Delhi-based street photographer Mona Singh celebrates pockets of purity through her photography show ‘Innocence’

When Mona Singh’s younger sister was getting married, her parents expected her to ask for the typical clothes and jewellery as gifts. But the budding creative surprised her family and requested a camera; so when she finally held it in her hands, she knew in an instant she found a companion.

To this day, she doesn’t leave the house without her camera, joking, “It’s as though I’m surgically attached to it!” Majoring in street photography, Mona continues to find momentary gems of everyday life. “I don’t like to miss a single moment of my life, so my camera captures it all.”

So when Goethe-Zentrum called Mona up for a potential exhibition orienting around children, the natural direction was towards innocence— a timely task given Children’s Day was this month. The art world has seen various perspectives on this ever-expanding theme already — Turkish Orhan Pamuk’s Museum of Innocence and British Simon Roberts’ Landscapes of Innocence and Experience — but Mona’s work brings a native perspective.

Having two grown children of her own, the 39 year-old expresses an evergreen love for taking photos of them, “Children live with such open honesty, spontaneity and freedom. I revisit my own childhood with them. I grew up in an age without the consequences of social media, unlike my children. I wish they had the same childhood I did.”

These are typical traits that tend to subdue as we grow so we can understand why children are exemplary of the bursts of life. Just a perusal of Mona’s photographs makes for a great vicarious experience, featuring plays of the light which highlight innocence.

The exhibition comprises several special moments: a child in tears on a rocking horse, two old women with ice creams in deep conversation, a child and her doll atop. It’s the photograph of the two old women that resonates with the most innocent person Mona knows: her grandmother. “My grandmother made time for everyone,” she recalls, “like a storybook character.”

Special captures

A photo of five young children in a red cabinet, pulling funny faces is Mona’s favourite. The joy on their faces draws people in and probably why it won an India Weaved In Frames (IWIF) Award for Best Street Photo. The moment is meaningful for Mona who shares it’s indicative of the purest moment she’s witnessed thus far. She also sees a dark side to the photo, adding, “It reminds me of the sex ratio or male-female imbalance in our country.”

Mona Singh will be giving a talk on ‘Innocence’ on November 23 at 6:30pm. The photographs will be on view everyday until December 2 at Goethe-Zentrum’s Hamburg Hal, from 9:30am to 6:30pm.