A French photographer stops by Mumbai with his portraits of people in uniform, which now includes a shiny-bearded Sikh regiment
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| Charles Fréger portrays individual members of social groups -- be it sports clubs, army corps or professional guilds -- who demonstrate their affiliation through external signs such as uniforms, head-dress, make-up, posture or even their body shape. |
12 Oct 2010: French legionnaires, water polo players, English school pupils, Japanese sumo wrestlers, Chinese opera actors, African tribals and even Vietnamese Buddhists -- when you come to think of it uniforms are quite a profound subject.
They've kept French photographer Charles Fréger busy for over a decade, building upon his "Portraits Photographiques et Uniformes" project, which stops by Mumbai this month at the Matthieu Foss Gallery in Fort.
In India, he brings his style of contemporary portraiture to photographing the Sikh Regiment in Jharkhand.
It took him a year and a half to get through the army's red tape but it appears to be worth the effort, with their inclusion a colorful addition to an already extraordinarily diverse set of social groups.
Fréger tells GQ India, "The Sikh soldiers fascinated me for their wish to always look nice. They always check their beard and moustache and have a certain idea of aesthetics … I really like that."
"Portraits Photographiques et Uniformes," October 6-30, 11 a.m.-7 p.m. at the Mathieu Foss Gallery, Hansraj Damodar Building, Goa Street, Ballard Estate; tel. +91 (0) 22 6747 7261.