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“A photographer is only as good as his last image.”
In this age of absolute visual bombardment, there lies a greater need to take a step back to reckon oneself with true works of art. To be inspired (and to be driven) to the lands, people and subjects that demand documentation.
Here at Homegrown, we list out 6 Indian Photography Books that will force you to seriously reconsider your thought firmaments about your country, and perhaps even inspire you to pick up that camera and make serious imagery. It should be noted that these selections were made keeping a vintage aesthetic of an older India in mind hence many of the works are monochromatic and representative of times that are alien to most of our readers. We will be back with a more contemporary list soon.
I. RAGHU RAI – INDIA, REFLECTIONS IN COLOUR AND REFLECTIONS IN BLACK AND WHITE
India, a country of mock irregularity and a thousand contradictions. What stays true today is to be found nowhere tomorrow. What spurred a man to capture breathtaking, decisive moments in these situations of constant change is perhaps what drove the legendary Henri Cartier-Bresson to choose Raghu Rai as his protégé.
Who better than one of India’s greatest photojournalists of all time to present a book that spans years, places, people, and multifarious shades of colour in one book, which can safely be called a photographer’s Holy Grail. Rai chronicles an entire country in a book that dwells in this nation’s insides. A work of brilliance paralleled by none other.
II. RICHARD BARTHOLOMEW: A CRITIC’S EYE (2009)
In the flush of photojournalists in India, Pablo Bartholomew has a repertoire of brilliance shared by few others. But in his archive of extremely relevant photo documentation, Pablo has brought to fore the poignancy of art created by his father, Richard Bartholomew. Titled A Critic’s Eye, the book is a documentation of his father’s tapestry with the arts.
Not conventionally a photo book, it irrespectively chronicles a series of images of ‘50s-80s India, made by the father Bartholomew, along with images of him at work.
He also coupled it with healthy dialogue that he engaged in with fellow curators, writers, and painters that magnifies his immense love and respect for the arts. Not only do his photographs stir the need to capture and hold on to moments of art, his words lead to a higher spiritual recognition of the same.
III. PRAMOD KAPOOR: THE UNFORGETTABLE MAHARAJAS: One Hundred And fifty Years of photography (2013)
Pramod Kapoor is a collector of historical records and photographs, and a publisher by profession. The photographs for this book were collected by him over a long period of time from all over the world. A comprehensive collection of historical photographs from princely India, private collections and the finest photo libraries in the world; this is also the largest selection of royal pictures in any one book.
Many years of research and documentation were put in to verify their details and the result is a book that conveys the romance that the Maharajas represented to the world and a historical record of an age we will never see again.
IV. KISHOR PAREKH: BANGLADESH, A BRUTAL BIRTH (1971)
Indian history is marked by various forces of resistance: war, partition, independence, privatisation and so on. But in 1971, two of India’s neighbours entered a fiercely gory war of separation. East Pakistan was ready to move on to form a state of its own. But in the event of this historical occurrence came a brutality like no other, documented by the great Kishor Parekh.
An unapologetic book that seeps the viewer in the darkest areas of mankind, this photo book documents the Liberation war and provides lessons in making images like no other.
V. BRIAN BRAKE: MONSOON (1960)
Credited as the inspiration behind Steve McCurry’s photo book of the same name, Brian Brake’s photo book on India, titled Monsoon rose to international applause with its bold colours and his unabashed venture into the farthest of areas for the most pictorial shots. Its most famous image is of a young Aparna Sen, then 16 years old, draped in a red saree, with a green stud on the nose, facing upwards spiritually as droplets of rain fell onto her face.
Indeed a photographer from the house of Magnum that abided by the decisive moment rule had staged this shot, and has thus received a lot of criticism, but one look at the photo book and you understand Brake’s immense understanding of the beauty that is folded into the many layers in this country.
VI. SARA JEANNETTE DUNCAN: HILDA - A STORY OF CALCUTTA
Drawing from her own experiences during her stay in British-ruled India, Sara Jeannette Duncan’s Hilda: A Story of Calcutta can be a brilliant voyage for those who are in search of a lost time. With vivid descriptions and a study of manners of the then Calcutta society, this is a detailed look into a city that served as the capital of India during the British Raj.
For lovers of the ‘city of joy’, this is an essential read. Having lived in India for 25 years under British rule, her writing demonstrated the effects of British imperialism on colonial culture and the clash of idealism and conformity.
[Unfortunately, there are no images available of Duncan’s work online but if you’re truly interested in viewing it, you can read it here.]
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