New York City has been the beacon of big city dreams and the symbol of the future in photography and cinema. It’s first skyscrapers inspired the Soviet constructivists in the early decades of the last century. Big buildings, bustling streets, the furious pace of living, the city which never sleeps - has inspired artists and poets for decades.

It is also a city which welcomed people from around the world. “Magic City” has assembled photographic works by two Indian artists who have made surreal and dream-like views of this metropolis in an exciting visual jugal-bandhi.

Ram Rahman, a long term resident of Manhattan, looked with fresh eye’s at the city with the quick ease of the iPhone. His photographs of store front mannequins seen through reflections of window glass are a homage to the long tradition of surrealist photography and its fascination with dolls and mannequins. The faceless, ghostly sirens stare out silently at the chaos of the city, piling buildings, trees, clouds and skies together in unreal dream images.

Navjot’s images are layered photomontages which hark back to the excitement of Dziga Vertov’s Man With a Movie Camera and update the quick-silver editing in complex contemporary images as stills. Making full use of digital manipulation, Navjot uses the technological tool to make layered narratives of city life.

Together, both artists have responded to the energies of this world city with similarly unique and unusual impressions which together make up the Magic City! 

Ram Rahman
November, 2025