‘Banal Reflections’ is a tableau collection of photographs where scenes are left unexplained, leaving the viewer to speculate on the sequence of events that has led to the moment depicted. Using this staged photography, Abhishek’s work brings an uncertainty and sinister tension to scenes of the everyday. A sense of theatricality is embedded in his images, exploring the position of cinematography within photography.
The familiar environments in the images bring to conscious perception the generic gentrification of current times. Familiar places like the home, the back garden, and the street are the sets in which the foreign characters find themselves negotiating their position. The ambiguity of their placement and their psychological detachment is suggestive of nonbelongingness from the scene and the environment. Staged as if they are in a state of contemplation, the characters appear to be in a state of home finding.