Description
American-born photographer Waswo X. Waswo has worked with a team of Indian artists to playfully recreate and examine the tradition of vintage studio portraiture. His chief accomplice is Rajesh Soni, a third generation Rajasthani hand-colourist whose grandfather was court photographer to the Maharana Bhopal Singh of Mewar. Soni’s careful and highly skilled painting adds a vintage feel to work that hovers enigmatically between the retro and the contemporary. “Men of Rajasthan” contains 50 images, annotated with delightful commentary by the photographer himself. It uncovers the male-centric universe of a uniquely mysterious place.
About the Author
Waswo X. Waswo was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in the U.S.A. He studied at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, The Milwaukee Center for Photography, and Studio Marangoni, The Centre for Contemporary Photography in Florence, Italy. His books include: India Poems: The Photographs, published by Gallerie Publishers in 2006, Men of Rajasthan, published by Serindia Contemporary in 2011 (hardcover 2014), Photowallah published by Tasveer, India, in 2016, Gauri Dancers, Mapin Publishers, 2019, and Karkhana, Mapin Publishers, 2022. The artist has lived and travelled in India for over twenty years and he has made his home in Udaipur, Rajasthan, for the past sixteen. There he collaborates with a variety of local artists including the photo hand-colourist Rajesh Soni. He has also produced a series of loosely autobiographical miniature paintings in collaboration with the artist R. Vijay. Waswo’s art and writings are known to address “Otherness” from multiple perspectives, with a mix of humour, irony, and pathos. The paintings are represented by Gallerie Espace, New Delhi, while the artist’s hand-coloured photographs are represented by Gallery Latitude 28, New Delhi.
