Rediscovering Photography: Jyoti Bhatt at TEDxAhmedabad

Jyoti Bhatt is an Indian artist best known for his modernist work in painting and printmaking and also his photographic documentation of rural Indian culture. He studied painting at the Faculty of Fine Arts, Maharaja Sayajirao Universtity (M.S.U.), Baroda. Later he studied fresco and mural painting at Banasthali Vidyapith in Rajasthan, and in the early 1960s went on to study at the Academia di Belle Arti in Naples, Italy, as well the Pratt Institute in New York.

Jyotibhai, as Jyoti Bhatt is fondly called, is one of the founder members of the Center of Photography, Baroda.

Bhatt's journey as a photographer began in 1967, when the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan in Mumbai asked him to photograph Gujarat's folk art. On his travel through rural Gujarat he photographed wide range of things including bandhani and other Kutch crafts, traditionally tattooed bodies, havelis, painted temples and embroidery.

His best known work is the documentation of the rangoli tradition in Gujarat and Maharashtra. "It was probably introduced in Gujarat through Maharashtra during the rule of Gaekwads," he says.
Bhatt doesn't indulge in technical gimmicks; his photographs are simple, just the aim-and-shoot kind. "I have always believed in content over form."

Please note his talk is in Hindi. We have been struggling with getting the video translated in the city. If someone from the community would like to help us with the same, please do leave a comment below or write to us on aditi at tedxahmedabad.com