GUWAHATI: EYE RISE is a series of 20 photographs shot between 2010 to 2020 in 9 countries – India, USA, UK, Maldives, Germany, China, Turkey, UAE and Qatar. These are photographs of places you may have been to and not seen, places you may have been to and seen, or places you have been wanting to go to.
Architectural designs and landscapes around the world evoke ardour in our beings, moving us implicitly in their presence. They play a carousel of characters in the evolving stories of our lives, akin to an emotional relationship. It all begins with our eyes – what we see is what we feel in our hearts and souls. To be emotionally moved by structures that cannot physically move is just so wildly paradoxical, and yet not. Everything on Earth either rises up or expanses for miles into infinity. Imposing structures spearing into the skies stay rooted to the very ground they rise up from as do natural landscapes.
Fearlessly rising up in life, respecting our multifarious roots, without knocking each other down is what EYE RISE is about. Honouring each other as equals, and staying authentic to the historic origins of our human race that has existed betwixt the Earth’s natural landscapes and the concrete sky-highs around us is paramount right now. From mankind, we’re now a mask-kind, with the Earth imploring us to rise up and open our hearts and minds with love and gentleness, towards each other, bereft of inequities and intolerance.
Rubina A Khan is an independent journalist and photographer with Getty Images, Europe. Words and visuals are of the essence to Khan’s work as a journalist and visualist. Her editorial and photo work is published in Gulf News, Paris Match, Forbes, BBC, CNBC, MSN, Architectural Digest, Fortune New York, Houston Chronicle, Harper’s Bazaar, Monocle, Travel+Leisure, Huffington Post and Tatler.
Raised by maternal grandparents, Khan has only known inestimable love from them, through them and for them. Khan’s late grandfather, Dr Mohammad Zaheer, an honourable Indian bureaucrat, esteemed in the country for his inherent intellect, governmental accomplishments and books on archaeology, was an impassioned photographer outside of his bureaucratic world. Khan believes she inherited her love, and eye, for photography from him. Her grandfather shot on an Asahi Pentax camera and processed his photographic prints himself, in a custom dark room, at home. Cleaning his camera lenses, holding on to the lens caps carefully whilst he shot, setting apertures for family auto shots on the tripod, Khan learnt the nuances of framing and photography early on in her childhood. Khan attributes her lettered curiosity and artistic discernments to her grandparents’ upbringing, sharpened further at prep school and at Harvard University, USA.
EYE RISE is Rubina A Khan’s introductory fine art photography showing – and the first online exhibit of its kind in India that opened on Facebook Live – on the 20th of July, 2020 at 6PM IST. EYE RISE opened to distinguished guests from around the world, in conversation with Khan, as they viewed the works and discussed the photographs namely Fern Mallis, creator of New York Fashion Week and author of Fashion Lives – Fashion Icons with Fern Mallis from New York, Peter Holland, Director of Golf – Agalarov Golf & Country Club from Moscow, Eleanor Cooksey, strategy consultant from the United Kingdom, fashion designers Manish Malhotra and SVA Couture’s Paras and Sonam Modi from Mumbai and Siddharth Kasliwal, Director of The Gem Palace, Jaipur.
“EYE RISE is my first photography showing that opened on Facebook Live, the first of its kind in India, on July 20th, 2020. EYE RISE is a series of 20 photographs that I shot between 2010 to 2020 in 9 countries across 3 continents – India, USA, UK, Maldives, Germany, China, Turkey, UAE and Qatar. EYE RISE is about fearlessly rising up in life, respecting our multifarious roots, without knocking each other down. Honouring each other as equals, and staying authentic to the historic origins of our human race that has existed betwixt the Earth’s natural landscapes and the concrete sky-highs around us is paramount right now. I am very pleased with the remarkable response my showing has received and the works that have been sold since, but more than anything, it has made my grandmother, who I live with, the happiest of all. A percentage of all my sales is going towards helping the photography community in India. I inherited the love for photography from my late grandfather, Dr Mohammad Zaheer, an honourable Indian bureaucrat, esteemed in the country for his inherent intellect, governmental accomplishments and books on archaeology. He was an impassioned photographer outside of his bureaucratic world and shot arresting landscapes, architecture and portraits wherever he lived in the world – from India to Switzerland to England and Japan. I grew up watching him take pictures of my beautiful grandmother Anwar Jahan – his muse – and me, almost every day on his Asahi Pentax camera, processing the prints himself, in a custom dark room, at our home. I attribute my lettered curiosity and artistic discernments to my grandparents’ upbringing, that were sharpened further at prep school and at Harvard University, USA. EYE RISE is in honour of my grandparents and the life they have given me,” says Rubina A Khan.
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