Serena Chopra
From 2007 until 2015 photographer Serena Chopra navigated through Majnu Ka Tilla, a Tibetan refugee neighbourhood in Delhi, conversing and building relationships with its inhabitants, many of whom had made this place home since their exodus from Tibet in 1959. While understanding the complexities of identity, nationhood and faith with the people residing there, she always had a diary by her side. Slowly her portraits of the people found themselves on its pages and those she photographed became a part of these diaries by sharing their words and writing on the same pages.
Serena Chopra
Tasveer Art
Bhutan Echoes features a selection of black and white photographs taken over a period of fifteen years when Bhutan was transitioning from a monarchy to parliamentary democracy. Serena Chopra’s evocative black-and-white photographs, which were shot on a Hasselblad camera, span everyday life in Bhutan; from the beauty salons, pool clubs and disco nights in the bustling modern capital of Thimphu, to remote regions like Merak and Sakteng. The publication, produced in conjunction with Tasveer Gallery's exhibition of the same name, also carries an introductory essay by the author and historian, Manu S. Pillai.
Serena Chopra
Academic Foundation
Serena Chopra’s The Ancients is the culmination of her travels across the length and breadth of Bhutan during the early 2000s. Having endured the harshest conditions traversing through some of the most remote regions to meet and interact with its people, Chopra writes with deep insight and love of the places and people she met and developed relationships with. From Laya in the North to Merak Sakten in the East, from Haa in the West to Samchi in the South, Chopra shares her personal experiences recorded in a series of diaries over a period of five years.
Serena Chopra
Academic Foundation
Along the Ganga carries a series of portraits of Sagar Puri ji, a nineteen year old Naga Sadhu. Shooting in colour, Chopra captures playful and intimate portraits of Sagar Puri ji, who becomes a performer for the camera. The photographs witness him perform his daily chores and rituals, amidst his contemplative moods, and suggest a close collaboration between the photographer and sitter. The photographs were taken during the 2010 Kumbh Mela in Haridwar and the 2013 Ardh Kumbh in Varanasi.
Anay Mann, Gigi Scaria, Serena Chopra, Rishi Singhal, Isabel Saij and Jean-Pierre
Dubois
Alliance Française
Published on the occasion of the Festival of France show in 2013, this catalogue features Serena Chopra's photographs of the architectural heritage of Chandernagore. Located north of Kolkata, Chandernagore is a former French colony and trading post that boasts colonial homes and churches that are now in dire need of restoration.
Serena Chopra
PhotoInk