Studies in Form is a collaborative body of work by Seher Shah and Randhir Singh. Consisting of six portfolios with 121 prints in total

 SCAD Museum of Art Chief curator Daniel Palmer talks about the work in the exhibition.

Seher Shah and Randhir Singh
'STUDIES IN FORM'
SEPT. 7 - DEC. 26 at SCAD

All photos in this article by Ruben Natal-San Miguel

Studies in Form is a collaborative body of work by Seher Shah and Randhir Singh. Consisting of six portfolios with 121 prints in total, the series examines modernist architecture through the medium of the cyanotype, an early photographic process and precursor to the blueprint. Shah and Singh’s interdisciplinary approach to architectural history combines photography, printmaking, and drawing to isolate specific elements of buildings and analyze architectural principles of scale, materiality, and mass. By abstracting form, Shah and Singh scrutinize the built environment and offer a compelling expansion of the canon of modernism. I found the photographic series ''Studies in Form'' from Seher Shah and Randihir Singh extremely elegant, sleek, precise - a great example of what Fine Art Photography is today...

SCAD Museum of Art Chief curator Daniel Palmer talking about Seher Shah and Randhir Singh's exhibition at SCAD. 

Work by Seher Shah and Randhir Singh at SCAD Museum of Art.

Being a trained architect and a photographer as well, I can relate to and understand these concepts by this dynamic duo. Their concept of reproducing a very bold , high contrast, strong and modern 1960's and 70's style architectural aesthetic is very advanced. Enhancing its details, facades and plans, playing with light and shadow on blueprint finish tones, is expressing the idea that photography does not always need to be done black and white to have high contrast. Their use of  abstraction and a great play of light and shadow adds to this idea. I find their reproduction process innovative and it brings a timeless elegant quality to their works.

Work by Seher Shah and Randhir Singh at SCAD Museum of Art.

Work by Seher Shah and Randhir Singh at SCAD Museum of Art.

At first glance, these images might look highly decorative (which they are) but, when looking further they possess a great deal of content, history (some of the pieces celebrate buildings no longer in existence). SCAD Museum of Art Chief curator Daniel Palmer did a magnificent job curating the multiple photographic artworks on the wall, making it look even more dramatic with a wonderful interplay of figure and ground. WM