A lens on tradition

When Anirudh Dhannayak first walked into a Hindu temple in Atlanta, he wasn’t looking for a photography project. Having recently moved to the United States to pursue higher studies, he was simply searching for a place that felt familiar in a foreign land.

Instead, he found something he never expected. The sound of classical music led him to a rehearsal hall where a group of children, dressed in practice attire, moved in rhythm under their guru’s guidance. Most had grown up in the United States. Some had never even travelled to India. Yet they practised Kuchipudi with remarkable discipline, repeating every movement and expression with complete focus.

“It wasn’t just a class,” Anirudh recalls. “I was watching a tradition continue in another country.”

That unexpected visit became the starting point for ‘Natya Sampradaya: Dance and Traditions of Performing Arts,’ a visual documentation of how Kuchipudi continues to thrive within the Indian-American community. Through his photographs, Anirudh explores more than dance. His work reflects migration, identity and the quiet ways in which culture survives across generations.

A native of Kadambapur village in Sultanabad mandal of Peddapalli district, Anirudh is pursuing a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Photography at the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) in the United States. His academic work introduced him to various forms of visual storytelling, but this project quickly became quite personal.

Based on the ancient Indian text Natya Shastra, the project does not look at dance merely as a stage performance but as a living tradition that carries devotion, storytelling, memory and cultural identity through the generations. Kuchipudi is a classical dance form that originated in the village of Kuchipudi in Andhra Pradesh. It has travelled far from its origins but has retained its cultural fabric.

Rather than photographing performances alone, he turned his attention to everything that happens before and after the stage comes alive.

His photographs capture moments that are rarely seen by audiences: the quiet before a recital, the tying of ankle bells, children repeating the same sequence until it is second nature, a guru patiently correcting the smallest movement. Such ordinary moments expose what the audience scarcely witnesses: years of discipline, countless hours of practice and an unshakeable dedication to safeguarding a classical tradition far from home.

To Anirudh, Kuchipudi is not just a performing art. It carries stories, faith, language and cultural values that continue to shape generations. An important part of his project centres on Atlanta-based Kuchipudi exponent Shashikala Penumarthi, who has spent years training children from the Indian diaspora. Her classes extend beyond choreography. Students learn mythology, rhythm, expressions, Telugu pronunciation and the cultural meaning behind every performance.

For many families living abroad, those lessons are about much more than dance. They become a way of ensuring that the next generation remains connected to its roots despite growing up thousands of kilometres away from India.

Anirudh photographs these relationships with quiet honesty. He avoids elaborate stage setups, opting instead for observation, natural light and real moments. He is both a documentary photographer and a fine art practitioner, balancing technical perfection with human connection, letting the moment happen naturally within each frame. The result is a body of work that feels intimate without trying to be dramatic.

“I see photography as a way of documenting people and the traditions they carry with them,” Anirudh says. “While working on this project, I realised that culture survives because people continue to practise it and pass it on.”

A travel documentary and street photographer, Anirudh has spent the past eight years documenting festivals, religious traditions, street life and communities across India. More recently, his work has expanded to the Indian diaspora in the United States, exploring how migrant communities preserve their heritage while adapting to a new country. Among all his projects, however, Natya Sampradaya remains the closest to his heart.

The series has already received recognition. His photographs were showcased at Echo Contemporary Art as part of the SCAD MFA Photography Exhibition Series, where the exhibition brought together photography, documentary film and live Kuchipudi performances.

Anirudh was chosen to display his art at The Coca-Cola Company’s global headquarters in Atlanta as part of the 2026 Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month celebrations, an event that brought artists from across AAPI communities together to celebrate their cultures, identities and stories through visual art. The exhibition marked a significant milestone in his artistic journey, providing him with an opportunity to showcase his Indian heritage to a broad and diverse audience. His selected photograph reflected his continuing commitment to documenting culture, identity and the traditions that bind communities across generations, and being featured among artists from across the AAPI community stood as both an honour and a recognition of that dedication.

Back home, his work was selected for exhibition at Hyderabad’s State Art Gallery during the annual exhibition organised by the All India Fine Arts and Crafts Society (AIFACS).

Recognition, however, has never been the destination.

Anirudh continues to photograph rehearsals, performances and community gatherings while expanding Natya Sampradaya into a photo book expected to be published next year. The book will tell the stories, dedication and perseverance behind keeping Kuchipudi alive away from its home.

For the young photographer from Kadambapur, the project has become more than an artistic pursuit. It is a reminder that traditions do not survive because they are written in history books. They survive because ordinary people choose to practise them, protect them and pass them on.

Thousands of kilometres away from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, inside temples and community centres across Atlanta, the rhythm of Kuchipudi continues. Through the eyes of Anirudh Dhannayak, a permanent visual documentation of that living tradition has been created, quietly celebrating the strength of culture across generations and continents.