Manjari Sharma invites people to bare their souls in a session of intimate portraiture in the shower
MY ASSIGNMENT
Description To create a series of introspective portraits by capturing people in the shower.
Duration Ongoing. I started theproject a year-and-a-half ago.
Notes A shower is where we are often lost in our own thoughts and recall memories of the past.
MY EQUIPMENT
I used a Nikon D2X, along with the 17–55mm f/2.8 and 12–24mm f/4 lenses.
For the past few months, I have been inviting people to visit my apartment and photographing them in a very intimate space — my bathroom. The shower series is something that strives to go beyond regular portraiture — it is, in fact, a journey to explore and understand different personalities, especially once the subject lets his guard down.
My Perspective
The two things that led me to begin this project were the magic of water and light. I was driven by a mad passion and desire to document the sensory overload that I personally experienced while in the shower. There is a certain texture, drama and undeniable sexuality that we experience with the touch of water. Also, the light that streams in through my window late in the afternoon is absolutely magical. Once I realised this, I decided to shoot emotionally-loaded portraits in the shower.
With this project, I was also challenging my traditional and conservative Indian upbringing. For instance, I do not really know what my family thought of this series when I first told them about it.
The Process
(This story appears in the 11 March, 2011 issue of Forbes India. To visit our Archives, click here.)