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Ketaki Sheth
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Ketaki Sheth began taking pictures of Bombay in the late 1980s, under the guidance of renowned photographer Raghubir Singh. Her fascination with the city of Bombay and its teeming masses extends beyond the three P’s most other photographers seem intrigued by; namely the poverty, the population and the pollution of the city.
“While Sheth’s portraiture of the labourer is animated by compassion, she avoids the great trap of...
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Ketaki Sheth began taking pictures of Bombay in the late 1980s, under the guidance of renowned photographer Raghubir Singh. Her fascination with the city of Bombay and its teeming masses extends beyond the three P’s most other photographers seem intrigued by; namely the poverty, the population and the pollution of the city.
“While Sheth’s portraiture of the labourer is animated by compassion, she avoids the great trap of documentary photography in a poor country: pity. There are sympathetic figures here, but there are no victims,” notes Suketu Mehta in his introduction to the book in which Sheth’s Bombay Mix series of photographs was recently published.
Instead, Sheth captures the essence of the ‘Bombayite’; the vivacity of the people that dwell in the ‘city that never sleeps’. Her images focus on the strong undercurrent of unity that prevails over all differences in the city, may they be social, economic, religious or gender related. With no qualms about what the viewer may or may not prefer to see, Sheth tells it as it is. There is no prejudice or gimmickry in her representations nor is there an intention to portray things as either good or bad, positive or negative. Rather than drawing sympathy from her viewers, Sheth encourages them to rethink the way they see in Bombay.
Ketaki Sheth was born in Mumbai in 1957. She received her Bachelor’s degree in English Literature from Elphinstone College, Bombay University, in 1979. In 1980, she completed her Master’s degree in Communication Arts from Cornell University in Ithaca. Her most recent solo show, ‘Bombay Mix: Street Photographs’ was held at Cité du Livre in Aix-en-Provence, France, in 2008. Amongst her most recent group shows are ‘Gateway Bombay’ at the Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, in 2007; ‘Bombay, Maximum City’, Lille, France, in 2006-2007; ‘Overseas’ at Gallery Ske, Bangalore, in 2006; ‘Sepia at Seven’ at Sepia International, New York, also in 2006; and ‘Faces’ at Sepia International, New York, in 2003.
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Born
1957
Mumbai
Education
1980 Masters Degree in Communication Arts, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York
1979 Bachelor of Arts in English Literature, Elphinstone College, Bombay University, Mumbai
Exhibitions
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2013 'A CERTAIN GRACE, The Sidi:...
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2013 'A CERTAIN GRACE, The Sidi: Indians of African Descent', National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA), New Delhi
2008 'Street Seen', Bodhi Art, New Delhi
2008 ‘Bombay Mix: Street Photographs’, Cité du Livre, Aix-en-Provence, France
Selected Group Exhibitions
2009 'Transient Poise', Bodhi Art, Mumbai
2007 ‘Gateway Bombay’, Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, MA
2006-07 ‘Bombay, Maximum City’, Lille, France
2006 ‘Overseas’, Gallery Ske, Bangalore
2006 ‘Sepia at Seven’, Sepia International, New York
2003 ‘Faces’, Sepia International, New York
2001 ‘Century City: Art and Culture in the Modern Metropolis’, Tate Modern, London
2000 ‘Twinspotting, Photographs of Patel Twins in Britain & India’, Art Heritage, New Delhi
2000 ‘Ideas & Images, Art in Mumbai’, National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA), Mumbai
2000 ‘Twinspotting’, Cinnamon Gallery, Bangalore
1999 ‘Twinspotting’, Piramal Gallery, National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA), Mumbai
1997-99 ‘India: A Celebration of Independence, 1947-1997’, Philadelphia Museum of Art, aTouring Exhibition, North America, Europe and India
1995 ‘Photographs of Moscow & Kiev’, Art Heritage, New Delhi; Piramal Gallery, National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA), Mumbai
1992 ‘The Jews of Cochin’, Beth Hatefutsoth Museum, Tel Aviv
1991 ‘Photographs of Bombay’, Art Heritage, New Delhi
1991 ‘Photographs of Bombay’, Contemporary Art Gallery, Ahmedabad
1991 ‘Photographs of Bombay’, Piramal Gallery, National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA), Mumbai
1990 ‘An Economy of Signs: Contemporary Indian Photographs’, The Photographers' Gallery, London
1988 ‘Four Indian Women’, Horizon Gallery, London
Participations
2012 'The Portrait: Contemporary Indian Photography', Fremantle Arts Centre, Fremantle
2010 'Where Three Dreams Cross: 150 Years of Photography from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh', Whitechapel Gallery, London; Fotomuseum Winterthur, Switzerland
2009-10 'The Self & the Other: Portraiture in Contemporary Indian photography', Virreina Centre de la Imatge, Barcelona; Artium - Centro Museo Vasco de Arte Contemporáneo, Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain
2008-09 ''Modern India', organized by Institut Valencià d'Art Modern (IVAM) and Casa Asia, in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture at Valencia, Spain
Honours and Awards
1993 The Sanskriti Award for Indian Photography, New Delhi
1979 Scholarship from the Department of Communication Arts, Cornell University
1976 Rani Chiranjeev Prize for English literature, Elphinstone College, Mumbai
1993 The Sanskriti Award for Indian Photography, New Delhi
1979 Scholarship from the Department of Communication Arts, Cornell University
1976 Rani Chiranjeev Prize for English literature, Elphinstone College, Mumbai
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