Press Room
01
AUG
Local Photographer Previews Work at College Park Home
Published Aug 01st 2011 in College Park Community Paper by Ted Simmons

On a balmy Sunday evening, surrounded by friends and enthusiasts in an opulent Edgewater home, an Internet and e-commerce entrepreneur displayed his dreams. Yatin Patel opened his home on July 10 to preview a collection of personal photography he calls "Sutra." The display documents the streets and landscapes of Patel's native Ahmedabad, India. After carefully selecting which collaborators and technical printing methods and materials to use, Patel has produced a beautiful, realistic, and tonally striking series of photos.

Having found success professionally, Patel turned his eye to photography. While business ventures had him traveling the globe, it was present day urban India, and the richness and sentimentality that it holds that drew Patel to the subject of his first exhibit. The title, "Sutra," is a Sanskrit Indo-Aryan word meaning "a thread or line that holds elements together," in Patel's case, the harmony of tradition and modernism that exists in the place of his birth.

"I've gotten a lot of pictures, a lot of different themes, and when we started thinking about launching something serious," Patel says. "We looked all over and figured out what actually really connects, what has a good message, and we went with this collection."

"Sutra" will debut September 16th privately and 17th publicly at 120 N. Orange Ave. The 22 piece collection presents Patel's work printed with custom inks on special hand-crafted paper canvas, results of a fine tuning process that led Patel to working alongside respected art figures and other College Park artists. "We've involved a lot of key people who have been appreciating art for a period of time," he said. "My printer (Jon Cone) is very well known in the art world. I think we're going to put together a good show." Following the Orlando exhibit, "Sutra" will be featured in the Miami Beach Art Basel show in early December. Depending on the success of the two showings Patel hopes to take the collection abroad as well. "The initial goal was to get recognition, and I think I'm getting there," Patel says. "I think now we're trying to sell prints. The idea now is to see if this really is a collectible. People who are already collecting art, will they appreciate this as a fine art piece? So that's the next challenge."

Initial response has been positive, and the project's evolution has brought it to the cusp of release. An anxious moment, but undoubtedly joyous as well, as Patel watches a labor of love reach fruition. "Art is the true expression of the artist," he says. When I look at that art, because I grew up there, it connects with me on a level which is generally very fine, a true level."