Feeling a
sense of cultural alienation after moving to the United States in 2001 and
longing for the ritual-driven community of her youth in Mumbai, Manjari Sharma
began a series that photographically re-created classical images of Hindu gods
and goddesses—here, Laxmi, goddess of wealth and good fortune. With careful
staging and direction, and with elaborate sets, props, costumes, and makeup
commissioned from local Indian craftsmen, Sharma’s images hover between the
traditional art they reference and something wholly inventive, between
constructed fiction and “straight” photography, and between sincere spiritual
expression and colorfully alluring kitsch.