Born in Kerala, India, Anu John David now resides and works in Kerala and Vancouver, Canada. His art explores questions of culture, identity, and history, vividly expressing personal memories, discoveries, and experiences. With a keen interest in experimental and art photography, Anu studies a range of 19th-century photographic methods alongside contemporary digital approaches.
Anu’s work sheds light on native traditions and unearths forgotten tales, often overlooked by historical accounts, while exploring Kerala’s and India’s rich cultural heritage. Through his images, he reveals the micro-histories and subcultures of ordinary life, offering a unique perspective on Kerala’s and India’s cultural heritage. Anu merges creative techniques with photography to address the challenges of representation, illuminating complex cultural phenomena and social realities. His photographs dispel misconceptions, explore interactions between political and religious rituals, and invite viewers to explore historical and cultural identities through narrative and well-staged images.
In his photography, he focuses on the dynamic interplay between illusion and truth. He questions the notion that photography captures pure truth and profound experience, drawing from discussions about art, spirituality, time, anthropology, and science. This motivates him to push the boundaries of conventional photographic techniques, creating images that blend reality and abstraction to challenge viewer expectations and encourage contemplation.
Exhibitions And Awards
2023
Kerala Lalithakala Akademi 51st state visual arts awards for Photography
2022
That Impossible Blue: China – Kerala Maritime Legacy: A Voyage Through Time
A research project grant from New York University Abu Dhabi
2021
The Exodus
Lokame Tharavadu (The World is One Family) — curated by Bose Krishnamachari (Artist and President of Kochi Biennale Foundation)
2020
Musings from the lost world of Koshur
Art Houz, Bengaluru
2019
Musings from the lost world of Koshur
Gallery 27, Kochi, Kerala