Umrao Singh Sher-Gil Grant for Photography

Sher-Gil Sundaram Arts Foundation (SSAF) was founded in 2016 with the inauguration of the Umrao Singh Sher-Gil Grant for Photography (USG Grant), instituted in the name of SSAF’s co-founders Vivan and Navina Sundaram’s maternal grandfather.

Umrao Singh Sher-Gil, born in 1870 to a Sikh family, was quiet and contemplative, and intensely dedicated to his scholarly and artistic pursuits. While photography was among his most passionate interests, as evidenced by the monumental archive he has left behind, his work went largely unacknowledged in the history of photography in India. In 2007, a retrospective exhibition of his prints at the Rencontres d’Arles caught global attention and Umrao Singh was acknowledged as a pioneer of staged photography in India.

The Umrao Singh Sher-Gil Grant for Photography recognizes a photographer’s commitment to staged and documentary photography projects. The grants are intended to support photographers who have begun working on their projects and need financial assistance to complete them.