ARTIST'S STATEMENT
Nausher Nash Banaji
Nausher Nash Banaji
I am a Photographer of Skin + Stone, I am a Poet of Black + White.
I am a disciple of the Renaissance in the church of Beauty.
The human body in its finest, or in its weakest, state is magnificent and enduring. The nudes of Greek and Renaissance artists were intended not as depictions of beautiful bodies but of beautiful souls. They connoted heroism, integrity, and virtue. Saggy, decrepit bodies often portrayed withered souls or troubled minds, emotionally damaged and vulnerable. As for me, I feel most liberated creatively when I am able to capture the emotions that reside in a human form. Nothing conveys the expressions of the human heart like the body.
I photograph the beauty of skin and I photograph the beauty of stone.
I try and capture the poetry of bodies and the poetry of bricks with my camera and with my words.
As far back as I can remember, I have expressed myself through prose and poetry. I kept a journal; writing was a release. From there, photography was just a natural progression in which I could substitute words with pictures, using light instead of letters to convey an emotion, an idea, a feeling.
I am inspired by the juxtaposition of the human figure in light and shadows. The darks and lights give the figure context. Whether it be a model or a statue, whether it be the art of the human form or the architecture of the Renaissance. For instance, I might position a smooth figure within a rough terrain or against menacing wall structures to illustrate our fragile nature and the constraints we deal with day to day; and porcelain skin among shadows. Skin characterizes our vulnerability. Skin characterizes our beauty. Skin characterizes the ephemeral nature of our existence. I once expressed these thoughts on paper, but I was now moved to express them with photographic metaphors.
Nudes were the most fundamental—the barest—of my thoughts, the most uncensored, the most unmanufactured, the most unscripted. They made the most sense to me. Removing the veils revealed emotions and displayed our vulnerability. I used shadows to cloak the body instead of fabric, and I intensified the use of strategic light placement. This enabled me to arrange shadows where I wanted doubt or mystery to lurk, and light where I wanted the alternatives to reside and reveal. A concentration of light on the one hand and shades of shadows on the other stops the eye from wandering. My own eyes seek stark tonal contrast, revealing a world where whites are illuminated from within and blacks are eternal. Alternatively, it is only in penumbra, where light dies and darkness comes alive—it is then that we glimpse the truth of things. Chiaroscuro to me is the richest area to explore, because it is inextricably tied up with the question of contrasts. The end result, I always hope, will be an image that could be interpreted poetically.
I try and capture poetry with my camera and with my words.
I am a disciple of the Renaissance in the church of Beauty.
The human body in its finest, or in its weakest, state is magnificent and enduring. The nudes of Greek and Renaissance artists were intended not as depictions of beautiful bodies but of beautiful souls. They connoted heroism, integrity, and virtue. Saggy, decrepit bodies often portrayed withered souls or troubled minds, emotionally damaged and vulnerable. As for me, I feel most liberated creatively when I am able to capture the emotions that reside in a human form. Nothing conveys the expressions of the human heart like the body.
I photograph the beauty of skin and I photograph the beauty of stone.
I try and capture the poetry of bodies and the poetry of bricks with my camera and with my words.
As far back as I can remember, I have expressed myself through prose and poetry. I kept a journal; writing was a release. From there, photography was just a natural progression in which I could substitute words with pictures, using light instead of letters to convey an emotion, an idea, a feeling.
I am inspired by the juxtaposition of the human figure in light and shadows. The darks and lights give the figure context. Whether it be a model or a statue, whether it be the art of the human form or the architecture of the Renaissance. For instance, I might position a smooth figure within a rough terrain or against menacing wall structures to illustrate our fragile nature and the constraints we deal with day to day; and porcelain skin among shadows. Skin characterizes our vulnerability. Skin characterizes our beauty. Skin characterizes the ephemeral nature of our existence. I once expressed these thoughts on paper, but I was now moved to express them with photographic metaphors.
Nudes were the most fundamental—the barest—of my thoughts, the most uncensored, the most unmanufactured, the most unscripted. They made the most sense to me. Removing the veils revealed emotions and displayed our vulnerability. I used shadows to cloak the body instead of fabric, and I intensified the use of strategic light placement. This enabled me to arrange shadows where I wanted doubt or mystery to lurk, and light where I wanted the alternatives to reside and reveal. A concentration of light on the one hand and shades of shadows on the other stops the eye from wandering. My own eyes seek stark tonal contrast, revealing a world where whites are illuminated from within and blacks are eternal. Alternatively, it is only in penumbra, where light dies and darkness comes alive—it is then that we glimpse the truth of things. Chiaroscuro to me is the richest area to explore, because it is inextricably tied up with the question of contrasts. The end result, I always hope, will be an image that could be interpreted poetically.
I try and capture poetry with my camera and with my words.
PRINT INFO
For enquiries concerning purchase of prints, please message me on Contact
or text me: 778.881.5055
For enquiries concerning purchase of prints, please message me on Contact
or text me: 778.881.5055
POETRY
nausherites.wordpress.com
nausherites.blogspot.ca
Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/nausher.banaji
Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/nausher_nash/
nausherites.wordpress.com
nausherites.blogspot.ca
https://www.facebook.com/nausher.banaji
https://www.instagram.com/nausher_nash/
Pinterest
https://www.pinterest.ca/nausher9/
https://www.pinterest.ca/nausher9/
COPYRIGHT NOTICE
The artwork on these pages can't be used or reproduced or copied without written consent from Nausher Banaji.
Photos and Words Copyright © Nausher Banaji
ALL RIGHTS RETAINED BY PHOTOGRAPHER NAUSHER BANAJI.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED WORLDWIDE.
NOT TO BE REPRODUCED WITHOUT EXPRESS WRITTEN AUTHORIZATION.
NAU & THEN CONSULTANTS LTD.
The artwork on these pages can't be used or reproduced or copied without written consent from Nausher Banaji.
Photos and Words Copyright © Nausher Banaji
ALL RIGHTS RETAINED BY PHOTOGRAPHER NAUSHER BANAJI.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED WORLDWIDE.
NOT TO BE REPRODUCED WITHOUT EXPRESS WRITTEN AUTHORIZATION.
NAU & THEN CONSULTANTS LTD.
