I found the first picture on the net accidentally. Curiosity led me to dig up more,  only to find a treasure- India Song– a series of digital photography by Karen Knorr.

Exploring further, the idea behind the series was mind blowing.

Quoting from Karen Knorr’s website:

“Karen Knorr’s photography explores cultural heritage and its ideological underpinings. Questions concerning post colonialism and its relationship to aesthetics have permeated her photographic work since the 1980’s.  Her work, India Song, researches the stories and myths of India photographing animals and placing them in temples and palaces across heritage sites in Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Maharashtra.”

As Knorr says, “Cranes, zebras, langurs, tigers, and elephants mutate from princely pets to avatars of past feminine historic characters, blurring boundaries between reality and illusion.”

Knorr’s digital assemblages create narratives that captivate, interrogate tensions between old and new; animate and inanimate; stillness and motion; human and animal; and male and female. The stunning photographs of India Song have the power to transfix and transport. They are simply mesmerizing.

Do not miss the caption with each sumptuously detailed pictures, as you travel(scroll) down on this sensual journey…

The Lovesick Prince, Aam Khas, Junha Mahal, Dungarpur Palace

The Opium Smoker, Chitrasala, Bund

Avatars or Devi, Samode Palace, Samode

The return of Hunter, Chandra Mahal, Jaipur Palace, Jaipur

Sikander’s Entrance, Chandra Mahal, Jaipur City Palace, Jaipur

Flight to Freedom, Darbar Hall, Juna Mahal, Junagarh

The Private Audience, Aam Khas, Juna Mahal, Dungarpur

The Lion’s Savior, Zanana, Dungarpur Palace

Krishna’s Crown, Jawa Mahal, Jaipur

Vishnu’s Return to the World, Rani Ki Vav, Patna

The Messenger, Purana Qila, New Delhi

Homage to Ustad Mansur

Master of Seduction, Amer Fort, Amer

Attaining Moksha, Ajanta Caves, Ajanta

Krishna’s RaasLeela, Chitrasala, Bundi

Edge of the Forest, Agravena, Agra

The Exodus, Paradesi Synagogue

The Sound of Rain, Junargarh Fort, Bikaner

The Reception of Darshan, Ajanta Caves

.The Witness, Humayun’s Tomb, New Delhi

A Place Like Amravati, Udaipur Lake Palace, Udaipur

The Conqueror of the World, Poddar Haveli, Junagarh

Maha Sattiva’s Sacrifice, Ajanta Caves

Light of the World, Zanaroom, Nawalgarh

Asylum, Junagarh Fort, Junagarh The Courtyard Conference, Udai Villas, Udaipur

The Temple Servant, Jaipur City Palace, Jaipur

Maharaja’s Apartment, Udaipur City Palace

The Joy of Ahimsa, Takhat Vilas, Mehrangarh Fort, Jodhpur

The Peacemaker Chandra Mahal, Jaipur City Palace

Parvati’s Consort, Samode Haveli, Jaipur

Queen’s Room, Zanana Palace, Udaipur

A Place Like Amravati, Udaipur

The Last Lion, Diwan-I-Khaas, Jaipur City Palace, Jaipur

“Knorr’s work explores Rajput and Mughal cultural heritage and its contemporary relationship to questions of feminine subjectivity and animality.” ~ Darlimple

Thank you !

About Karen Knorr: Knorr was born in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, and was raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico, in the 1960s, completing her education in Paris and London. She has taught, exhibited, and lectured internationally, including at Tate Britain, Tate Modern, The University of Westminster, Goldsmiths, Harvard and The Art Institute of Chicago. She studied at the University of Westminster in the mid-1970s, exhibiting photography that addressed debates in cultural studies and film theory concerning the ‘politics of representation’ practices which emerged during the late 1970s and early 1980s. She is currently Professor of Photography at the University for the Creative Arts in Farnham, Surrey.
Source: Karen Knorr’s website: http://karenknorr.com/photography/india-song/

Source: Karen Knorr's website: http://karenknorr.com/photography/india-song/