Aman Alam's Photography and the Interplay of Personal Histories with Societal Narratives

Aman Alam's _Untangling_ (2021) features folded fabrics in muted tones juxtaposed with barbed wire. This pigment print mounted on aluminum measures 60 by 90 centimeters. Its surface glimmers subtly under light, a choice Alam made intentionally, as curator Ayesha Mirza noted during its debut in Dubai.

Based in Lahore, Alam designs each aspect of his compositions with care. "The fabric is my grandmother’s," he shared during a recorded artist talk at the 2023 Karachi Biennale. "She sewed these garments in the early 1970s." The fabric evokes personal memory, while the barbed wire introduces a dialogue about borders—geographic, cultural, and emotional.

The series _Untangling_ emerged from stories of displacement shared by Alam’s father about the 1947 Indo-Pak partition. As he told art historian Anusha Rao in an interview with _ArtAsiaPacific_ (Issue 136), "I grew up hearing these stories, but it was only in my thirties that I began asking questions. Photography allowed me to map my family’s history onto larger socio-political events."

This work blends individual narratives with collective histories. The second photograph, _Lineage_ (2021), measures 75 by 100 centimeters and is printed on archival matte paper. It features old family photographs—digitally scanned but intentionally creased—alongside symbols of migration like train tickets and a compass. Arranged in a grid, these elements echo the official documents refugees carry, yet they are imbued with emotional significance. The sepia tones contrast with cooler hues of scanned maps, highlighting how personal memory resists the sanitizing effects of official accounts.

Alam’s work aligns with a contemporary art movement exploring the intersections of history and identity through intimate narratives. Mirza states that Alam’s practice "offers a counterpoint to dominant historiographies by grounding them in lived experience." The photographs encourage inquiries into the fragility of memory and the politics of documentation.

This quality places Alam’s work alongside international peers like Joana Choumali, whose _Ça va aller_ (2016) reflects on collective mourning in Côte d’Ivoire, and Sim Chi Yin, whose _Shifting Sands_ (2019) examines the environmental and personal impacts of sand mining in Southeast Asia. All three artists utilize photographic materiality—creases, grains, overlaps—to resist flat narratives.

Yet Alam avoids sensationalism, even with charged themes. "The images don’t shout," Rao remarked in her review of his solo show at the Ishara Art Foundation. "They ask you to lean in." This is evident in _Threadbare_ (2022), the series' concluding photograph, featuring a single thread extending taut across the frame. The thread dissolves into shadow at its midpoint, achieved through in-camera techniques rather than post-production. The image emphasizes the act of looking as much as its content.

In an interview for the Ishara Art Foundation website, Alam cited Dayanita Singh’s influence, particularly her _Museum Bhavan_ series (2017). "She taught me that photographs can be sequenced like sentences," he wrote. This approach is evident in _Untangling_, where recurring motifs—a grandmother’s stitching, a cartographic line—create thematic threads instead of linear plots.

The exhibition catalogue situates Alam’s work within the legacy of South Asian photographic practices and global participatory art movements. Co-editor Kiran Desai writes, "His practice is not just about producing images but facilitating intergenerational dialogue." This framing highlights the collaborative nature of Alam’s work. _Untangling_ serves as both a reconstruction and a foundation for future conversations, as Alam often invites family members into the production process—not merely as sources but as collaborators.

The photographs' formats enhance this ethos. Alam prints on surfaces that invite touch—soft fiber papers or textured mattes—emphasizing their physical presence. This approach reminds viewers that these objects exist in space, not just as images on a screen. In Alam's process, physicality resists the flattening effect of digital consumption.

As Alam exhibits internationally, including at the Photo Kathmandu festival in Nepal (2023), questions arise about how these specific narratives resonate with global audiences. Critics have suggested they risk exoticization or oversimplification when removed from their cultural context. Alam acknowledges these tensions in recent discussions, viewing them as part of the artwork’s dialogue. "Each viewer brings their own borders into the room," he remarked at Basel’s PhotoForum Expo earlier this year.

In this way, _Untangling_ remains an ongoing dialogue with history. It resists a clean arc, favoring intersections and interruptions. As Alam’s career advances, his work challenges contemporary art to recognize personal narratives as essential frameworks for understanding larger social issues.