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the-south-asian.com May 2004 |
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May
2004 Music
Lehngas - a limited collection Books Between
Heaven and Hell
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PAMELA SINGH - SHOOTING WHAT SHE LOVES by Surabhi Khosla
Pamela Singh (formerly Bordes) has come a long way from the sleazy tabloids and has completely reinvented herself as a serious shutterbug. She is still stunning and vivacious. The 1982 Miss India who almost brought down the British government because of her alleged affair with a leading Tory MP rocked England and made her one of the most sensational pin up girls of the eighties. Today however, she has come a long way from the sleazy tabloids and has completely reinvented herself as a serious photographer settling down to a sedate life in Jaipur. Having studied the art in New York, Pamela appeared on the photography circuit in India some years ago having done assignments for a formidable list of publications. Her striking black and white photographs of Indian women were exhibited around India. However, the lady is so publicity shy that she seldom gives any interviews and would rather let her work speak for her. She recently put up another exhibition in Delhi comprising a series of self-portraits titled Angkor-Faiyum-Jaipur. It was a mixed media show and the pictures were unusual in that many of them were digitally enhanced and others cleverly painted to create a 3-D effect. Though the publicity shy Pamela herself was missing through most of the show, it was left to the curator of the show Peter Nagy to field all questions and answer all queries.
The show itself was meticulously displayed and the first part Angkor takes viewers to the resplendent temples of Cambodia. A collection of pictures where she skilfully marries her moods with the ancient architecture.
In the second section titled Faiyum she has used the paintbrush to give a different identity to the mysterious Egyptian portraits. Pamela has superimposed her own eyes, nose and lips using clever computer techniques, in a past-meets-present endeavour.
Jaipur, the third segment of the exhibition is apparently the closest to her heart because the city is home to Pamela. Here she displays a fine blend of art and technology. Most of the portraits are hand painted of the enlarged photographs that she has taken of the city. The striking feature is that most of her pictures tell a story. In many of the pictures it appears that Pamela is a part of the scene and yet looks distinct as an onlooker. Compelling Treatment That is a trait that was first seen in her earlier exhibition on Indian women---A group of Air Force women pilots in training, the image of a woman in a trance and another of an exorcism in progress in Rajasthan, the child bride from Mumbai who preferred to immolate herself than live in the miserable world that surrounded her and the exceptional study of the women of the Chipko Movement. Pamela captured them all and their compelling treatment demanded as much attention as Pamela herself. Pamela’s interest in photography began at 13 when she was studying in a boarding school in Jaipur that had a black and white photo lab. Since she was very bright in chemistry, pottering about in this little room became more than fun for her. The enjoyable hobby soon turned serious and before long she began processing pictures for her friends. That was then. Now, of course, her credentials in the field of photography are impressive. A stint in architecture at New York's renowned Parsons School of Design has helped her instil a sense of balance and composition. Later she attended classes at the International Centre for Photography in New York. But her real education came with her association with renowned names like Peter Beard, David Bailey, Ralph Gibson, Mirella Riccardi and Raghu Rai. Each of these masters taught her the art in their own unique ways. And she was a keen student. A voracious reader Pamela would pour over the works of great photographers and study their subtleties in lighting, shading and angling. Later a job with Gamma Press Photos took Pamela to Africa, giving her the opportunity of photographing the angry mood of the continent. The assignments were tough, the years harsh and the rage of time relentless. However she was determined not to give up and carried on. And she was well rewarded. Her photographs began appearing in international dailies across the globe. With the success and acclaim Pamela decided to branch out as a free- lancer, covering the effects of malnutrition and wars on children on the strife-torn continent, genocides and even wildlife. Soon however, thoroughly sickened with the wanton killing, she decided to opt out and concentrate on less disturbing subjects. That was when Pamela came to India. After experimenting with conventional photography ranging from fashion to wildlife to women, Pamela—as her new show reveals---is now obsessed with the latest technology of the digitally treatment of photographs. And she doesn’t mind playing around with the pictures and creating outstanding images. What concerns the lady now is her photography. And when she is motivated, she simply packs her bag, picks up her camera and is off to some exotic place clicking away. When she wants to relax, she meditates and practices yoga. There is no hint of the turbulent times she has gone through as the first pinup of the nineties. Back in 1989 people were calling her a modern-day Christine Keeler who almost brought down the British government of Margaret Thatcher with her liaisons with men in power. But now all that is a distant past. To use a cliché, Pamela is now older and wiser. *****
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