Chandigarh: Portrait of a City

Manuel Bougot’s interest in Le Corbusier’s architecture began in the 1980s when he worked on Caroline Maniaque’s thesis in architecture – on the Jaoul Houses, built in 1954, in Neuilly, France. From 2006 onwards, Bogout renewed his interest in Le Corbusier, attending talks on Chandigarh and photographed the only building the architect ever built for himself – a cabanon (a summer cabin) in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin. The desire to photograph Chandigarh thus became imperative to further any understanding of Le Corbusier, the urban designer, and his philosophy about architecture and modernism.

Bougot’s contemporary photographs of Chandigarh examine the encounter between Le Corbusier’s architecture and its inhabitants. Apart from photographing the landmark institutional buildings which define Chandigarh, Bougot also photographs private spaces – homes and villas, many of which borrow from the Corbusian vocabulary.

Paris-based photographer, Manuel Bogout is a graduate of the Ecole Nationale Superieur de photographie Louis Lumiere. In 1988, Bogout opened his studio in Paris where he executed projects as a still-life photographer for various advertising agencies and has regularly collaborated with leading publications photographing interiors, architecture and portraiture. In addition to his advertising and editorial work, Bougot’s personal interests include photographing architecture, urban spaces, interiors and an ongoing exploration of Le Corbusier’s architecture in India. This exhibition of Bogout’s colour photographs of Chandigarh represents the first part of the larger Corbusian project, the second being the city of Ahmedabad._

Chandigarh: Portrait of a City is on view till 27th October, 2012 at Photoink, New Delhi.