Publicity: Vivek Vadoliya
Art Director Gem Fletcher speaks for her latest Exposure column with photographer Vivek Vadoliya, whose work explores new ways of looking at British-Asian identity
Towards the end of Vivek Vadoliya's film Kala Kala: The Guru of Soho, the colorful protagonist of the short film proclaims: "Life is very simple and becomes complicated if you don't look inside yourself." These words linger not because of their obvious mindful meme ability, but because of the way they describe the root of Vadoliya's aesthetic power.
In just a few years, the photographer and director has put together a portfolio that is deeply personal, technically tight and wrapped in its own visual language. The work is an invitation into his world, a constellation of fashion, documentation and portrait that wants to celebrate the nuances of the Indian diaspora, which he carefully imagined through his tender and loving gaze.
The construct of masculinity and its relationship to Vadoliya's South Asian identity, historically, culturally and in the present moment, is a central theme in the work. At Brotherhood, he explores notions of British-Asian masculinity through a series of calm and eclectic portraits that address style, body language, and cultural codes and symbols.
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