Manjari Sharma is an India born Photographer who has moved back and forth between the US and India a couple times during her photographic career. She has worked with high profile photographers, one such being Eric Ogden, and is currently based in New York. In the Shower Series, Sharma invited people into her bathroom in order to photograph them and while doing so she invited them to actually shower in front of her. From her website:
I noticed that once the warm water ran over my subjects' bodies it
often relieved them of some of the awkwardness the camera brought
about. Once they were relaxed, the bathroom, formerly a beauty
parlour, now turned into a confessional and I the hair dresser.
Many of my subjects have shared intimate details of their life with me
and every new person in the shower brings a brand new allegory.
With every new visit I've had a new protagonist; A new plot and a
new parable of hurt and heroism that has come undone under my
shower. Secretly I have been told by my subjects that it is thrilling
and adventuresome to be in my shower; secretly cheating all of my
traditional and tame Indian upbringing I live through all of my
subjects. Fighting their wars and braving their fears and for those
few hours, we are connected through this controversial pious space.
The release of tension and awkwardness that is described in this excerpt is evident in the expressions presented by the models. Each moment captured has a story that can be inferred from the gentle facial expressions and each image is engaging, despite being presented in conjunction with other, similarly lit and composed portraits which is a great feat. Sharma has an eye for vulnerability but does not exploit her subjects. Instead, the relationship that she has formed with each person is shared with the viewer who then forges their own relationship with each person photographed.
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