Enchanting images of Paris by debut photographer Rupin Thomas

Various facets of the beautiful city of Paris captured though its breathtaking vistas, iconic architecture, sublime cemeteries, its sunsets and full-of-life graffiti, have been brought alive through a brand new debut exhibition by photographer Rupin Thomas.

Comprising 50 images that take a look at life in and around the ‘City of Love', the week-long show, titled  'La vie à Paris: A Study in Volition,' was inaugurated last evening at the Lalit Kala Akademi here by Niti Ayog CEO Amitabh Kant along with ace fashion designer Ritu Beri. They also launched a catalogue designed and conceptualised by Rupin at the opening of the show, which continues till February 25.

 "It is a pleasure to see Rupin's work; he has captured the feel of one of the most fascinating cities of the world. Paris is a favourite city for travellers; its history, its people and its culture are fascinating. He gives a beautiful visualisation to the multicultural ethos of the city inhabited by people from Africa, the Arab world and other countries. The artist has also captured both the quiet solitude and people chilling out in parks in the city,” he said after the inauguration.

An economist by training who has spent over 10 years in the US and around four years travelling across Europe, Rupin spent more than three summers documenting the evolving city of Paris, focusing especially on the brilliant juxtaposition of the old and the new.

Curated by Uma Nair, the photographs selected from a total of 6,000 images are mounted in four sections with a cross-section of the famed iconic Eiffel Tower and a picture of the 10th Arrondissement just below it greeting visitors. The four distinct segments are  Landscapes, Still Life Studies, Solitaire - - Quiet Corner and Street Art and Graffiti.

Congratulating the photographer designer Ritu Beri said, "It is a fantastic exhibition and the pictures do justice to the city. For me Paris is my second home and I have often felt that I was French in my last life because I seem to fit in there very easily despite not knowing the language when I first went there 20 years ago.”

The celebrated fashion designer said Paris is beautiful, but so is India. “I think the next exhibition by Rupin should be set in India," she added.

Mr. Kant also urged the photographer to show his next work based on India.

"Rupin has given a great insight into Paris. He has captured it so beautifully; I greatly enjoyed it. Hope he does his next exhibition about India," he said.

Famed artist Arpana Caur, who is known for her own collection of images, was among the throng of early visitors to the show.

“I am deeply moved by the idea of unveiling Paris though its cemeteries and gravestones. To represent the beauty of a city through the element of death and the idea of eternity through its architectural elements is indeed a discerning study," she said.

The artist also became the first collector of Rupin's oeuvre as she booked the picture of a three- legged chair in a graveyard belonging to the theme ‘Quiet Corners’.

The 34-year-old photographer said the purpose of the exhibition is to showcase the diversity of Paris "where people from different walks of life and countries come to work.”

The inauguration was attended, among others, by Hindi poet Surendra Sharma, National Gallery of the Modern Arts (NGMA) Director General Adwaita Gadanayak, Director General, AIR (News) Sitanshu Kar and a host of artists and photographers.