Photographing India

by Janah, Sunil

• ISBN13: 9780198065807
• ISBN10: 0198065809
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2013-04-19
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

Internationally acclaimed for the beauty and technical quality of his compositions, Sunil Janah's photographs are significant in their historical content as well as their emotional connect. This book is a rare collection of his photographs taken between 1942 and 1978 in India, as well as in post-9/11 America. The photographs in this volume are of great historical importance as they capture various facets of pre- and post-Independence India the freedom movement, the Partition,famines, riots, and peasant and social movements, important political figures, artists, writers, and other eminent personalities. In addition, Janah also documents the lives of ordinary people factory workers, miners, artisans, and peasants, as well as villagers, city-dwellers, and tribals. In thecommentary preceding the photographs, Janah provides rare and valuable insights into Indian history, the country's social and cultural life, as well as his development as an artist. Through this narrative, he not only introduces the photographs and the history behind the incidents or the people they document, but also recounts interesting and amusing anecdotes about them, adding to the richness of the visuals.

Author Biography

Sunil Janah is one of India's leading photographers and is internationally acclaimed for documenting India's independence movement, its peasant and labour movements, famines and riots, rural and tribal life, as well as the years of rapid urbanization and industrialization.

Table of Contents

Preface
1. India: Past and Present / Last Days of British Rule / The Bengal Famine / Becoming a Photographer / Inspectorate of Scientific Stores / Communal Riots / Partition / Independence
2. Joining the CPI as a Reporter / Photographer / Photographing the Peasant Rallies and Demonstrations in the Cities / 'Photok Walla' / Gandhi and Nehru / Photographing the Diverse Peoples in India / Party Headquarters / South Indian Famines and Calcutta Riots with Margaret Bourke-White / Arrest and Detention / End of British Rule / P.C. Joshi / Leftist Governments
3. Freelancing from Calcutta / First Book of Photographs Designed by Satyajit Ray / First Exhibitions / Industrial Assignments / Marriage / School of Printing Technology / Photographing Village and Ttribal People / Nudes / Calcutta in the 1950s / Our House, My Studio, Friends, and Visitors / Chittaprasad, J.B.S. Haldane / Photographing Dancers, Yehudi Menuhin, Verrier Elwin, Lindsay Emerson / Temple Sculptures and Ancient Monuments
4. UN Assignments in Sri Lanka, Burma, Malaysia, Thailand, Geneva, and Paris / Henri Cartier-Bresson / Living in New Delhi / The Book, Dances of the Golden Hall / Delhi Exhibition / Indira Gandhi / Invitations to Russia and the Socialist Countries of Europe, and Exhibitions in Berlin, Prague, Sofia, and Bucharest / Making Prints / Advances in Cameras and Photographic Materials During My Lifetime / The Digital Revolution / The Padma Shri Award / Depression / Deteriorating Health and Eyesight
5. Dealings with Government and Publishing Misadventures in India / Move to London / Living in London and the Long Drive through Western Europe / Exhibitions in London, Oxford, and Other Cities in England, and at the Fotofest in Houston, USA / Retrospective Exhibitions in New Delhi, Calcutta, Bombay / Exhibitions at the Havana Biennale in Cuba, in Merida in Mexico, and in New York and San Francisco / Selling Prints / Jyoti Basu / Michael Hoffman and the Aperture Exhibition / Alkazi
6. On Looking Back
7. Post-9/11 America-In New York, 11 September 2001 / Reactions to Present-day Events / The Bush Administration / Afghanistan / Al Qaeda / Iraq / USA and the world / Obama Elected President and a New Hope for America
PHOTOGRAPHING INDIA The Making of History / Rural India / The Tribal People / Cities and Towns / The Cultural Heritage / Industrial Developments / Personal Photographs