Gifts of Solitude

Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore's total communion with nature led to an outpouring of verse and prose that enriched world literature

Today, half a century later, Ashvin Mehta captures on film the same primal nature-scapes with a mind's eye that mirrors and complements that of the poet.
Through Mehta's lens the ordinary takes on a metaphysical timbre. Rocks become sculpture. A stray strand of grass becomes a maze, drawing us towards its vortex. A wave returning to the sea leaves an imprint that stirs memories of the first life on earth.
Here Mehta's photographs of the sea, of rocks and trees come together with Tagore's words. Famed photo-critic Judith Mara Gutman writes an incisive introduction analyzing Mehta's style and scope.