Jyoti Bhatt

Since the 1970s, I have focused on documenting living art in rural homes that have been rapidly disappearing due to modern, consumerist lifestyles. It's not that this is the type of photography I like to do or that I'm passionate about, but someone has to document these lifestyles before they are lost forever. 

Jyotibhai, as Jyoti Bhatt is fondly called, is one of the founding members of the Baroda Center for Photography. However, before turning to photography, Bhatt began his artistic career as a painter and printmaker in the 1950s. He worked as a painter from 1954 to 1969 and also taught at the Baroda College of Fine Arts. He says I was never interested in studies. You can say that since I wasn't good at anything else in life, I became a painter. I studied painting and printmaking at the Baroda College of Fine Arts, with stalwarts like N. S. Bendre, Sankho Chaudhari, and K. G. Subramanian. In the 70s I learned the method of intaglio printing and screen printing. 

But by then, the desire to photograph and document India's disappearing culture had already attracted him. I have photographed everything from intricately carved doors to floors, pots, pans, walls, and houses that form part of our folk art in rural India. My camera replaced my sketchbook. 

Bhatt's journey as a photographer began in 1967 when Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan in Mumbai asked him to photograph Gujarati folk art. On his journey through rural Gujarat, he photographed a wide range of things, including bandhani and other Kutch crafts, traditionally tattooed bodies, havelis, temple paintings, and embroidery. 

Deeply impressed by Anand Coomaraswamy's book Medieval Sinhala Art, Bhatt realized that folk art has many aspects that reinforce each other. Each work of art provides an outlet for creativity and refines human sensibilities and responses. Living within a creative network, an individual artist achieves a special stature and refinement. The disappearance of the Internet, together with the collapse of traditional cultures, will necessarily lead to cultural impoverishment, he says. 

His best-known work is the documentation of the Rangoli tradition in Gujarat and Maharashtra. It was probably introduced to Gujarat via Maharashtra during the rule of Gaekwads, he says. 

Bhatt does not indulge in technical tricks; His photographs are simple, point-and-shoot type. I have always believed in content over form. 

At times, Bhatt works together with sculptor Raghu Kaneria. His joint work includes documenting women artists in tribal villages. During the festivals, women decorate the cattle. In every tribal village, there are women artists. Although they are paid for the work, the remuneration is not high enough to become a source of livelihood. They use a lot of bright colors and a narrative format. The artists draw inspiration from mythological tales and the paintings are believed to protect tribal families from evil forces, says Bhatt. 

Bhatt claims that he has never regretted taking up photography as an art form. The work of photographic documentation is equally creative. Furthermore, my work has highlighted countless tribal artists who were deprived of any recognition or reward, he says. 

Jyoti Bhatt lives and works in Baroda.

BORN

March 12, 1934 Bhavnagar, Gujarat

EDUCATION QUALIFICATIONS

1985 I learned the basics of holography, UK. 

1964-66 Learned printmaking, at Pratt Institute and Pratt Graphic Art Center, New York, with Fulbright and John D. Rockfeller II scholarships specializing in graphics. 

1961-62 Academia Di Belle Arti, Naples, Italy, with a scholarship from the Italian government

1953 Wall painting and scholarly fresco, Vanasthali Vidyapith, Rajasthan

1950-56 He studied painting and printmaking at the Faculty of Fine Arts, Maharaja Sayajirao University, Baroda.

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2007 Parallels That Meet Paintings, Prints, Photographs, Delhi Art Gallery, New Delhi

2005 Graphic Prints An Overview Jyoti Bhatt, Anant Art Gallery, New Delhi

2004 Printed Image An Overview Retrospective, Exhibition of Graphic Prints, ABS Bayer Gallery, Vadodara

2001 In Conversation Painting and Sketchbook, Gallery Espace, New Delhi

1999 Centre for Photography, National Center for Policy Analysis, and The Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA), New Delhi

1998 Printed Image An Overview Retrospective Exhibition of Graphic Prints 1961-98, Cymroza Art Gallery, Mumbai

1998 Multimedia Art of The 90s, Centre for International Modern Art (CIMA), Kolkata

1993-97 Exhibition of Photographs at National Centre for Performing Arts (NCPA), Mumbai Bharat Bhavan, Bhopal and Art Heritage, New Delhi

1984-95 Photographic Exhibition at New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Bhopal, Baroda and Germany

1966-71 Solo Shows of Prints and Paintings, Mumbai, Ahmedabad and New Delhi

1964-66 3 Solo Shows of Prints and Paintings, USA

1963 Exhibition of Paintings, Mumbai

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2010 Yeh Image Mahaan India Meets Bharat, Center for International Modern Art (CIMA), Kolkata

2010 The Living Insignia, Ensign Gallery, New Delhi

2010 Symbols and Metaphors, Center for International Modern Art (CIMA), Kolkata

2008 Baroda A Tale of Two Cities, (Part I), Sarjan Art Gallery, Vadodara

2006 Super Six photography exhibition, organized by Jindal Photo Limited, traveled throughout India

1999 Icons and Symbols, Center for International Modern Art (CIMA), Calcutta

1969 Painters with Camera, Mumbai

1969 Through Indian Eyes, Salon of Indian Photographers, Netherlands

1963 1890 Group Exhibition, New Delhi

PARTICIPATIONS

2011 Ethos V Indian Art through the Lens of History (1900 to 1980), Indigo Blue Art, Singapore

2011 Manifestations VI, Delhi Art Gallery, New Delhi

2011 Manifestations V, Delhi Art Gallery, New Delhi

2010 Art Celebrates 2010 Sports and the City, represented by Gallery Art Motif at Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi, coinciding with the Commonwealth Games

2010 Contemporary Printmaking in India, presented by Priyasri Art Gallery, Mumbai at Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai Priyasri Art Gallery, Mumbai

2010 National Print Portfolio, Marvel Art Gallery, Ahmedabad

2010 Manifestations IV, Delhi Art Gallery, New Delhi

2010 Where three dreams cross 150 years of photography from India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, Whitechapel Gallery, Fotomuseum Winterthur, London, Switzerland

2008-09 Peace Mandala, Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi

2005 Manifestations III, organized by Delhi Art Gallery at Nehru Center, Mumbai and Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi

1998 10 years of C.P.A. (1988-98), National Center for Performing Arts (N.C.P.A), Mumbai

1996-98 Exhibition of Chamatkar paintings organized by the Center for International Modern Art (CIMA) in London

1996-98 Appointment with Destiny Art from Modern India, Singapore Art Museum, Singapore

1984-90 13th Photography Competition, at the UNESCO Asian Cultural Center in Japan, the United States, the USSR, and Sweden

1984-90 Eternal Wheel 15 Indian photographers, West Germany

1982-83 Six Indian Photographers, Museum of Modern Art (MOMA), Oxford, UK

1969 Exhibition of painters and photographers, Sao Paulo International Triennial, Mumbai

1969 Six Indian Photographers, Museum of Modern Art (MOMA), Oxford

1967-72 Various International Engraving Biennials, Florence, Poland, Japan, Yugoslavia and Germany

1955-62 National Art Exhibition, New Delhi

1954-63 Baroda Group Exhibitions, Bombay Art Society Annual Exhibitions, Kalidas Art Exhibitions of Mumbai, Ujjain

HONORS AND AWARD

Lalit Kala Akademi Scholarship 2022

2020 Dhirubhai Thakar Savyasachi Saraswat Award

Padma Shri Award 2019

2005 Lifetime Achievement Award - Distinguished Photographic Artist, Academy of Visual Media, New Delhi

2004 Awarded to the Hon. PhD, Rabindra Bharati University, Kolkata

2001 Kalashri, All India Fine Arts and Crafts Society (AIFACS), New Delhi

2000 Received the Gujarat State Award, Gujarat

2000 Senior Artist Award, Indian Fine Arts and Crafts Society (AIFACS), New Delhi

1998 Gujarat State Kala Academy Award, Gujarat

1996 Senior Fellowship, Ministry of Culture, Government of India

1996 Gaurav Puraskar, Lalit Kala Academy of Gujarat State, Gujarat

1996 Gujrat State Special Award

1989 Grand Prize, 13th Annual Asia-Pacific Photography Competition, UNESCO, Japan

1978 First Prize, World Photography Contest, Fotokina, Germany

1972-73 1st Prize Postage Stamp Design for the 25th Anniversary of Independence

1967 First Prize for Graphic Printing, Lalit Kala State Academy, Gujarat

1967 Gold Medal, International Engraving Biennial, Florence, Italy

1967 First Prize for Graphic Prints, Lalit Kala State Academy Exhibition, Gujarat

1967 Silver Medal, Bombay Art Society, Mumbai

1967 Bronze Medal, Nikon World Photography Competition, Japan

1964-66 Fulbright Scholarship and J.D.R. III Engraving Prize at Pratt Institute, USA. 

1963-64 National Award, Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi

1963-64 Annual Exhibition, Bombay Art Society, Mumbai

1961-62 Italian Government Scholarship to study painting and printmaking, Naples

1957,58,59 Government of India Scholarship with Prof. Bendre

1956 President's Gold Plate, National Art Exhibition, New Delhi

1956 Received a cultural scholarship, from the Ministry of Culture and Education, Government of India. 

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