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A title that intrigues, that doesn't quite prepare me for what is to come, yet feels just right  Nuance, not ambiguity, in the handling of a serious subject  Elegant turns of phrase, deliberately poetic to make the next point: Is it news? Is it art? Is it someone’s pain?  — “Organized disorder", "backdrops of smoke, fog or falling snow"  Finds a way to reach out through familiarity before presenting the new and unfamiliar  Situates works within history, contemporaneity, criticism, collective consciousness  Asks questions that evoke engagement and wonder  — "Who bought those tomatoes?" "Whose blood is that?"  Holds images, editors, curators accountable, not just the artist  Walks the line between sharing an opinion and leaving room for interpretation  Describes artworks through a perspective, rather than objectively  — "It is a still life, but it is in utter disarray"  Offers space for learning, sources, artworks, contexts ...

Cotonoha, a journal and multidisciplinary space based in Okinawa, Japan, commissioned me (Twitter has its uses!) to review the latest book of Japanese photographer Takashi Homma. I was fascinated, and used this essay to explore the origins of photography in the camera obscura, and the role of windows in our lives. Below is an excerpt from my essay, published in Cotonoha on 21 February 2018. Takashi Homma, The Narcissistic City, 2016. Image courtesy the artist and MACK. Photography, in the end, is about darkness.  Centuries ago, there was an invention that eventually led to the creation of the camera as we know it today, and which also lent the camera its name. This device, the camera obscura (Latin for "dark chamber") is based on a scientific concept: light travels in a straight line. Allowing light into a dark enclosed space through a tiny opening creates a reflected image of the world outside within the chamber. This image is both upside down and inverted – left becomes ...

The Indian photographer collaborates with papier-mâché artists from a small village in Maharashtra in her most recent series. This article was originally published on Art Radar on 20 February 2018. Image: Gauri Gill, Untitled, from "Acts of Appearance," 2015-ongoing. Courtesy the artist. In “Acts of Appearance”, the faces of people are concealed by quirky masks of their own making. Gauri Gill (b. 1970, Chandigarh) often documents and collaborates with minority communities, as well as local artists, in her work. For “ Acts of Appearance ” (2015-ongoing), she involved a traditional Adivasi artist community belonging to the Konkana tribe in Maharashtra’s Jawhar district. A part of this series premiered at Documenta 14 in Kassel in 2017.  A community of artists  The idea for the series arose when Gill first heard about the papier-mâché artists of Maharashtra, who also wear sacred masks during festivals and rituals. She then commissioned the artist brothers Subhas and Bhagvan...

Sooni Taraporevala is an Indian photographer, screenwriter and director who has extensively documented her city, Bombay, and her Parsi community. This interview was originally published on Art Radar , now defunct, on 30 August 2017.  “Sooni Taraporevala: Home in the City, Bombay 1976 – Mumbai 2016” is at the Whitworth in Manchester through early 2018, featuring 30 black and white photographs by Taraporevala spanning four decades. The exhibition is developed in partnership with Sunaparanta, Goa Centre for the Arts. Art Radar finds out more.  Curated by Sunaparanta’s Siddharth Dhanvant Shanghvi, this exhibition is only a small selection from the work of a photographer who has been, since the 1970s, diligently documenting the numerous and changing faces of the city she calls home. Sooni Taraporevala is also a renowned screenwriter and award-winning director. She was awarded the Padma Shri in 2014, and her photographs have been exhibited at the Tate Modern, the National Gallery o...

“Harmony in Diversity” features 57 works by Chinese contemporary artist Fu Wenjun, including the unique “digital painting photography” style he developed through experimentation. The exhibition runs until 19 March 2017 at the National Art Museum of China in Beijing. This article was first published on Art Radar  (15 March 2017). Fu Wenjun, "Harmony in Diversity", installation view at the National Art Museum of China, 2017. Image courtesy the artist. Curated by Peng Feng, a professor at Peking University School of Arts and curator of the Chinese Pavilion at the 54th Venice Biennale, the exhibition “Harmony in Diversity” at the National Art Museum of China showcases five series by Fu Wenjun. The abstract, poetic works combine photography, installation and oil painting, coming together as what is referred to “digital painting photography”. The exhibition is organised by the Chongqing Federation of Literary and Art Circles.  Fu Wenjun, Harmony in Diversity No. 1, 2016-17, digital...

Renowned Palestinian photographer addresses the significance and distortions of memory in her new exhibition. This interview was originally published on Art Radar (16 February 2016).  Image: Rula Halawani, Untitled 8 , 2015, “For My Father” series, archival print, 100 x 150 cm, edition of 5. Image courtesy the artist and Ayyam Gallery. “ For My Father ” opened on 18 January 2016 at Ayyam Gallery Dubai, and will run until 3 March. In her debut exhibition with the gallery, Rula Halawani takes a journey into the Palestine of her past. She tells  Art Radar  how she strives to make her work relatable and about “being Palestinian in Palestine”.  Rula Halawani (b. 1964, Jerusalem) started out as a photojournalist, but after nine years, decided to alter her approach to the medium, using the camera to create art that was better attuned to her feelings and opinions. Her image-making is characterised by an experimental approach to documentation, such as through the use of negat...

How William Dalrymple, the Commonwealth Games and Rajasthan inspired a photographic series.  This article was originally published on  Art Radar  (9 January 2015). Published in 2014 by SKIRA, photographer Karen Knorr’s India Song is a celebration of the country’s regal heritage and lush fauna. Edited by curator Rosa Maria Falvo, the monograph offers an immersive glimpse into Knorr’s travels through Rajasthan, India. India Song book cover. Image courtesy Rosa Maria Falvo. Karen Knorr (b. 1954, Frankfurt am Main) is a photographer known for her exploration of the politics of representation through images. In her recent work, including India Song (2008-2014), she often reinvents documentary photography through photo manipulation to create original and surreal scenarios. According to her website, India Song explores “ Rajput and Mughal cultural heritage and its relationship to questions of feminine subjectivity and animality. ” In addition to 62 full page colou...

"A photograph is a window and not the view...                   don't photograph what you see, photograph what you feel."                                  - Emeka Okereke, photographer Recently, while researching for an article for  Art Radar , I came across a brilliant six-part documentary series on Al Jazeera titled  Artscape - The New African Photography . Each of the 25-minute films profiles a photographer from and working in Africa, their journey, experience and project(s). For a continent that has too long and too often been represented in the global media through a lens that focuses on aspects like poverty and exoticism, more often than not by those who are visitors and who pursue an image that they have been predisposed to find, this is a refreshing look at what's going on in the African art scene. The media also often forgets tha...

Here's a short piece on the exhibition "Vision Unseen", curated by Rakesh Nagar, that was on display in the quadrangle of the India International Centre from September 20-29, 2013. __ “Inspiring” is the first word that comes to mind upon viewing this exhibit of photographs by three visually impaired photographers: Evgen Bavčar (France), Flo Fox (USA) and Kuniaki Ito (Japan). Though with differing circumstances and approaches, their work is a testament to their passion for their art in the face of adversity, and perhaps deserved a larger indoor gallery space. Evgen Bavčar ’s photographs play with perceptions of light and darkness, and have an almost surreal quality. Other senses – hearing, touch – are represented through an accordion, music in braille, and the repeated motif of hands, on which he relies to measure distances while creating a photograph. Flo Fox’s largely monochromatic images of scenes from the streets of New York are full of life. She often photo...

Delhi Photo Festival 2013, under the banner of bringing photography into the public space, returned to the Indian capital as an experiment in inclusivity, collaboration and diversity. This article was originally published on Art Radar (18 October 2013). Installation view of Sacha Goldberger's Super Mamika at Delhi Photo Festival 2013, India Habitat Centre. Photo: Kriti Bajaj The second edition of the Delhi Photo Festival returned to New Delhi, India for two weeks from 27 September to 11 October 2013, with a few pre-festival events through the month of September. Co-organised by Nazar Foundation and the India Habitat Centre (also the primary venue), along with 26 partner galleries across the city, the biennial fair included a selection of varied events designed to have a broad public appeal. “We sought to evolve the ideology of the festival. It’s at one level our recognition to [sic] the people’s art,” said India Habitat Centre’s Director Raj Liberhan at the opening ceremony. Focu...