Where Three Dreams Cross: 150 Years of Photography from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, Whitechapel Art Gallery

I went along to the Whitechapel Art Gallery earlier today to see the current exhibition 'Where Three Dreams Cross: 150 Years of Photography from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh'

The totally refurbished gallery was unrecognisable from my last visit there in 2008. The exhibition features a series of photographs from photographers born in the subcontinent, very roughing divided into five themes - The Portrait, The Performance, The Family, The Body Politic and The Street.

I enjoyed the black and white photographs which seemed to be more evocative, strange I suppose when they are capturing scenes from three countries where colour and vibrancy seem to be omnipresent. Even the modern black and white shots seemed to belong to another distant era. I particularly liked the shots of artists, musicians and filmstars. I thought these belonged to section on 'The Portrait', but later realised these were part of 'The Performance' theme. This almost indistinguishable merging of themes continued later with 'The Body Politic' and 'The Street' sections, both containing outdoor scenes ranging from agrarian workers to urban social protest. I couldn't help agreeing with Time Out's comments on how disparate and unorganised the exhibition seemed to be. Most photographs could quite easy be placed into any of the five themes. Still, the exhibition contained some beautiful images and it was good to visit the gallery to see art as opposed to live music.