His photograph of the painter posing in dirty clothes is part of Tasveer’s first group photography exhibition titled “5X8”. Comprising images taken by five photographers — Sudharak Olwe, Mahesh Shantaram, Rajib De, Zubin Pastakia and Mahidhar — the exhibition is currently on at Travancore Art Gallery. “A painter represents the remnants from a bygone era. We hardly pay any attention to them these days, yet they are integral to our daily lives,” says Mahidhar, who has on display images from the series titled My People.

Even though there is no binding theme in the works, the images in the exhibition tend to convey a sense of dialogue between the past and the present.

While Rajib De’s photographs showcase the lives of people living on bridges, Sudharak Olwe’s protagonists are the Tamasha girls in Maharashtra. In one photo, Olwe captures the bonding between two sisters, Chaya and Maya, as they are shown in a tight embrace. “These two sisters are always there for each other. While Tamasha girls are constantly on the move, it is rare to see such bonding between any of the girls,” explains Olwe, whose project The Circle of Tamasha has been on for four years.

For Shantaram, living in Bangalore since childhood, watching the cityscape change was a subject in itself. His photograph titled Steady State 2012 captures the proximity of a neighbourhood near the airport, with a plane parked in the background. “Most of my images were taken during the last year and they already serve as documentary evidence of the change in Bangalore,” he says.