Co-ordinated in India by Radhika Singh/Fotomedia
Design: Lesley Stewart
Rivers Oram Press / London 1990
Funded by Arts Council England
Cover photo: Ram Rahman
This book and exhibition project was initiated as a collaboration with the Photographers' Gallery, London. I wanted to demonstrate that if we commissioned Indian photographers to the same amount as we do Western ones they would give us work to an international standard.
"The title of this book is an allusion to the R K Narayan stories about a mythical South Indian town Malgudi; a microcosm of Indian society. An Economy of Signs is the work of eight Indian photographers, all born after Independence.
India provides rich material for the photographer. The almost incredible social change in this century, the contrasts in cultures and races, the surreal visual juxtapositions, the rituals, all overlaying each other - all prime subjects. But the conflicts between and within India's urban and rural societies - its English-speaking and non-English-speaking citizens, its caste system, its drive to create a national, secular identity and aspirations of its regions and culture - make it possible only to provide 'signs' towards understanding."
The contributing photographers and writers:
Saleem Kidwai
Amit Jayaram
Sheba Chhachhi
Ashim Ghosh
Karan Kapoor
Amita Prashar
Ram Rahman
Sanjeev Saith
Ketaki Sheth
Sooni Taraporevala
Design: Lesley Stewart
Rivers Oram Press / London 1990
Funded by Arts Council England
Cover photo: Ram Rahman
This book and exhibition project was initiated as a collaboration with the Photographers' Gallery, London. I wanted to demonstrate that if we commissioned Indian photographers to the same amount as we do Western ones they would give us work to an international standard.
"The title of this book is an allusion to the R K Narayan stories about a mythical South Indian town Malgudi; a microcosm of Indian society. An Economy of Signs is the work of eight Indian photographers, all born after Independence.
India provides rich material for the photographer. The almost incredible social change in this century, the contrasts in cultures and races, the surreal visual juxtapositions, the rituals, all overlaying each other - all prime subjects. But the conflicts between and within India's urban and rural societies - its English-speaking and non-English-speaking citizens, its caste system, its drive to create a national, secular identity and aspirations of its regions and culture - make it possible only to provide 'signs' towards understanding."
The contributing photographers and writers:
Saleem Kidwai
Amit Jayaram
Sheba Chhachhi
Ashim Ghosh
Karan Kapoor
Amita Prashar
Ram Rahman
Sanjeev Saith
Ketaki Sheth
Sooni Taraporevala