With progressive ideas and arresting images, Prabuddha Dasgupta’s art captures a certain grace — a quality the late photographer always strove to achieve in his work. Now an eponymous book summarises Dasgupta’s search for this elusive state through excerpts from his interviews, personal writings and a collection of 200 black and white images. There are outtakes from his own projects, like the 1996 book Women (controversial at the time for its nudes) and Edge Of Faith (2009) which documents Goa’s Catholic community. But it’s not all fine art; Dasgupta was responsible for introducing the Indian fashion scene to a new visual language with sensual imagery of unconventional beauty in the early ’90s, and the book documents memorable frames from his fashion editorials as well. If you can’t get your hands on it, head to the NGMA, New Delhi for an exhibit of works culled from the book. This provides an excellent context through which to analyse the artist’s contribution to Indian photography.
The exhibit is on from September 19 at NGMA Gallery, Delhi. Ngmaindia.gov.in. For more information on the book, visit Prabuddhadasgupta.com
Photographs: Estate of Prabuddha Dasgupta
