Embrace Magazine — The Arts Issue

BY MARY ANN THOMPSON-FRENK IN DRA G NE IUS How do you describe someone who excels in everything artistically, while impacting the world through activism? A one-of-a-kind PHOTOGRAPHY BY GK REID like Indrani Pal-Chaudhuri deserves a oneof-a-kind word unique to herself, and like her, truly innovative. i n d r a g e n i u s INDRAGENIUS

fl ash goes off .

Diamonds trickle in a web of sparkling light across Beyonce’s skin, refl ections highlighting the singer’s curves, at once sexy, defi ant with an arm raised across her brow, exuding a sense of motion caught for a second in time, the intensity pulling the viewer in, leaving you wanting to know more…

And that’s just how Master Photographer Indrani wants it.

After all, the artist is the one living legends seek when desiring to create attention grabbing images destined to become iconic despite the plethora of ongoing content thrown at the public today. Standing naturally statuesque with a fi gure any movie star would envy, the successful model with golden skin, brilliant smile and long hair is as comfortable wearing all black t-shirts, leather jacket and jeans with thick soled black boots when on the job as she is strutting in stilettos across red carpets from Cannes to Hollywood, or donning on a sari from her native India. The artist has never lost the infl uences of her childhood homeland. This becomes even more evident as she explains the symbolism behind the photo,“(Indra’s net represents how) the universe is all connected and when one jewel shines it refl ects onto all the other jewels making them brighter…to be more precise, Indra's Net is both a Hindu (Atharva Veda) metaphor, and beloved in Mahayana Buddhism…(it represents) appreciating others who are doing well because their light will refl ect back on you.”

While, the mixture of metaphysical/sociological meaning conveyed via a pop icon image designed to express strength in sexuality/ sensuality is a rare contrast on the world stage today, it is perfectly natural for master photographer, Indrani Pal-Chaudhuri who explains, “Growing up in a ruined palace near Calcutta, I was drawn to its fantastical art: larger than life statues of multi-armed goddesses vanquishing demons, carried through the streets and welcomed into our homes; fundraising glam-

“It took me many years to realize how big a challenge it's been, to be a woman of color, one of a less than three percent of fi lm directors and photographers.”

orous galas, Tagore plays, and avant-garde cabarets, for Mother Teresa by the temple of Kali. Then ripped away, an immigrant child in London and Toronto, whose parents worked two jobs each and whose only connection to the world I loved was through photos and videos captured before we left, I realized the power of art, and set out to learn its secrets.”

Indrani has attracted famous artists across the world starting with David Bowie who “discovered” her talent and commissioned both portraits and music videos. Indrani prioritizes not just capturing jaw dropping iconic images, (Beyonce’s portrait resulted in Indrani being among the fi rst female artists of color to have a piece in the DC Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery’s permanent collection.), but understands, fi rst hand, what it means to use sexual appeal to attract a viewer towards profound ideas they might not otherwise explore, “Historically, India has celebrated women's freedom to choose husbands, professions, and sexual orientations. On my teenage pilgrimage across the country, I was inspired by many ancient temples covered with erotic religious art, celebrating all sexual orientations

and complexities. The British colonialists and others imposed their religious extremism, forcing women to hide the beauty of their traditional sheer saris, loading them with shame and blame, resulting in the sexism and homophobia prevalent in India today.”

The photographer/director expounds, “As a child, I loved poetry, painting, sculpture, classical dance, singing, piano and violin. But my parents were feminists and insisted girls must excel at math and science. I was a nerd, whom they restricted from fi lms, TV, and popular music. As a perpetual outsider, I saw things diff erently from others. As a teen, I rebelled by returning to the arts.” While profi cient in multiple mediums, it was photography that stole her heart. But fi nding opportunities to learn from professionals didn’t come easy as the majority of photographers she sought to intern under took one look and insisted she be a model in front of the lens. Frustrated, Indrani agreed to model/act in exchange for learning about what goes on behind the camera.

It's hard to blame the photographers for wanting to make Indrani the subject as her beauty is undeniable, but that asset meant she had to work even harder to prove herself, as she explains, “It took me many years to realize how big a challenge it's been, to be a woman of color, one of a less than three percent of fi lm directors and photographers. I advise my students, (She teaches classes online for Princeton University on “Moving Millions to Action with Art and Film for Human Rights and Social Change”), that the secret is to work twice as hard, complain half as much, and be twice as good. Multiply that by two if you're a woman of color, by three if you're biracial, and by four if you're bisexual.”

As a result, Indrani has sought ways to make it easier for the next generations by establishing a school, Ramakrishna Vedanta Vidyapith, providing free quality female empowerment focused education, literacy and vocational training for children/women annually in West Bengal, India. She uses her modeling earnings to support the Shakti Empowerment Education Foundation (SEEschool. org) she established to fund its programs.

The artist explains, “I never felt it was right to be happy while others were suff ering. Returning to India for a solo pilgrimage across “As a photographer and as a director, I seek to inspire transformation, to encourage people to become their best selves. So, my goals are intrinsically both activist and spiritual at once.”

the country at age 18, I realized how much people lacked: shelter, food, education, and most of all, hope. Realizing how fortunate I had been, even at my darkest moments, all I had taken for granted, I decided I would not seek my own happiness, until I had done all I could for others, and I co-created a school for 300 children and women, with my modeling earnings, and with my father, who agreed to come out of retirement to be the headmaster.” She has expanded on her support for women/girls, drawing on her talents to direct the award-winning fi lm, “Girl Epidemic” wherein girls are treated like they're an infectious disease. The metaphor is intended to highlight issues of female infanticide, neglect and sex slavery. It won the Tribeca Film Festival 2019 Disruptive Innovation Award and the CNN Expose 2018 Best Picture Award. She also used her directorial talents to address other issues as well, such as “Till Human Voices Wake Us” wherein Celtic mythical creatures that are seals in water and enchantresses on land, storm Manhattan for love and to protect the oceans. Similarly, she used her photography as a tool for activism, such as in her “Buy A Life Campaign” wherein she captured images of iconic artists such as Janelle Monae, Usher, and Katie Holmes, laying in a coffi n. The participating celebrities agreed to withdraw from all forms of social media until their fans “bought back” their “virtual lives” via donations towards helping to fi ght HIV/AIDS in Africa and India. She won two Gold Lions at Cannes Festival of Creativity for the corresponding fi lm, “Digital Death”.

Indrani’s manner is direct, her voice relaxed, yet always with an undercurrent of excitement due to a new creative endeavor consistently on the horizon. It’s that persistent passion, carefully conveyed in gentle tones, that resonates with her subjects by drawing out their brilliance beneath the surface, which keeps her in high demand. Her confi dence as a storyteller, from directing award winning fi lms, informs her portraits and her means of creating fl uid, fantastical images in still photography infl uences her fi lms. She fi nds a commonality among the mediums, explaining, “As a photographer and as a director, I seek to inspire transformation, to encourage

people to become their best selves. So, my goals are intrinsically both activist and spiritual at once.”

Indrani’s coff ee colored feline eyes light up when she places her life’s work into perspective, “I have been working at the intersection of social justice, human rights, art and fi lm for my whole life, yet until this year, most clients found my passion for meaning-making, transformative projects for social good to be a distraction from corporate objectives. Now every company wants to paint itself as authentic promoters of social good, and tries to attach advocates and activists as they’re the latest fad. It’s important to me to only bring my art and advocacy work to those opportunities for creating real positive change, not just window-dressing.”

Today, the master of multiple fi ne art mediums and human rights activist/philanthropist, counts numerous mentors who are encouraging her ingenuity, including Nobel Prize winners Kailash Satyarthi and Beatrice Fihn – advocates against human traffi cking and nuclear proliferation; Tom DeSanto, producer of “X-men” and “Transformers”; and Rick Schwartz the producer of “The Departed”, “Gangs of New York”, “The Aviator” and “Black Swan” and still draws upon her own Princeton education as a source of inspiration, especially citing her study of the Sanskrit language at the university where her work as a student helped to redesign the program to how it exists today.

A true renaissance woman who has made exploring all her many talents, and harnessing them for maximum impact across the world through memetics, entrepreneurism and tangible humanitarian outreach initiatives, Indrani refl ects on how much of modern society likes to put people into narrowly defi ned boxes and what that means for LGBT communities, “In childhood, I had crushes equally on boys and girls, and I asked my kindergarten girlfriend to marry me. I'm attracted to people for their personalities, not for their gender. As a teen, uncomfortable in girly attire, I traveled India dressed as a boy with a dagger on my belt and felt so free. I'm often annoyed by how society encourages women to appear helpless and vulnerable, tiptoeing on stiletto heels, with makeup that risks running and nails extended to break with any exertion. But I also enjoy fashion.”.

One merely has to google her name to dis-

“In childhood, I had crushes equally on boys and girls, and I asked my kindergarten girlfriend to marry me. I'm attracted to people for their personalities, not for their gender.”

cover how she expresses her many sides, when traveling from New York to London to Egypt to India and more. It’s little wonder that she was inspired to cast NY eccentric fashion icon, Daphne Guinness, in a script Indrani comprised of writers from Edgar Allen Poe to Neil Gaiman as an avant-garde interpretation of the ancient Chinese story, “Legend of Lady White Snake” featuring a white snake spirit becoming mortal to love a human……and then in the next moment Indrani is seen joining Bodi CEO Eric Donsky on the development of the N-100 mask to help New York fi ght off the Coronavirus-19 despite its dense population, and in the next she is requesting Hello Kitty stuff ed animals be sewn onto Lady Gaga’s skirt for a photoshoot, then sprinkled throughout her hectic schedule she can be heard educating Princeton students online, and in the next she is receiving recognition as a United Nations Women's Entrepreneurship Distinguished Fellow – the only consistency being her bulldozing over sociological defi nitions. In fact, the Princeton Cultural Anthropology graduate is turning her many art forms into invitations for engaging others into self-refl ection/dialogue in an age where art is often only skin deep.

When asked what her advice is for LGBT people aspiring for success in the current socio-politico environment, she doesn’t hesitate, “While there is political and economic power in groups, I fi nd defi ning oneself by one's sexuality is just as limiting and reductive as defi ning by race, nationality or religion. I believe that sexuality is constantly changing, and I fi nd being an outsider to be creatively inspiring and liberating, so I prefer not to fi nd comfort in being part of a group. I suggest embracing your diff erences, rather than wasting time and energy trying to make people accept or love you. Be yourself and let others be themselves too.” The artist pauses, then adds, “I wish for the world peace and sustainability. I wish for India (for it) to revive its historical ability to assimilate every kind of diversity, resulting in still unparalleled innovativeness and creative artistry.”

She lifts her camera to her face, unconsciously tossing back her brown-blonde hair as she peers out at the world through the lens, her eyes drinking it all in, “I want to remind people that they are each infi nitely powerful, if only they fi nd their inner strength to prioritize the wellbeing of others over their own.”