Zakir Hussain est une maquette artisanale conçue par la photographe indienne Dayanita Singh en 1986 pendant ses études en graphisme. Le protagoniste du reportage photo de Singh est le virtuose du tabla classique indien Zakir Hussain, qu’elle a photographié sur scène et à la maison avec sa famille. Autour des photos se trouvent des textes manuscrits glanés à partir d’interviews que Singh a faites avec ses modèles. Cette édition fac-similé de Steidl, qui comprend un essai de Shanay Jhaveri, est scannée à partir de la maquette originale de Singh et reproduit toutes ses «imperfections» et ses particularités, y compris ses notes au crayon sur la construction du livre ; photos en n.b.
The book is well known as Dayanita Singh’s primary medium, one she explores to create new relationships between photography, publishing, the exhibition and the museum. But where did her passion for the book as the ideal vessel for her photos, for the stories she tells, begin? The answer lies in Zakir Hussain, a handmade maquette Singh crafted in 1986 as her first project as a graphic design student. The protagonist of Singh’s photo essay is the Indian classical tabla virtuoso Zakir Hussain, whom she captured on the stage and at home with his family. Surrounding the photos are handwritten texts gleaned from interviews Singh made with her sitters, including insights from Hussain: “I will always be a musician. A musician will always be a musician, not just me. He may stop performing but the musician is still there.”
This Steidl facsimile edition is scanned from Singh’s original maquette and reproduces all its “imperfections” and idiosyncrasies including her pencilled notes about the book’s construction—indications of the influential bookmaker to come. Shanay Jhaveri’s accompanying essay discusses how Singh came to “make” the original, referring to her student notes and exploring how she intuitively assembled the book, from editing the images to design, setting the ground for the book objects and photo architectures of her later practice.
