Join us at Book Beat on Sunday, November 24 from 3:30-4:30pm to welcome photographer Amit Desai, who will be in town to discuss and present the release of his seven volume photo book America Sutra. Books will be available at the event, which is free and open to the public. Please call Book Beat for more information (248) 968-1190.
America Sutra is the first in a series of three projects by artist Amit Desai. It is the culmination of a ten-year journey through the United States.
Selections from the America Sutra, are on a website, curated by a computer algorithm unique to each visit. This show is accompanied by a feature length documentary Possible Psalms, a behind the scenes look at the making of America Sutra. Each of the seven volumes are organized into sections divided by experiences and techniques unique to photography. They are the photographer’s road trip experiences cataloged in a unique and eccentric order, all contained into a thick sturdy slipcase.
The images in America Sutra portray the people and landscapes the artist experienced during his years on the road. Shot on 35mm, 120 medium format, Polaroid and digital, along with hand made collages and drawings, the seven volumes display a wide range of photographic techniques. all the double exposure photographs were made in camera and all the work was shot on film except for Book IV, which is the only digital work in the sutra.
Visit the book website here.
Watch the feature-length documentary on the making of this unique book here
Selections from the photographer’s journals are located at Dumpster Diaries
-last words from the Diamond Sutra (from the photographer’s statement)
Amit Desai (born 1977) is an american artist and poet. Born in India, a Brahmin, he spent his early childhood on a mango farm in the state of Gujarat before moving to America. He grew up in Valley Stream, New York. In 1995, he traveled to Africa where he lived with the Khoisan tribe in Botswana. during this time he visited Tsodilo Hills and had his first experience of cave paintings. on this same trip he discovered the camera. America Sutra is his first body of work to be published. He now lives in India.