Publisher's Synopsis
This book accompanies a travelling exhibition of the work of two well-known Indian photographers, Raghubir Singh and Dayanita Singh. Raghubir Singhs photographs in The Home and the World focus on the Ambassador, the iconic car inherited from the British. In these photographs, shot mostly in the last years of his life, the doors and windshield of the car become the frame to the image. In some, black planes block out large parts of the image; the result is a series of almost abstract photographs. Dayanita Singhs work is taken from two recent Steidl books. In Go Away Closer Singh considers opposites in India: presence and absence, reality and dreams, tradition and progress. Such opposites are ultimately irreconcilable, as embodied by the paradox of the books title. Singh embraces this uncertainty, and presents visual clues in her photographs into which the viewer can read his or her own biography. Sent A Letter brings together seven of Singhs small photo journals of her travels in India over recent years. Each book was made with a certain person in mind, either someone she has made the journey with or that was on her mind on her travels. The diaries are in accordion folds and each opens into a mini private exhibition.
