HYBRID IN-PERSON AND ONLINE PROGRAM

Conversation with a Stranger: The Photo-Book-Museums of Dayanita Singh

Rebecca M. Brown, professor, history of art, Johns Hopkins University

Reception 1 - 1:30 pm

Photographs harbor within them multiple moments - the time of the shutter opening, attentiveness to the subject’s pose, the care of developing and selecting, and the arrangement in albums or on shelves with other photos and other objects. They also speak to us in our moment: in the words of contemporary artist Dayanita Singh, they are a "conversation with a stranger in the future." Singh's photographic practice emerges in and through the photo book form in all its variety: in printed books, in little accordion-fold booklets nested in boxes or kept in the pockets of custom-made garments, in teak boxes with windows for curating your own mini-museum, or in tall towers of photos that surround a place to sit and talk. Singh has explored the life and loves of a dear friend, India’s haunting industrial spaces, archives and government offices, the daily lives of families in Kolkata, and many more subjects. She photographs with care and attentiveness over a long period, later bringing these images into dialogue with one another and with us, creating a conversation that we, future strangers, might someday join. The lecture will include seeing some of her book objects in person. 

$15 fee for guests and subscribers (no fee for members)