An expedition – by definition – is linked to the idea of gaining knowledge or at least providing hints and clues to a field of study. Like with all these attempts to expand one's view on the world, an expedition can also fail, lead nowhere and may result in a period in which you have to re-assess what you have already learned. At times, however, it can provide something different, a moment of clarity and richness, which comes unexpected and perhaps bears no connection to what you wanted to find out, but then again offers beauty instead. Given the nature of his body of work, Indian director Amit Dutta has been on many such journeys, if features like “The Museum of Imagination” or “Nainsukh” are an indication, and while finding an answer to a question may not have been in sight or required further study, the anthropological eye of Dutta's camera always finds something worthwhile and rewarding
In the first expedition, Dutta accompanies Indian scholar and art historian B. N. Goswamy, whose research in the field of Indian art and culture provided the themes and aesthetic of “The Museum of Imagination”. The professor looks for traces and the works of an 18th century painter, but the expedition seems to provide very few results. During the second expedition, Dutta searches for a pool described in “Travels in the Western Himalaya: In Search of Paintings” by MS Randhawa and travels to a remote village where he hopes to find it. While unsure whether he finds the exact spot, he nevertheless stumbles upon one pool in which he observes the reflection of the Dhauladar range, also known as “The White Range”, and is fascinated by the sheer beauty and splendor of both, the chain of mountains and its mirror image.
On the surface, both expeditions may be considered failures or dead ends, but the overall mood and images of the feature seem to suggest something else entirely. Especially during the second expedition, Dutta proves again his keen eye in observing the tranquility of the scenery, the links of the people, their community and the surrounding nature which is an omnipresent sight. Rather than relying on something like a voice-over, Dutta's images speak for themselves, specifically his approach on the nature of reflections being just as beautiful as reality, if not complementing it, adding mysticism and splendor.
In the end, “Two Expeditions” is a short feature exploring the kind of research Amit Dutta does for his work. While using the same techniques known from his other works, Dutta proves again how beauty, clarity and purpose lies in the eye of the spectator, inviting his audience to let go of expecting something fixed and instead be open for the experiences which they find in the images.
