‘Shadow of music’

An online exhibition of archival portraits of leading Indian classical artists, including Kishori Amonkar, Pt. Birju Maharaj and Shovana Narayan, taken at their live performances is currently open for view. The photographs are taken by Lucknow-based photographer Rakesh Sinha…writes Siddhi Jain.

The exhibition is titled ‘Aks–e–Mausiqui’ (Shadow of Music).

This collection of heritage photographs of some of the most known classical musicians and dancers photographs captures the myriad moods and emotions of the artist as they immerse themselves in their art forms.

Often intimate and personal, the bromide photographs capture forever a moment in time.

A self-taught photographer, Rakesh Sinha has been photographing performances of not just dancers and musicians but also that of theatre and literature personalities for over four decades. He has worked with all the leading artists in the different fields and has been appreciated and acknowledged by the artists. Sinha makes it a point to present a set of the photographs to the artists each time he photographs them.

Sinha also works with colours but his first love and passion is for black and white photography. Although not having received any training professionally he develops and prints all his photographs by himself in his Darkroom. Rakesh Sinha has had both solo and participated in group exhibitions across India including at ‘Tansen Samaroh’ 2003 in Gwalior; ‘Viraasat’ 1997 Allahabad; ‘Rajaya Natya Samaroh’ 1988 Dehradun; and ‘Rajaya Natya Samaroh’ 1990 Bareli.

The online exhibition is on view from February 15-28, 2021 on the website of India International Centre (www.iicdelhi.in).

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