Discover the work of Siddharth Marlecha
Siddharth Ashok Marlecha (b. 1999 Poona, India) is an interdisciplinary artist currently working with photographs and contemporary craft-based furniture.
In his photographs, one can find memories of a childhood in his homeland. This exploration starts within his hometown that is slowly losing parts of its identity. In pursuit of memory, Marlecha revisits soothing natural environments and premises with obsolete architecture, where he previously sought relief from orthodox family expectations, general bad days or just looking for a value idea to connect with.
Recent transitions in his personal life and the surrounding landscape have led to unexplained confusion. This confusion is generally visible in Marlecha's work, showing an excitement towards subtly absurd interactions with the real world, intriguing objects or odd arrangements of things, sharp personalities, and a non general, childlike celebration of nature.
His experimental print works can be understood as paler visualisations of memory. Often, these mildly skewed visuals of reality are about the impermanence of detail, the vagueness of time, and the intangibility of recollections from the past— dreamlike but once present in the conscious world.
His documentation of these areas tells the story of a young boy's dream, which can be found in fragments of a rapidly developing urban environment, sometimes painted in an early 2000s Indian colour palette. When moving between home and places he doesn’t recognise, there is often an attempt to latch onto familiarity. That is often what gets documented.
Can you share a bit about your background and how you first became interested in photography?
I remember being 10 years old, on first time family vacation, eager to only take photos on my taxi-yellow Mitashi brand 35mm plastic box that one could qualify as a camera - a gift from an aunt of mine. It would upset me each time when, I wasn’t able to get a photo of a certain happening, person or place for myself. The fascination of feeling adult-like, being able to see the world just how I wanted to. The mechanical process of checking the exposure counter, rotating the film progress dial and loading the film felt like a fun few tricks to me. Besides, my father was specifically excited about teaching me, and that seemed loving. I remember then, on another family trip, when digicams had come around (possibly a Cybershot of some kind) that I borrowed it briefly on a morning walk and figured out what Autofocus was. I took a photo of a butterfly on a fine blade of tall grass - I had never seen subject separation like that. Shallow depth of field, what now is a more deliberate choice, was a point of fascination at the time. I had never imagined a photograph that I took could look that way.
Then, some research, birding outings with friends and eventually being gifted a digital SLR kept the interest alive as a hobby. What I take photographs of now was never what I initially found exciting. I did document, even at 13 years old, the subjects that I try to document now. But the recognition of what I really wanted to take photos only came to me about three years ago. Since then, it has been a practice to stay true to that.
Your work frequently engages with obsolete architecture and natural landscapes. What is it about these spaces that captivates you?
Primarily, it is about remembering my home as it once was. Poona (now Pune), was a very quiet city when I was growing up. It also has its colonial and traditional history that often gets outlined by the buildings of these times. Encountering a fascinating tree, being alone in an empty field or finding a best friend in the animals and insects I came across often had some of these buildings in the backdrop. That is what I think I am usually going back to.
In your view, what are the essential elements that make a photograph truly impactful?
I think, for me, a photograph's creative presentation (the colours, processing, and production), the subject matter and its subtext and the space it leaves for feeling and interpretation will often move me more than brilliant composition, perfect lighting or a celebration of something intrinsically beautiful. In fact, if the general rules of what makes a photograph a good photograph are surpassed to highlight something more important, the photograph automatically fascinates me more.
Your experimental print work presents memory through a ‘paler visualization.’ Could you elaborate on the process behind these distortions? What other alternative processes are you looking forward to try next?
I would, at this point, consider this to be a successful experiment that I am willing to pursue. I mainly shoot digital and I have enjoyed the approach it enables in making my body of work. When I did try shooting on film, my approach was very different from the general one. The photographs often did not fit into the same narrative but pursued something more fleeting and vague rather than a more concrete or relative idea. I wanted to see my work as larger physical manifestations but I wanted to approach it manually and with imperfection, submitting to the process itself. Initially, using low maintenance film cameras with old black and white film stock and mechanical errors gave me interesting outputs. Then, cyanotypes became exciting. Then, large prints on tracing paper created mystique. These experiments communicate the ‘feeling of’, visually. Altering a photograph, either by purposely negating perfection, moving back and forth between the steps of taking a photo and experimenting with printing methods helps with that too.
Currently, these experiments are where my interest lies. There aren’t any new processes that I am adamant to try but it’s hearty to see how far the current experiments can go and how I can reappropriate the visual aesthetic to make something else entirely - I think one of the works could prove to be a great material for a few art objects.
How do the orthodox expectations of your upbringing contrast with the visual narratives you create?
Pursuing art and creativity as a career option seemed fairly illogical to a family that was predisposed to a certain lifestyle. So, the practice in itself goes against grain. Often, the places I visit and the subject matter I document are locations that wouldn’t be frequented, sights of discomfort or things that must be ignored in the general perception that is held by someone from my background.
Your photographs rarely feature people—has this been a deliberate artistic choice?
It has been more of a transition to this place. There was a long time when I was at large taking photographs of people. Somewhere along the way, I realised that it was more about the outcome of said activity that was exciting and not the act of taking photos of people itself. Now, I just recognise this lack of connection and that shows in how rarely people appear in the work I make. Added to this, there are layers of consent and other questions of proper representation that feel slightly tricky to navigate. But when certain personalities do make an appearance, it is because the interaction has felt very natural and human. Sometimes, that may not happen but a characteristic would be too striking to not document. In those times, I avoid showing their faces.
Beyond photography, do you draw inspiration from any other art forms?
All art that draws me visually becomes a point of inspiration. I have been learning more about design and its physical representation through sculpture and furniture. I tend to draw from the principles of what I wish to design and reappropriate it in the production of my physical photo work. Design also helps me approach photography with a preconceived visual identity that I am trying to create and how that may be important in the consumption of my work.
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