ANGST

ANGST


CREDITS

GUP Author

GUP TEAM


Artist

Soham Gupta

Artist Website

sohamgupta.com

Soham Gupta (India, 1988) made portraits of people that he encountered in the streets of Calcutta. Looking at their faces leaves a certain kind of discomfort. Yet, at the same time – credit to the photographer – it is also tempting to stare at them, not completely without a shameless curiosity.

All these portraits together function as the reflection of a certain ‘angst’. That is, an existential fear, a nightmarish anxiety or dread, typically an unfocused one about the human condition. For Gupta, in particular, this ‘angst’ arrives from a troubled growing-up; basically years spent trying to come to terms with demands and (aggressive) expectations as arriving from his social environment. Or, in his own words: “Deep within ‘Angst’ runs my anger, my frustrations, my hatred for a world in which there is no place for the weak, where weaklings are left to rot.”

Ultimately, however, this series resulted in a testimony. That is, it should be considered as an acknowledgement of those among us who somehow try to survive in a dark and gloomy hellhole that serves as the twilight zone of our everyday existence.