Umrao Singh Sher-Gil Grant for Photography

The Umrao Singh Sher-Gil (USG) Grant for Photography was established in 2015 in the name of Vivan Sundaram’s grand-father, Umrao Singh Sher-Gil (1870–1954), a photographer of exceptional talent, whose principal subjects were his family and himself. He produced a family album of vast proportions, and his self-portraits spanning almost 60 years make up a unique archive. In 2007, the first retrospective exhibition of Umrao Singh’s vintage prints was held at the Rencontres d’Arles photography festival in France, followed by exhibitions at the National Gallery of Modern Art in Delhi and Mumbai, India. Umrao Singh is regarded as a pioneering figure of the mise-en-scène or staged photography in India.

2025 marks a decade since the Umrao Singh Sher-Gil Grant for Photography was established. For the USG Grant 2025, SSAF pledges two grants of INR 5,00,000 each, to photography projects working with staged/constructed images and to documentary photography, while recognising the blurred boundaries between the methodologies and forms of both genres.

Akshay Bhoan and Dhiraj Rabha are the recipients of the USG Grant for Photography 2025.