Delhi Dilemma: David Bailey

How does one photograph Delhi without the results looking like clichéd, tourist-friendly images taken from the pages of a holiday brochure? And how does a photographer of David Bailey’s standing portray India without seeming condescending? These questions are at the heart of Bailey’s new two-volume book, The Delhi Dilemma. Bailey, one of the most successful photographers of his generation, has traveled to India 15 times, and in this new series of photographs he avoids focusing on those cultural and economic differences between East and West that might make photos of the country appear overly didactic. Instead, he depicts the colors, textures and characters that make Delhi unique—a magenta sari, an infant walking alone on a rust-colored road, a bright blue plastic tarpaulin— and so creates a portrait of the city that is sensitive without being self-indulgent.