‘How do you make a still photograph speak?’: BV Doshi

It’s not uncommon to have peacocks and peahens enter the Kamala House. (Photo Courtesy: Dayanita Singh)

A session that was to take 15 minutes, extended to the entire week and several subsequent visits where I photographed him, his family and the numerous spaces designed by him. I don’t know what it was about the Kamala House that was such a magnet, but there is something in the way the walls allow the light to dance around in the space. There are no curtains, no glass, only wooden panels and it feels like there are all these different apertures and different angles, so you’re continuously surprised by the interplay of light and shadow. One of my favourite photographs is of him sitting on the floor, leaning against his wife’s leg, the two of them sharing a moment that feels comfortably intimate. The reason he could sit like that is because of the furniture, or the lack of it. One could sit on the ground, the staircase, or the landing, utilising every corner. Every element was a kind of seat or bed even. There is no big architectural statement, and that actually is the best architectural statement.

I felt a strong feminine energy that defines the space, and an ease that one feels while entering the house as one turns in from the side entrance. In the absence of a lobby or garden, you run straight into domesticity, between the dining and living area, almost looking into the kitchen. The comfort, vulnerability and tenderness I experienced reflected in the photographs, and marked the return of these elements that I had thought had gone from my work since I started working with the Hasselblad camera in 1997.

Obviously, as a photographer, I am obsessed with light. With Mr Doshi it was fantastic to find someone who was equally, if not more, obsessed with what light does and able to articulate it. So, we spoke at length about light and life. He would read the images brilliantly, and saw much more than what others do in my photographs. He could gather the intent, and I don’t know whether that came from his architecture or just who he was.

Doshi at home with family (Photo Courtesy: Dayanita Singh)

During Covid when I was wondering what to do with all the photos I had made of Mr Doshi’s house, I had the idea to use my images as prompts for him and we just used the resulting conversations over zoom. he was so generous with his time and thoughts, I was astonished at how closely he read each image. Gradually the idea of a book emerged and I knew I had to do this myself and not wait for Steidl. I went to the brilliant book designer Rukmini Guha Thakurta, and to Nayantara Patel for the editing. That balance between text and image is critical, a centimetre here or there changes the meaning of the book. I asked them to make it like a jugalbandhi rather than a sawaal jawab. The book was called Portrait of a House, Conversations with BV Doshi and published by my own imprint- Spontaneous Books, in time for his 93rd birthday.

We decided to end the book with a discussion between him and my mother Nony Singh, where they recall their respective visits and impressions of the Ellora caves. I am due to visit them next month. Mr Doshi had recommended that I do, and was supposed to have accompanied me if possible, or else join over a video call. Maybe he will be there in the light.

Dayanita Singh is a Delhi-based photo artist

As told to Vandana Kalra