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Cinema Play House: Photographs by Nandita Raman

Sep 4, 2011 - Dec 4, 2011 | Snite Museum of Art

Nandita Raman (Indian, b. 1980), Untitled #3, 2009, archival pigment ink print. Acquired with funds provided by the Milly and Fritz Kaeser Endowment for Photography, 2011.020.002.003
Nandita Raman (Indian, b. 1980), Untitled #3, 2009, archival pigment ink print. Acquired with funds provided by the Milly and Fritz Kaeser Endowment for Photography, 2011.020.002.003

Snite Museum of Art
September 4–December 4, 2011

Nandita Raman created this suite of fourteen black and white photographs of historic Indian movie theaters in 2009. Writing about the series, Raman states, "My mother's family owned the first talkies cinema in my hometown, Varanasi, India…In the 1990s home video became popular in India and movie theaters struggled for business. Many theaters, including my family's, closed down."

Through her series, Raman, explores both childhood memories of having known the inner workings of a movie theater and reflections upon the passing of the family-owned, unique film house.

The series was first-place winner and Juror's Pick, Daylight Multimedia and the Center for Documentary Studies Photo Awards, 2010, Durham, North Carolina.