Indeed the mediator between the spiritual and sensual life stand poignantly captured by Padmashri Shobha Deepak Singh’s lens eye in her spectacular coffee table book compilation, ‘Musicscapes’, a rare anthology of 250 photographs of the great Indian music maestros, emoting the multiple emotions of Indian music. ‘Musicscapes’ follows close on the heels of Mrs. Shobha Deepak Singh’s Theatrescapes (2014) and Dancescapes (2013). In this final trilogy she turns her unerring eye to the world of music, a world that is very dear to her heart.
What gives Mrs. Shobha Deepak Singh’s endeavours a winning edge are primarily her injecting her compilations with the passion of a firsthand exposure to the finer nuances of the subject she elects to present. Her mastery over the medium of photography, proximity to the cultural maestros of the country and her complete fearlessness around technology endow her creations with a distinct character. Growing up in a family, that gave passionate patronage to the arts, she found boundless joy in performances by eminent musicians, hosted in her very own home, even benefitting from lessons from some of the masters. Thus, ‘Musicscapes’ becomes a homage to her deepest and most long engaging love, her passion for music.
The stalwarts, who find pride of pride of place in Mrs. Shobha Deepak Singh’s, ‘Musicscapes’ include Abdul Rashid Khan, Ajoy Chakrabarty, Ali Akbar Khan, Amjad Ali Khan, Anoushka Shankar, Ashwini Bhide, Ayaan Ali Khan, Balasaheb Poonchwale, Bhimsen Joshi, Bhuvanesh Komkali, Bismillah Khan, Biswajit Roy Chowdhury, Chhannulal Mishra, Gangubai Hangal, Girija Devi, Umakant and Ramakant, Gundecha, Hariprasad Chaurasia, Jasraj, Kaushiki Chakraborty, Kishori Amonkar, Kumar Gandharva, Mallikarjun Mansur, Manjiri Asnare, Mukul Shivputra, Purbayan Chatterjee, Rahul Sharma, Rajan and Sajan Misra, Rakesh Chaurasia, Rashid Khan, Ravi Shankar, Ronu Majumdar, Shahid Parvez, Shanti Sharma, Shivkumar Sharma, Shubha Mudgal, Shujaat Khan, Sultan Khan, Uday Bhawalkar, Ulhas Kashalkar, Veena Sahasrabuddhe, Vilayat Khan, Vishwa Mohan Bhatt and Zakir Hussain, panning a quarter of a century, capturing myriad moments.
‘Musicscapes’ published by Roli Books, was launched by Smt. Shiela Dixit and Sh. Shekhar Sen, Chairman, Sangeet Natak Akademi, at Visual Arts Gallery, India Habitat Centre, New Delhi. An exhibition of 60 photographs of the country’s music luminaries, put up by the curatorial expertise of Dr. Alka Pande, will be on until April 14th, 2016.
