(Password: Bangalore )

The experimental film Market Time is a kinetic exposition of the atmosphere and movement in the hive of activity that is City Market, a city within a city in Bangalore, India. Featuring a tumult of short takes and jump-cuts, the eight-minute, dialogue-free movie, dives into the sights and sounds of the market, which serves as a significant economic engine in the South Indian state of Karnataka. Established in 1928, it blends colonial, functional, and local architectural styles. Today, in one of Asia’s largest markets, sellers and buyers, regardless of class, religion, and socio-economic status, meet over a kaleidoscope of goods, including fresh produce, flowers, spices, and textiles. 

This short film is a visual tone poem that takes the viewer into the market before sunrise, through the day, and back into the night, echoing the ongoing repetitious cycle that drives life in City Market. The film’s audio mixes South Asian music, ambient sounds, and voices captured in the many local languages—Hindi and regional languages, such as Kannada, Tamil, and Malayalam. Because my wife is Indian and her family lives in Bangalore, I have been continually drawn to City Market during the sixty-plus times I have been to India. I filmed there at different times of the day and year. Market Time is more than a romantic travelogue, looking beyond the caricature of Indian poverty and mysticism. It is a collision of genres: an art film made by a photojournalist turned filmmaker.