Santosh Kumar Korthiwada is a San Francisco based Photographer and Film Maker, from Hyderabad - India, he has obtained several recognitions, is a documentary award winner and his fine art and documentary
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It is not what I think I saw and said. It is not what you think you saw and heard. Yet, it is what you and I see. Always. - S. Korthiwada
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Santosh Kumar Korthiwada is a San Francisco based Photographer and Film Maker, from Hyderabad - India, he has obtained several recognitions, is a documentary award winner and his fine art and documentary work has been featured in national and international publications and media.
In the series entitled “Consciousness”, through the visual combination of two photographs, Santosh proposes an aesthetic familiarity and discomfort in trying to solve a riddle. These are photos in which stillness and chaotic images are linked to each other, and through which the viewer is stimulated, posing questions to himself about what is seen and perceived, so that the self-reflection goes beyond appearances to produce, as the author says, “a personal intellectual space for contemplation”.
We could talk about Santosh Kumar Korthiwada almost like a visual poet, inspired by Rumi’s literary works of poetry, and influenced by the visual poetry of Harry Callahan and Minor White, authors who were able to convey to Santosh a new way of approaching photography, using this as a media through which project one's own conscience, a media of physical, mental and spiritual extension.
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L.A.: Hello Santosh, could you tell us a little bit about yourself? How and when did you become interested in photography?
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Santosh Korthiwada: I was born in late 70’s and grew up in a small village in southern India. Traditionally and culturally, my parents and people around me thought ‘art’ is useless and only the sciences, math or business are careers worth pursuing. But, as a child, all that interested me was drawing and painting, watch movies or just sit in a corner quietly to wonder why I don’t fit in and worry about my certain doomed future.
One day, I just walked out of my undergrad microbiology class and enrolled myself in an arts school and went on to pursue a career in multimedia. I started photographing since 1995 but didn’t realize until recently that the reason why I even picked up a camera is because when I was a kid, I remember falling in love with three specific black and white ‘photographs’ of family and friends. What I saw and felt in those photographs was totally different how I perceived the reality and that made a long lasting impact on my mind.
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L.A.: All your photographic repertoire seems to include only black and white images, is there any particular reason that takes you to work in this way?
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Santosh Korthiwada: My favorite color, when I was a kid, was ‘white’ and now it is ‘black’ and technically, both are not considered colors. Colors never really made an emotional impact in me since my childhood and very rarely that I feel touched and moved by color. I grew up, admiring Akira Kurosawa and Satyajit Ray’s black and white movies so my world is basically a gray scale and that translates in to my work as well. However, I do color work occasionally.
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Diptych #1
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L.A.: What characterized the evolution of your photography? Have you always moved in the same direction stylistically or have you noticed substantial variations over the years?
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Santosh Korthiwada: Oh! I noticed huge shifts in subject matter selection over the years. As I mature physically, intellectually and spiritually, the path appears and naturally evolves. I never plan for this so it keeps me excited for the next photograph.
Initially, I was interested in more direct illustration of my thoughts. Now, it got more abstract and one would take time and effort to construct own story and go away with more questions.
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L.A.: How do you choose what or who to photograph, what are you looking to capture?
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Santosh Korthiwada: The more I ‘let’ the world impact me, the more I want to respond. I’m interested in exploring why do we do things the way we do and try to figure out and question our perceptions. Clarity and ambiguity makes me uncomfortable and when I get uncomfortable, I will do something to address it and that is what I try to do with my images.
For example, I’m deeply impacted by the refugee crisis, the rights and future of our children but also the ability of human perseverance and kindness; and my thoughts manifest as an image. My act of photographing is spontaneous but the source of that act is a result of many hours of contemplation, suffering, love and learning.
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Diptych #2
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Diptych #4
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L.A.: Can you take one of your works from those presents at LoosenArt Gallery and express a personal comment about meanings or concepts?
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Santosh Korthiwada: To pin point a single meaning would defeat the purpose of this work. However, conceptually speaking, each of these displayed works here express a consistent message. As I mentioned earlier, I really want the viewer to construct their own story and/or go away with more questions.
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L.A.: Future hopes?
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Santosh Korthiwada: To be able to share my experiences, ideas and wealth with as many people across the globe as possible. To work as a teacher and learn.
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Diptych #5
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Diptych #3
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Santosh Korthiwada www.santoshkorthiwada.com
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