Exhibition of Vintage Photographs by R. R. Bharadwaj - The Purist Artist (1902 – 1986) From 1st to 31st October 2015 - Monday to Saturday 11 am to 6 pm - Sunday closed at DINODIA Photo Gallery, 66 - Bajaj Bhawan, 6th Floor, Nariman Point, Mumbai - 400 021. For more info : email - jagdish@dinodia.com : phone – 91 22 2204 4016

Ruliaram Roopchand Bharadwaj (1902 – 1986) known as R. R. Bharadwaj but for photographers he was Guruji, because he always guided photographers and never kept any photography secrets. He was born in 1902 in Khad, a small village in Himachal Pradesh near Bhakra Nangal. After schooling, he went to Lahore, now in Pakistan, and joined Mayo School of Art in 1922 and took photography classes. Within one year, he was taking pictures at Lahore Museum and supporting himself. In 1925 he joined Archaeological Survey of India and photographed the whole country for six years, including Harappa and Mohenjodaro. In 1934 he joined Kodak and worked with them for six years, travelling all over India and demonstrating Kodak products. In 1937 he won the supreme award of Kodak Eastman Gold Medal, a first for an Asian.

In 1942 he opened his photography studio in Mussoorie, where he made wonderful portraits of people who came to the hill station in summer. After Independence of India, he moved to Bombay and with the help of Lala Kailashpat Singhania set up his photography studio, where he worked till his last days. The photography of Mr. Bharadwaj was greatly admired by Mr. J. R. D. Tata and Dr. Homi Bhabha also, and for them he did many photography assignments.

Guruji was a very modest person with the soul of an artist and the heart of a child. He believed that when prosperity enters by the door, art flies out of the window. To him, technique is just the grammar of photography and finished picture is the poem. In 1978 Guruji himself wrote that "I believe that an artist only requires the ability to see the beauty and drama of the right combination of light and shade to capture a work of art on film.” A true pure artist. These vintage prints are photography collectors delight.