ace photographer

Raising many eyebrows, ace photographer Sharat Chandra has posted a photograph depicting a 158 year old controversial painting on his Instagram this week.

He has recreated the famous 1862 classic painting Le Déjeuner sur l’herbe (The Luncheon on the Grass) — originally titled Le Bain (The Bath) — which has created a furore over its theme for as long as one can remember. What Sharat has done is picked the theme of the world-renowned painting and shot it with models as a photograph.

The Luncheon on the Grass is a large oil on canvas painting by Édouard Manet created in 1862. It depicts a female nude and a scantily dressed female bather on a picnic with two fully dressed men in a rural setting. The painting sparked public notoriety and controversy in its time, and is now placed in the Musée d’Orsay museum in Paris.

View this post on Instagram

My tribute to the great painter Edouard Manet for his masterpiece #luncheononthegrass #conceptphotography

A post shared by Sharat Chandra 🇮🇳 (@sharatchandraphotography) on Jun 22, 2020 at 8:23pm PDT

“On a trip to Paris, I happened to visit this museum and the painting caught my eye. I sat in front of it for half an hour, admiring it and understanding the depth of the painter and the colour palette,” says Sharat. “I kept thinking about the boldness of the creator and controversies associated with it over the years. The thoughts just kept coming back and so one day, I decided to recreate the scenario,” he informs.

The idea of the project was to remake a famous work of art using photography. After finding the right models, Sharat began searching for the right place to shoot it in India. “Since it involved nudity in the open, I had to make sure the models felt comfortable during the shoot. I wanted a secluded beach to shoot it and finally found one,” quips Sharat.

Interestingly, he recollects a very interesting facet. “The day I was shooting it, there was an India-Pakistan match happening and India was winning. Everyone was glued to their TV sets, and we had a gala time finding complete privacy and comfort to shoot it on the beachside,” he recalls.

On the nudity aspect in the painting, Sharat says, “It’s empowering for many models to pose naked. Moreover, they end up giving confidence and empowering others to appreciate the human form. Art is nothing but beauty realized,” he concludes.

As the country has entered the fifth phase of the Corona crisis lockdown as well as Unlock 1 (as it is called) from June 1, 2020, the Maharashtra government has put across some stringent guidelines for film and television shootings to resume.

Giving the green signal to resume film, television and streaming services shoots with strict preconditions, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has issued a set of Standard Operating Procedures, titled “Guiding Principles to Restart Entertainment Industry in Maharashtra.” These set of ‘principles’ and measures will be active until further notice.

Ace photographer Sharat Chandra has welcomed the government’s decision. An elated Sharat says, “The Indian film industry, like most other industries, has suffered a huge setback during the lockdown. I heartily welcome the government’s decision to slowly and steadily open the doors for the film industry to get back on its feet.”

“Considering the fact that cricket and Bollywood are just like religions in India, its time when people stranded inside their homes for so long, are permitted to have a bit of respite. The very fact that they would now feel that they can see their Bollywood idols back on the screen soon, is a heartening thing,” adds Sharat.

Under the new rules, producers who wish to conduct shoots in the city will have to seek permission from the managing director of the Maharashtra Film, Theatre and Cultural Development Corporation (Film City). Film shoots across other cities or districts in Maharashtra will need permission from the collectors of those districts.

An important regulation is that the state government has recommended an on-set crew of a third of the original strength. The presence of an ambulance, a doctor and a nurse will be compulsory on every set, along with the monitoring of the body temperature. A significant ruling is that children below the age of 10 and adults over the age of 65 will not be permitted to participate in the shooting.