Umbra SumusHere’s a recent tearsheet from the May/June 2011 edition of the rather lovely German Magazine, Effilee with my long term piece about the Indian Coffee House in New Delhi.
Effilee is a food and lifestyle magazine who commissioned the images and a 5000-word piece from me. The English translation can be found under the Writings section of my website here.
The piece is called The Palace of Monkeys and Memory
It’s with great sadness that I heard this morning that the rather wonderful Indian artist MF Husain passed away during the night. I wrote about him last year as he’d taken Qatari citizenship but continued to keep a house in London. Doubtless those shrill self-appointed, hateful voices from the Hindu religious right will be celebrating his demise – and how brave they were from keeping a old man from dying in his own country. I remember him as a courteous and thoughtful subject, delightfully playful during the evening I spent with him in apartment in Mumbai a decade ago. A charming man and an astonishing talent.
Well, according to the Daily Telegraph, conservation architects in Delhi have discovered that originally, a good deal of the Red Fort was originally… white. Quoting KK Mohammad, head of the Architectural Survey of India said the ‘Red Fort’ is a “misconception” because although its exterior ramparts are red sandstone “more of the Red Fort is white than people realise.” Apparently, the giant red stone sundial that is the Jantar Mantar was also originally all white too… ooops.
Happy Vesak (Vesakha) … not exactly the same date across all of the world but never mind…
Those nice people at Wonderful Machine have included my work in their latest photographer promo. It’s actually true about the jellied eels by the way…
I woke up nearly a fortnight ago in a hospital bed completely unaware of where I was, to multiple cellphone calls telling me that my friend and colleague, Tim Hetherington had been killed. I have written before about colleagues being killed (here and here) but I think that there’s very little I actually want to say about this episode. I’m overwhelmed by the tidal wave of industry tributes and I am completely uninterested that Tim was a photographer or a journalist; why he was where he was and what he was doing – simply that he was my friend and I hope that wherever he is, he is at peace.
My good friend and colleague, Findlay Kember is having an exhibition of his work entitled New New Delhi in a couple of weeks and I urge you, if you’re in town to go and have a look. Findlay’s an old Delhi hand and a very talented photographer. Without his logistical and moral support over the last few years I certainly couldn’t have shot half of my work in the city.
