Delhi gallery Photo Ink brings the world's finest photo-book publisher Steidl to India. A bookstore at its premises will sell rare photography books

The mark of a great book is that it conjures images of the story it weaves, as if the words are but pictures.

And the mark of a great picture book, that it can give rise to endless novels, with any number of words falling short to say what you see. German publishing house Steidl believes in bringing out works of the latter kind, and is thus seen as the last word in photo-book publishing. And, the good news is, it's just taken its first steps into the country, at gallery Photoink in the capital.

Print panther

The lady who made it happen is Devika Daulet-Singh, the mastermind behind the gallery.u00a0 "It's a privilege to be associated with Steidl. Their reputation for making the most beautiful photography books is legendary, and that's what wanted me to bring them home. It'll be an opportunity for photographers, students, photography lovers, curators and collectors to engage with the works of many influential and contemporary photographers across the world through these titles," she smiles. Established in 1996, Steidl, independently operated by its founding owner Gerhard Steidl, holds rights for most renowned photographers and artists across the globe, including Joel Sternfeld, Mitch Epstein and Richard Serra. It also designs and prints for fashion houses like Chanel, Fendi, Elizabeth Arden and Yohji Yamamoto. "But we are concentrating only on photography titles here," Singh stresses.

What's more, exclusivity comes at a discount here. The gallery has gathered 70 titles, including latest, old and out-of-print ones. The total number of copies shipped so far: 600. And the dangling carrot: discounts of 10 to 25 per cent.

The outlet is the 13th 'Steidlville', after those in Hong Kong, London, Barcelona, New York, Paris, and Rome, among other art-loving centres. And the future only holds more. "In a year's time, we'll see significant expansion. Steidl produces 100 titles every year, so depending on the success, we would stock more soon. We're also all set to go online sometime not far, and would be displaying these masterpieces at the upcoming India Art Summit in Delhi."



2 The Roma, Sinti, Calu00e9 and other ethnic groups collectively referred to as Gypsies form the largest minority in Europe. Scattered across the globe, they live in almost every part of the world, each group marked by a distinct language, culture and situation. Cia Rinne and Joakim Eskildsen travelled to seven different countries between 2000 and 2006 to meet Roma, often staying with families for long periods in order to learn about their life, their culture, and their situation. In The Roma Journeys, Joakim Eskildsen documents what they found. And bagged several awards.