Edges of the World

The furthermost reaches of the European and Indian subcontinents are Alain Willaume’s subject matter in this series of photographs, the ‘clues’ with which he constructs his ‘identikit-picture’ of a conceptual space. He describes this ‘dark photographic meditation’ as a ‘portrait of landscapes’ made up of land’s ends and frontiers, which takes us to tension-points haunted by politics and History, ‘sacred and profane symbolism’, and powerful enigmas, ‘where serenity and fear meet.’ This volume consists of his striking visual images, with an introductory essay by novelist Amit Chaudhuri, and the texts of two probing discussions with art historian Tapati Guha-Thakurta and fellow photographer Naveen Kishore. The discussions engage with a range of questions and issues thrown up by the photographs: the political and spiritual connotations of land’s ends and frontiers, music and silence in photography, photography’s relationship with documentation, and the ‘problem’ of being in the right place. With an introduction by Amit Chaudhuri and interviews by Tapati Guha-Thakurta and Naveen Kishore.