Thank you for that. I agree with your points about Ravi Varma, but I didn’t mean to say that he was pan-Indian at all. I meant to say that Elayaraja was specifically a Tamil painter due to the lack of interpretation in his painting. That’s why I called it the representation of the material, he paints whatever he captures with his camera. Its the translation of the picture into an oil painting that is the political act here. He converts disposable private moments into shared physical manifestation. Also, his choice of style and medium is very deliberate. He specifically uses the Venetian style of oil portraits because it was traditionally an aristocratic and patriarchal luxury. This is true in Europe, and is true in south India, especially among the Vellalar and Chettinad communities (he grew up in Kumbakonam). By choosing to instead represent the domestic life of rural women, he is empowering them through these transgressions.