Anu Kumar, a Melbourne-based photographer, grappled with ideas surrounding place and identity after returning to her birthplace of Kavi Nagar, India, for the first time since childhood. Feeling displaced and unsure of her identity, Kumar turned to photography as a way to connect with her Indian roots. Her pursuit culminated in her debut book, Ghar, which takes its name from the Hindi word for "home."
Over the course of five years, Kumar used a medium format camera to capture the familial home and neighboring streets in Kavi Nagar. Her soft gaze lovingly depicts the symbolic and aesthetic markers of her personal and cultural heritage. The book includes formal portraits of her family members, reminiscent of traditional family albums, as well as intimate scenes of daily life, capturing intergenerational gestures and familial rituals.
The COVID-19 pandemic gave Kumar's search for familial closeness a newfound sense of universality as Australia's international borders were closed for almost two years. Ghar was edited and sequenced during this period, touching on the forced distance experienced by cross-cultural families and the role of photographs as a vessel for intimacy and connection.
The series contemplates the complexities of "home" - a place, a sentiment, a responsibility - in all its multiplicities. Kumar's photographs capture the inherent familiarity of home, as well as the moments when it can feel distant and incongruous. Ghar is a beautiful and poignant exploration of the intersection of place and identity, family and connection.
Ghar is published by Perimeter Editions.
