Beeld van Indiase jongen in witte kleding op een muurtje terwijl hij zijn haren kamt.

Vasantha Yogananthan, 2015

'Rama Combing His Hair', Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh, India, 2015

Created by Vasantha Yogananthan in 2015. The artwork is a archival inkjet print on Canson Print Making Rag 310gsm and displayed at 81 x 64 cm.

For a full five years, Vasantha Yogananthan travelled through India and Nepal, in pursuit of the Hindu god Rama. His photos form a modern interpretation of the Ramayana, a Hinduist text that dates from approximately 300 BC. According to this epic, Rama was banished from his kingdom along with his wife Sita. They fled to the jungle, where Sita was kidnapped by the demon Ravana. In the end, Rama was able to defeat Ravana and free Sita. The artist was inspired by the story’s prominent presence in everyday life in India, and how it is constantly being rewritten. Note the precise moment at which this photo was taken: the comb has just been passed through Rama’s hair in a single, smooth motion, as we can see from the clean, straight rows it has left behind. While everything else in the photo is in sharp focus, the comb itself is only visible as a blurry stripe. The meditative moment in which Rama stares into the mirror contrasts with the speed of the movement embodied in the comb.

© Vasantha Yogananthan, courtesy of the Foam Collection

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'Rama Combing His Hair', Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh, India, 2015