Raghubir Singh and the 1960's

488 Words2 Pages
The countercultural era of the 1960s and 1970s was filled with attitudes of rebellion, alternative avant-garde forms of consciousness, and especially politics. Whilst indulging in the extravagant artwork portrayed by numerous photographers in the “Everything Was Moving” gallery, I came across an outstanding photograph taken by Raghubir Singh. By analyzing the semiotics and interpreting the diverse symbolism within the photo it can be argued that this one photograph encompasses the perfect representation of its era. This photo depicts a statue of Subhas Chandra Bose, a prominent Indian nationalist figure, mounted upon a horse in the middle of a busy intersection in India. This photograph puts an intended emphasis on the numerous electric power lines, which all merge together at the centre of the statue. As a result of the location and emphasis of these power lines the photo has several diversely interpretable connotations. The background of the photograph is surrounded and bordered by various colourful billboards and advertisements which, when juxtaposed with the statue, add to the messages conveyed by the photo. When analyzed, this one photograph depicts the 1960s and 1970s eras’ attitudes towards freedom, spirituality, angst, expansion, and alienation, within the countercultural society of the 1960s generation. All of these symbols can be found within the depiction of the statue and the surrounding electrical power lines incorporated with the border of advertising billboards. The numerous electrical power lines all come to their climax when they meet in the centre of the statue, the heart of Subhas Chandra Bose. This can be interpreted as a symbolic representation of youthful attitudes of rebellion towards authoritative religious figures and all forms of government authority. This symbol is emphasized by the electrical power lines’ close resemblance to arrows
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