Night Life

Photographer Dayanita Singh shows us a sinister side to nature and landscapes, in her new book Dream Villa and talks about her long association with German publisher Gerhard Steidl tonight

A tree that looks like it has creepy veins under a harsh glare of light, alien-beam like moonlight reflected on street lamps and tree tops.

Even ominous looking clouds form some of the disturbing colour images of Dayanita Singh's latest photographic endeavour Dream Villa, published in book form by prestigious German publisher Gerhard Steidl.
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At this event called Making Books with Gerhard organised by the Goethe Institut Bangalore, Singh will speak about her experiences of making books with publisher Steidl and also launch Dream Villa.
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An exhibition of her works from the book will be on display.

In her latest book, Singh has used artificial lighting to light up certain aspects of her subjects and has managed to morph them into other worldly shapes, while in others she has used the natural available ambient lighting or moon light to play up her images.

This is Singh's sixth collaboration with the publisher. Steidl is a well known name in the art, fashion and photography publishing world. In fact artists from all over the world travel to Steidelville (a nickname for the publishing house building located in Gu00f6ttingen, Germany) to take part in the whole process of book making of their works of art.

This is not just an artist handing over his creations to the publisher but a collaborative experience between them.

The artists remain close by at hand during the entire publishing process and play an active role in the production. In fact at the event, Singh will be talking about how the book making process is an entire art unto itself.

Singh's previous publications with Steidl include Privacy where she photographed affluent Indian families and their homes, mothers and daughters frozen into extraordinary moments through Singh's lens.
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Sent a Letter, a personal photo journal of travels made for her travel companions or those she thought of while travelling, The Home and the World was a travelling exhibition of her work, Blue Book where she chronicled India's industrial structures and mills and Schmatz, a cook book with recipes and art were the other collaborations.

At: Max Mueller Bhavan
On: April 6, 6.30 pm
Call: 2520 5305