London-based photographer Karen Knorr, recently delved into the history of India, an endeavour she undertook due to her strong interest in how politics and power manifest through art. Since 2008, Knorr has travelled across Northern India taking pictures of the interiors of the country’s palaces, forts and temples, using a large format Sinar camera, producing, thus, photographs of magnificent interiors and local animals. A body of work that stands out, Knorr’s images are a representation of a world that’s turned upside-down, where mammals, birds and reptiles of India are now in charge.
The photographer took pictures of the luxurious interiors and of the animals separately and then combined them using Photoshop, to create her final images. This photographic project comes in a large-format art book published last year by Skira Editore and titled “India Song”. Aware of the fact that her photographs can be interpreted in many ways, Knorr allows any ambiguity regarding their potential meaning, after the fashion of Aesop’s fables. This intriguing body of work contains a particular kind of insight and offers a valuable lesson, that of how we perceive our relationship to one another as well as how we interact with the world around us.
Apart from this project, you can find Karen Knorr’s work in several public and private art collections across the globe, including the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris, and Tate Gallery in London.
