Delhi Photo Festival: Childhood & Coming of Age

This series of photographs captures the various parts of
childhood, adolescence and coming of age. Whether it's the dream-filled magical world
of childhood, love and companionship, or the silent rituals of adolescence, the
photographs in this exhibit spin a visual story of growing up.

Amelia’s World and Animal Affinity 



These are photographs drawn from real journeys undertaken by Robin Schwartz and her daughter, Amelia, in the interspecies private world that they inhabit together with animals of all varieties. The photographs are not documents - they are evidence of an invented world and the fables they enact in that world. Over the past ten years, this photography project has acted as an opportunity to access dreams and discover the extraordinary.

Safe Playground 



Differing from what photography usually provides us - essentially a documentation of reality - these images represent something shapeless and intangible. They might be called “mindscapes”, capturing a subjective inner reality utilizing photography as a medium. In the series Safe Playground, images are captured from self-made miniatures in the studio; a lit window suspended in the dark, a circus tent after the show. These images appear as if they are childhood nightmares being vaguely recalled. The photographs indicate time and space ambiguously - they are like fragmented memories triggered by something simple such as the sensation of touch or smell.

Second Star to the Right 



They are brothers, sleeping under a purple sky pricked with firefly stars. Sometimes they go hunting, peering into wells for monsters, diving for mermaids, waiting hours for the last brown spider. Where one boy goes, the other follows. These memories are a gift, one brother to another, and for every child who ever found the key to a fairyland, and every man who tried to find his way back.

Baby in a Chapel 



After leading an unfulfilling urban life, Kai and Rose decided to leave Melbourne and move their family to an isolated area in rural Australia. Baby in a Chapel is a visual observation created over the period of four years. Pillars of life for the family are observing their children grow up, learning to live more sustainably and finding joy in the simple things.

Passage of Time 



'Passage of Time' explores the informal rites of passage and rituals of young people and their relationship with the natural world. The initiations, the pushing of the physical, spiritual and emotional limits in order to discover one’s sense of self.

Violeta 



Two days after her birth I took Violeta into my arms and we had our first dance together. We have danced many times since then. She grew up; she learned to speak, to walk. She met the sea, and got a brother. I have been photographing Violeta since she was born. Unawarely, I took photographs of her - before conception, in the sea, inside her mother ́s belly. I photographed her during pregnancy. Photographing her has become another way of standing by her, understanding her and loving her.