensates for space on her beaches, where the constriction of an urban jungle is relieved by the cathartic immensity of the sea. Where the waterfront becomes the site of a return to the primeval vision;
a gateway to the spectacle of the endless vastness, as one leaves behind the paucity, squalor and sweat of a megacity.
This experience laid the foundation of my exploration of Perth. On my lone strolls in the city, I revelled at the sight of the spring sun sprawled leisurely over Swan River and the majestic quietness of Kings Park. But what I was interested in photographing most was the engagement of people in Perth with its seafronts. I spent my evenings at Cottesloe beach looking at young boys and girls playing ball, families enjoying the delicious fish and chips, children fishing on the rocks and others diving in the azure water.
Is there a universal experience that the immensity of the sea inspires in us, across boundaries and cultures? Through my work on the beaches, I am exploring this nebulous experience that binds us across oceans.
