Photographer Returns to Gift Subjects Their Own Portraits

Georges Atamian believes every photograph should tell two stories, and his approach to street photography is changing how we think about the relationship between artist and subject.

The Armenian-born photographer has spent years documenting the vibrant streets of Puducherry, India, capturing vendors at Goubert Market, temple festival celebrations, and children playing in alleyways. But unlike most photographers who simply move on to the next shot, Atamian returns to every person he photographs with a printed copy of their portrait.

Then he takes a second photograph of them holding their own image, their faces lit up with delight. These picture-in-picture frames become the heart of his exhibition "L'écho d'un instant" (The Echo of an Instant), now showing at Alliance Française.

"Why cannot photography, so often reduced to an act of taking, become an act of giving?" Atamian asks. His answer fills 70 frames celebrating ordinary people going about their daily lives.

Seven years ago, Atamian left corporate life to pursue his lifelong passion for photography. He now splits his time between France's Savoie region and India, a country whose love of color transformed his artistic approach.

He originally planned to work primarily in black and white, but India's passionate street life changed his mind. The bustling markets, colorful temple festivals, and even Manju Virattu (a traditional bull sport) demanded to be captured in full color.

Sunny's Take

Before his exhibition opening, Atamian walked the streets of Puducherry personally inviting the subjects of his photographs to attend. Market vendors, temple worshippers, and parents with their children showed up to see themselves elevated to art, their everyday moments preserved as "simple, luminous truth."

As both a photographer and jazz musician, Atamian understands how each moment flows uniquely into the next. He sees photography as relationship-building, not just documentation.

His next project will capture petanque players, devotees of a French boule sport still played in this former French colony. The exhibition runs through January 18 at Alliance Française before moving to The Spot and then Auroville in late February.

In Atamian's hands, photography becomes a gift that circles back to its source, proving that the most powerful images are the ones we share.