Skinny Indian Men

View Slideshow

In French photographer Fabien Charuau’s new show at the Matthieu Foss Gallery, it’s that long overlooked sartorial segment of the population that gets the spotlight: the skinny Indian man. Not just any skinny Indian man, but the one with twig legs that dresses in “designer” jeans, often belted tightly around a waist the size of a thimble. It’s that peculiar fashion middle ground between the India of vibrant turbans and saris, and fancy labels, the one seen on a huge swathe of the population but which rarely gets the attention it deserves.

Charuau is an unabashed Indophile—he’s lived in the country for about 15 years—and claims to have the outsider, distorted perspective that comes with being a foreigner. Even so, his lens is more attuned to that of an astute insider, someone who’s deftly able to capture the nuance of body language even among densely packed masses such as ours. It’s not the impoverished throngs or the exotic colours that Charuau tries to frame, but the oddly ignored mundanities of everyday life. His show is divided into two parts: “The Great Unwashed” is an ode to the country’s men and what he says is the sensual grace of their bodies; and “Stumble Asleep”, a series of moments with no discernible connection that are arranged like individual dreamscapes.

It’s “The Great Unwashed”, also the title of the show, that holds the most appeal. The phrase was originally coined as an insult to the Victorian lower classes, but Charaua means it here as less of an insult than a statement of just what is. “They are always in crowds, they don’t necessarily have access to water,” he says. His men are the men we see all around us, the hard-bodied boys, children and adults who bridge the gaping divide between two starkly different Indias. On one hand, the slim, zero-body fat that comes with lean eating and little money, and on the other, the fancy jeans and aspirational dressing that comes with disposable income and new found awareness.

To see images from the show, click on the “View Slideshow” button above.

LocationMatthieu Foss Gallery
Ground Floor
Hansraj Damodar Trust Building
Goa Street
Ballard Estate

Phone6747 7261

Relevant DatesUntil Thursday, September 30

HoursMonday to Saturday, 11am to 7pm; Sunday closed

Websitewww.matthieufossgallery.com