Prints of Bresson photos replaced by digitised display
NEW DELHI: Legendary photographer Henri Cartier Bresson’s photographs of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi’s last moments have been digitised and displayed on LED screen in a loop without text at Gandhi Smriti and Darshan Samiti, a museum dedicated to the Mahatma in New Delhi, which drew an angry tweet by grandson Tushar Gandhi on Thursday. Culture minister Prahlad Patel, however, dismissed Tushar Gandhi’s accusation stating on Twitter that he was “disappointed by lies that tend to mislead.”
Bresson clicked the Mahatma an hour before he was assassinated on January 30, 1948, and also took photographs of the funeral, capturing the grief of ordinary citizens. A part of Birla House, where Gandhi was shot by Hindu extremist Nathuram Godse shortly before the evening prayers, was converted into a museum, where Bresson’s photographs, among other memorabilia and images, were displayed.
Tushar Gandhi told Press Trust of India that the LED screens only displayed Bresson’s photographs in a loop, and ignored its historical context, as text does not form part of this digital display.
“The photographs are running on LED screens like a slideshow with no text. There was no reason why such beautiful prints of Bresson were removed. It’s like removing the paintings of the Rennaissance painters from the Louvre and replacing them digitally. There is no text to explain the situation and people don’t get to know anything from them,” he said.
Later, speaking to HT, he said, “These photographs were gifted by Cartier-bresson. They documented history and were works of art. In the LED display, the photos keep coming randomly without the historical context; no one will watch 20 pictures scrolling down like that. I saw people walking away as the LED stayed blank for some time.”
Other parts of the earlier display, including Nehru’s speech and an American journalist’s eyewitness account are also missing in the current exhibit, Gandhi alleged.
However, Gandhi Smriti director Dipankar Shri Gyan said that the display is still “under construction”. The LED display opened for public four days ago, he said. “It is still being worked on and we will incorporate everything in it.”
The prints were digitally displayed when Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the institution in November last year with German Chancellor Dr Angela Merkel, he told PTI.
“During that visit it was digitised (and displayed) for twothree days and it was done again when the PM visited with his
Portuguese counterpart (Antonio Costa). The PM had recommended that everything be digitised and we received the orders from the secretary of the Ministry of Culture,” Gyan said.
Tushar Gandhi said the photographs had artistic value. “Shocked. The evocative photo gallery of Henri Cartier Bresson displaying the post murder photographs from the Gandhi Smriti have been removed from display on the orders of The Pradhan Sevak. Bapu’s Murderers are obliterating Historic evidence. He Ram!” he tweeted.
Patel responded on Twitter, “I am not scared of debate, but I am disappointed by lies that tend to mislead. I am responsible for any activity at @gsdsnewdelhi. Your views and propaganda are misleading.”