Watchmaker, Bombay, c.1980
Amitabh Bachchan and aging extras during a film shoot, Bombay, c.1980
Veena in my kitchen at the Jangpura house, New Delhi, 1976
My parents, Richard and Rati at home, New Delhi, 1975
Drummer at the Chinese New Year celebrations, Tangra, Calcutta, c.1978
Ray at Home, Calcutta, c.1978
Pablo Bartholomew (b.1955, New Delhi) is a self-taught photographer whose practice spans nearly five decades. Since 1979 he’s had over 30 solo exhibitions at galleries, museums, biennales, and photo festivals in India and abroad and his work is part of prominent public and private collections. Since 2000, Bartholomew has been excavating his photographic archive, revisiting the period between 1970 to 1983, resulting in a trilogy — Chronicles of a Past Life: Bombay, PHOTOINK, New Delhi (2012); Outside In: A Tale of Three Cities, PHOTOINK, New Delhi (2013); and The Calcutta Diaries, Art Heritage, New Delhi (2012).
International exhibitions include Dhaka Art Summit, Bangladesh, (2018 & 2016), Maison Européenne de la Photographie, Paris (2017), ‘Memories of the Future – Indian Modernity’, Centre Pompidou, Paris, 2017, Where Three Dreams Cross at Whitechapel Gallery, London (2010), and at Fotomuseum Winterthur, Switzerland (2010), Month of Photography, Tokyo, Japan (2007) and Les Rencontres d’Arles, Arles, France (2007), Angkor Photo Festival, Siem Reap, Cambodia (2006), Nooderlicht Photo Festival, Netherlands (2006 & 2007), Chobimela, Dhaka, Bangladesh (2006), Photographers Gallery, London, (1982) and Museum of Modern Art, Oxford (1982).
Working with his art critic father’s archive of photographs and writings, in 2008, Bartholomew co-conceived the book and exhibition, A Critic’s Eye, which portrayed the cultural milieu of 1950s – 1980s through intimate photographs of his family and artist friends. In September 2012, he self-published Richard Bartholomew—The Art Critic, a voluminous collection of his father’s writings on modern Indian art that chronicled the untold, insider story of the birth of Modern Indian Art.
From 1983 to 2004, Bartholomew’s photojournalistic work featured in every major international publication and won him three World Press Photo awards, including the first prize in 1975 for his series on morphine addicts. In 1984 he won the World Press Photo ‘Picture of the Year’ award for his iconic image of the Bhopal gas tragedy.
In 2013 Bartholomew was awarded a Padma Shri and in 2014 received the Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres from the French government. He is continuing his long-term project on Indian émigrés, discovering his Burmese roots and expanding on the DNA-based cross-border project, which incorporates textiles and weaving between India, Bangladesh, and Burma. Bartholomew is based in Delhi.
My parents, Richard and Rati at home, New Delhi, 1975
Silver gelatin print with selenium toning
20 × 24 in (50.8 × 60.9 cm)
Ed of 10
Outside a hall, New Delhi, 1972
Silver gelatin print with selenium toning
20 × 24 in (50.8 × 60.9 cm)
Ed of 10
Self portrait, New Delhi, 1975
Silver gelatin print with selenium toning
20 × 24 in (50.8 × 60.9 cm)
Ed of 10
My brother Robin, New Delhi, 1975
Silver gelatin print with selenium toning
20 × 24 in (50.8 × 60.9 cm)
Ed of 10
A kitchen, New Delhi, 1974
Silver gelatin print with selenium toning
20 × 24 in (50.8 × 60.9 cm)
Ed of 10
A bird in my room, Bombay, 1979
Silver gelatin print with selenium toning
20 × 24 in (50.8 × 60.9 cm)
Ed of 10
Self portrait, New Delhi, 1975
Silver gelatin print with selenium toning
20 × 24 in (50.8 × 60.9 cm)
Ed of 10
Home, New Delhi, 1975
Silver gelatin print with selenium toning
20 × 24 in (50.8 × 60.9 cm)
Ed of 10
Yusuf, New Delhi, 1973
Silver gelatin print with selenium toning
20 × 24 in (50.8 × 60.9 cm)
Ed of 10
Pooh with poster, Bombay, 1974
Silver gelatin print with selenium toning
20 × 24 in (50.8 × 60.9 cm)
Ed of 10
View of midtown from Haji Ali, Bombay, c.1980
Silver gelatin print with selenium toning
20 × 24 in (50.8 × 60.9 cm)
Ed of 10
Bathers at Mahalakshmi, Bombay, c.1980
Silver gelatin print with selenium toning
20 × 24 in (50.8 × 60.9 cm)
Ed of 10
Pandit drying his dhoti, Bombay, c.1980
Silver gelatin print with selenium toning
20 × 24 in (50.8 × 60.9 cm)
Ed of 10
Capitol Talkies building, Bombay, c.1980
Silver gelatin print with selenium toning
20 × 24 in (50.8 × 60.9 cm)
Ed of 10
Around Colaba Post Office, Bombay, c.1980
Silver gelatin print with selenium toning
20 × 24 in (50.8 × 60.9 cm)
Ed of 10
Dabbawallahs at Sachivalaya, Bombay, c.1980
Silver gelatin print with selenium toning
20 × 24 in (50.8 × 60.9 cm)
Ed of 10
Chawls in Parel, Bombay, c.1980
Silver gelatin print with selenium toning
20 × 24 in (50.8 × 60.9 cm)
Ed of 10
Sleeping outdoors, Bombay, c.1980
Silver gelatin print with selenium toning
20 × 24 in (50.8 × 60.9 cm)
Ed of 10
Mother and child sleeping, Bombay, c.1980
Silver gelatin print with selenium toning
24 × 20 in (60.9 × 50.8 cm)
Ed of 10
Man asleep on Chowpatty Beach (II), Bombay, c.1980
Silver gelatin print with selenium toning
20 × 24 in (50.8 × 60.9 cm)
Ed of 10
Grandmother series, Calcutta, c.1978
Silver gelatin print with selenium toning
20 × 24 in (50.8 × 60.9 cm)
Ed of 10
Grandmother series, Calcutta, c.1978
Silver gelatin print with selenium toning
20 × 24 in (50.8 × 60.9 cm)
Ed of 10
Grandmother series, Calcutta, c.1978
Silver gelatin print with selenium toning
24 × 20 in (60.9 × 50.8 cm)
Ed of 10
Grandmother series, Calcutta, c.1978
Silver gelatin print with selenium toning
24 × 20 in (60.9 × 50.8 cm)
Ed of 10
Grandmother series, Calcutta, c.1978
Silver gelatin print with selenium toning
24 × 20 in (60.9 × 50.8 cm)
Ed of 10
Grandmother series, Calcutta, c.1978
Silver gelatin print with selenium toning
20 × 24 in (50.8 × 60.9 cm)
Ed of 10
Grandmother series, Calcutta, c.1978
Silver gelatin print with selenium toning
20 × 24 in (50.8 × 60.9 cm)
Ed of 10
Car at 7 Short Street I, Calcutta, c.1978
Silver gelatin print with selenium toning
20 × 24 in (50.8 × 60.9 cm)
Ed of 10
Dilapidated building on BBG street, Calcutta, c.1978
Silver gelatin print with selenium toning
20 × 24 in (50.8 × 60.9 cm)
Ed of 10
Hoardings, Calcutta, c.1978
Silver gelatin print with selenium toning
20 × 24 in (50.8 × 60.9 cm)
Ed of 10
