Exhibition at Vadehra Art Gallery Brings Vicky Roy’s Photographs on Bachpan to the art lovers in Delhi
Vadehra Art Gallery presents a solo exhibition of photographs titled Bachpan by Delhi-based photographer Vicky Roy. The exhibition opens at the gallery’s D-53 Defence Colony space on Friday, 2 May 2025, and remains on view until 30 May 2025.
The show features up to 45 black-and-white photographs curated from two ongoing series—Bachpan and the never-before-exhibited Janwaar Castle. This exhibition marks the gallery’s second comprehensive presentation of Roy’s work, reaffirming its continued support for his photographs through its online shop.
Image Courtesy- Vadehra Art Gallery
Vicky Roy’s Story and Themes of Bachpan
Vicky Roy’s life journey began with humble origins. He entered the rehabilitation programme at New Delhi’s Salaam Baalak Trust, an NGO dedicated to supporting, protecting, and empowering street children. His own childhood, marked by instability and precarity, has left him with a deep fascination for the enthusiasm, courage, and resilience that children often show in the face of adversity.
Image Courtesy- Vicky Roy
While travelling across urban and rural regions of India, Roy actively seeks out stories of redemption to reconcile with the idealism that he missed in his early years.
In the series Bachpan, photographed in Odisha, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Delhi, Maharashtra, and West Bengal, Roy explores the psychology and cultural codes of childhood games. He observes underprivileged children at play, highlighting their limited access to toys and equipment. These children rely on their community, creativity, and resourcefulness, using found materials and ideas in place of manufactured playthings.
Image Courtesy- Vadehra Art Gallery
Documenting Janwaar Castle
In Janwaar Castle, shot in Madhya Pradesh, Roy documents a volunteer initiative that built a skate park for local school-going children in Janwaar. He captures a progressive transformation within the greater village community, propelled by the youth’s passion and commitment to skateboarding. Their immersion in the sport fosters self-development and shifts the village’s cultural landscape.
Reclaiming the Essence of Childhood with Photographs
Roy’s photographs reclaim childhood experience in its most elemental form of innocence. He captures moments filled with bulbous laughter, audacious climbs, and the wild abandon of children running hand-in-hand through the wind. Roy reminds his audience that the nostalgia of adolescence lives within a framework of happiness—a choice that remains within reach, even when not granted by circumstance.
Image Courtesy- Vicky Roy
Thirty per cent of the exhibition’s proceeds will go to the Barefoot Skateboarders Organisation in Janwaar Panna, Madhya Pradesh, India.
About the Artist
Born in 1987 and originally from West Bengal, Vicky Roy ran away from home and worked as a rag-picker at the New Delhi Railway Station before Salaam Baalak Trust rehabilitated him.
He studied photography at Triveni Kala Sangam and later apprenticed under Indian photographer Anay Mann. In 2007, Roy presented his first solo exhibition, Street Dream, at the India Habitat Centre in New Delhi, supported by the British High Commission.
He released his first monograph, Home Street Home, published by the Nazar Foundation (New Delhi), during the second edition of the Delhi Photo Festival in 2013. In 2024, he published his second book on disability titled Everyone Is Good at Something. Roy received the MIT Media Fellowship in 2014 and earned a spot in Forbes Asia’s ‘30 Under 30’ in 2016. He lives and works in New Delhi, India.
About Vadehra Art Gallery
Founded in 1987, Vadehra Art Gallery has pioneered South Asian art, representing artists across four generations from the Indian subcontinent and its diaspora. The gallery celebrates culture, identity, and intellect through its commitment to artists and their work.
Vadehra Art Gallery has championed modern masters such as M.F. Husain, Ram Kumar, S.H. Raza, and Tyeb Mehta. It has also supported post-modernists like Arpita Singh, A. Ramachandran, Nalini Malani, Gulammohammed Sheikh, and Rameshwar Broota. Its contemporary programme features prominent artists like Atul Dodiya, Shilpa Gupta, Anju Dodiya, N.S. Harsha, Gauri Gill, and Sunil Gupta, as well as emerging talents like Zaam Arif, Biraaj Dodiya, and Ashfika Rahman.
Since launching its publishing arm in 1996, Vadehra Art Gallery has addressed the critical need for documentation, critical writing, and high-quality reproductions in South Asian art. It has produced numerous books and monographs in collaboration with major publishers such as Penguin, Prestel, and König, as well as numerous exhibition catalogues, significantly contributing to the archive of South Asian art and history.
Feature Image Courtesy- From the Series of Janwar castle, Vicky Roy.
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