Picture Perfect

Dr Amin Jaffer,Director of Asian Art at Christie’s Auction House,was one of the lucky people to receive a book like that,as was Dayanita’s mother Noni Singh.

“Initially,these books were secret presents for special people,but when publisher Gerhard Steidl,who I’ve been working with since 2001,saw one of the books,he suggested that I make them available to more people,” says Singh,one of India’s best known international photographers. Her new book titled Dream Villa is displayed at her solo show currently on at Nature Morte in Niti Bagh. Her previous work based on a similar concept,Blue Book ,was conceived as a set of detachable postcards priced at Rs 1,000. It accompanied her exhibition at Mumbai’s Galerie Mirhcandani & Steinruecke in November 2009. “An exhibition at a gallery is one way to reach out to people,however,these little books have enabled me to disseminate my work beyond the gallery,” says Singh who has always been interested in making books,or cataloguing her exhibitions. But Singh opines that these are not catalogues,but objects,in and of themselves.

Dream Villa could easily be mistaken as carrying images from a David Lynch film,for it possesses a surreal eeriness. The works were shot during the night in various locations during her travel and is a continuation of Singh’s experiments in colour. The book is crafted like an appointment diary and priced at Rs 2,000. The images reproduced in glossy colour are,however,split in two by the spine of the book so that each image is seen on either side of the page. This has a startling effect on the viewer.

The books are purposefully small and can be slipped into a pocket or handbag,held in the hand and viewed intimately. “I did not want large tomes or coffee table books,because they are not intimate. My viewers should get the feeling that s/he is reading my diary of images,and then it’s up to them to visualise the story,” smiles the photographer mysteriously.

The book will be released on February 6. The exhibition continues till 13 February; Contact: 011-41740215