The Sapper

The Sapper – Through photography, Bharat Sikka creates the possibilities for observation, recollection, close comparison, and collaboration, and gives this long-term project a title that describes and belies its substance. “The Sapper” is a title that offers the viewer an explanation of the circumstances, behaviors, and preferences that we can interpret in the representation of this former “sapper” of the Indian Army Corps of Engineers. It suggests a double-edged understanding of this father – the push and pull of his sense of individuality – in his public, now historical, role and despite this. The title could be interpreted as holding his subject at an observable distance and implies, perhaps, an adult child’s desire to adopt a point of view of parity from which to view their father as another adult.