Customer Reviews

A Way Into India

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Thousands of years of traditions flood the photos in A Way into India; A notable book in the ability to convey the passion of photographer Raghubir Singh without written words. Singh's concept is simple: capture the fabric of India's culture all whilst traveling the country in the backseat of an Ambassador. We the readers are taken on a journey filled with images common in daily life bringing comfort yet still some wonder of the unknown in the same photograph.

But it's the Ambassador car which pulls the pictures together. In just sixty years of production, the Amby has effectively become one of the most iconic symbols of India. And it stars in some capacity in every shot. In one photograph, a Dutch church stands in the background, shot from the front seat where we can see the smudges of the windshield and wipers. But it's the rear view mirror which captures the sight of a classic white Amby, delivering the final element and juxtaposition with modern India. Or maybe it's the shot from the backseat where we see the door opened wide, window rolled down and a young woman, long curly black locks and inquisitive look wearing a gray sweatshirt that mystifies us. She wears no tilak, no sari or salwar kameez as she's hunched into the photograph in front of a horse drawn tonga and the moghal era Red Fort in the background.

Singh delivers a brilliant book for anyone who has an affinity for India. Unfortunately this was his last project before death came in 1999, and testament of love for his country. This is a book that belongs on the shelf of anyone who has yearned to travel or has already visited India. A country that continues to evolve from, yet clings to, it's rich, colorful past.

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