Roy Mehta's exhibition of colour photographs is called Distant Relations - a reference to the extended family of this Briton of Asian descent. Mehta's themes are familiar - the dialogue between cultures, the uncertainties and anomalies of being of compound identity. But what makes Mehta such an unusual and seductive talent is his decision to approach such issues tangentially - rather than didactically - choosing open-endedness in favour of closure. Mehta has opted to work within the conventions of subjective documentary photography, adapting the rules to create fascinating images that resonate across the gulf between West and East. In adopting fine art photography, Mehta chooses to ignore the much theorised associations between documentary photography and Eurocentric notions of truth and power. This is possibly less of an issue for photographers of his generation. One suspects Mehta's reverence for the expressive potential of formal colour photography lies in its austerity and the fact that it respects and rewards the curious and patient viewer. A close-up of a smouldering josstick and another of scattered petals are both rendered with all the fussiness of an advertising shot. Yet the subjects are made obscure by the skilful use of shallow focus, chiaroscuro and rich colour. Mehta uses these techniques to let his enigmatic images drift free from their referents to become mysterious cross-cultural signs. Plainly, Mehta wants us to take pleasure in his pictures too. He evokes emotional resonances and creates visual metaphors with the enigma of appearances. Grouped into an exhibition, the images combine to create a multi-layered and poetic viewing experience. Meth's synthesis of pure photographic form and hybrid cultural content revives this somewhat moribund branch of photographic practice. A catalogue accompanies the exhibition.

David Brittain ©Creative Camera Magazine 1997