Sunil Gupta (born 1953) is an Indian-born Canadian photographer, based in London. His career has been spent "making work responding to the injustices suffered by gay men across the globe, himself included", including themes of

sexual identity Sexual identity is how one thinks of oneself in terms of to whom one is romantically and/or sexually attracted.
''Sex ...

race Race, RACE or "The Race" may refer to: * Race (biology), an informal taxonomic classification within a species, generally within a sub-species * Race (human categorization), classification of humans into groups based on physical traits, and/or s ...

and

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

. Gupta has produced a number of books and his work is held in the collections of the

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of ...

in New York,

Philadelphia Museum of Art The Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMoA) is an art museum originally chartered in 1876 for the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. The main museum building was completed in 1928 on Fairmount, a hill located at the northwest end of the Benjamin Fr ...

, and

Tate Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the U ...

. In 2020 he was awarded Honorary Fellowship of the

Royal Photographic Society The Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain, commonly known as the Royal Photographic Society (RPS), is one of the world's oldest photographic societies. It was founded in London, England, in 1853 as the Photographic Society of London with ...

Early life and education

Gupta was born in New Delhi, India in 1953. In 1969, he migrated to Montreal, Canada with his family. He studied at

Dawson College Dawson College (French: ''Collège Dawson)'' is an English-language public general and vocational college in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The college is situated near the heart of Downtown Montreal in a former nunnery on approximately 12 acre ...

, Montreal (1970–1972); gained a Bachelor of Commerce in accountancy at

Concordia University Concordia University ( French: ''Université Concordia'') is a public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1974 following the merger of Loyola College and Sir George Williams University, Concordia is one of the t ...

, Montreal (1972–1977); studied photography at

The New School for Social Research The New School for Social Research (NSSR) is a graduate-level educational institution that is one of the divisions of The New School in New York City, United States. The university was founded in 1919 as a home for progressive era thinkers. NSSR ...

in New York City (1976); gained a diploma in photography at

West Surrey College of Art and Design Surrey Institute of Art & Design, University College (SIAD) was an art college in the United Kingdom from 1994 to 2005. It was formed from the merger of West Surrey College of Art and Design (1969–1995) and Epsom School of Art and Design (1893� ...

, Farnham, UK (1978–1981); gained an MA in photography at the

Royal College of Art The Royal College of Art (RCA) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom, with campuses in South Kensington, Battersea and White City. It is the only entirely postgraduate art and design university in the United Kingdom. It offe ...

in London (1981–1983); and gained a PhD at

University of Westminster , mottoeng = The Lord is our Strength , type = Public , established = 1838: Royal Polytechnic Institution 1891: Polytechnic-Regent Street 1970: Polytechnic of Central London 1992: University of Westminster , endowment = £5.1 million ...

, London (2018).

Life and work

Gupta embraced his sexuality for the first time when he arrived at Concordia University in Montreal in 1970. He joined a campus

gay liberation The gay liberation movement was a social and political movement of the late 1960s through the mid-1980s that urged lesbians and gay men to engage in radical direct action, and to counter societal shame with gay pride.Hoffman, 2007, pp.xi-xiii. ...

movement group and took photographs for its newspaper. His career has been spent "making work responding to the injustices suffered by gay men across the globe, himself included", including themes of

sexual identity Sexual identity is how one thinks of oneself in terms of to whom one is romantically and/or sexually attracted.
''Sex ...

, Human migration, migration,

and

. His series include the

street photography Street photography (also sometimes called candid photography) is photography conducted for art or enquiry that features unmediated chance encounters and random incidents within public places. Although there is a difference between street and ca ...

of ''Christopher Street'' (1976); ''Reflections of the Black Experience'' (1986); ''Pretended Family Relationships'' (1988); ''Memorials'' (1995); the narrative portraits of ''From Here to Eternity'' (1999); and the highly staged and constructed scenes of ''The New Pre-Raphaelites'' (2008). In 1983 Gupta settled in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. He was one of the founders of the Association of Black Photographers (now

Autograph ABP Autograph ABP, previously known as the Association of Black Photographers, is a British-based international, non-profit-making, photographic arts agency. History Autograph was originally established in London in 1988. Founders included the photog ...

) in London in 1988.

Personal life

Gupta is married to Charan Singh, also a photographer. They live in Camberwell, London. Gupta was diagnosed with

HIV The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of ''Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the immune ...

in 1995.

Publications

Books of work by Gupta

*''Pictures From Here.'' 2003. . *''Wish you Were Here: Memories of a gay life.'' New Delhi: Yoda, 2008. . *''Queer.'' Prestel, 2011. . *''Christopher Street 1976.'' London: Stanley/Barker, 2018. . *''Lovers: Ten Years On.'' London: Stanley/Barker, 2020. . *''London '82''. London: Stanley/Barker, 2021. .

Books of work with others

*''Delhi: Communities of Belonging.'' With Charan Singh. New Press, 2016. .

Books edited by Gupta

*''An Economy of Signs: contemporary Indian photographs.'' Arts Council England; Rivers Oram, 1990. *''Ecstatic Antibodies: resisting the AIDS mythology.'' Edited with Tessa Boffin. Arts Council England; Rivers Oram, 1990. . Photographs and text. *''Disrupted Borders: an intervention in definitions of boundaries.'' London: Arts Council England; Rivers Oram, 1993.

Awards

*2020: Honorary Fellowship of the

, Bristol

Exhibitions

Solo exhibitions and exhibitions paired with others

*''Trespass 3,''

Contemporary Art Gallery A contemporary art gallery is normally a commercial art gallery operated by an art dealer which specializes in displaying for sale contemporary art, usually new works of art by living artists. This approach has been called the "Castelli Method" ...

, Vancouver, 1994 *''Homelands,''

UCR/California Museum of Photography The UCR/California Museum of Photography (CMP) is an off-campus institution and department of the College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences at the University of California, Riverside, California, USA. The collections of UCR/CMP form the la ...

, University of California, Riverside, 2004 *''Sunil Gupta,''

Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photography The Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photography (CMCP) (french: Le Musée canadien de la photographie contemporaine (MCPC)) was a gallery of Canadian contemporary art and documentary photography. Founded in 1985 and affiliated to the National Galle ...

, Ottawa, Canada, 2005/2006 *''Dissent and Desire,''

Contemporary Arts Museum Houston Contemporary Arts Museum Houston is a not-for-profit institution in the Museum District, Houston, Texas, founded in 1948, dedicated to presenting contemporary art to the public. As a non-collecting museum, it strives to provide a forum for visual ...

, Houston, Texas, 2018. With Charan Singh. *''From Here to Eternity: Sunil Gupta. A Retrospective,''

The Photographers' Gallery The Photographers' Gallery was founded in London by Sue Davies opening on 14 January 1971, as the first public gallery in the United Kingdom devoted solely to photography. It is also home to the Deutsche Börse Photography Prize, established in ...

, London, 2020/2021 Curated by

Mark Sealy Mark may refer to: Currency * Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina * East German mark, the currency of the German Democratic Republic * Estonian mark, the currency of Estonia between 1918 and 1927 * Finn ...

Exhibitions curated by Gupta

*''Ecstatic Antibodies,''

Impressions Gallery Impressions Gallery is an independent contemporary photography gallery in Bradford, England. It was established in 1972 and located in York until moving to Bradford in 2007. Impressions Gallery also runs a photography bookshop, publishes its own ...

, York, 1990; and toured to

Chapter Arts Centre Chapter Arts Centre (often just referred to as Chapter) is an arts centre in Canton, Cardiff, Wales, opened in 1971. Description Chapter hosts films, plays, performance art and live music, and includes a free art gallery, café and bars. There ...

, Cardiff, 1990/1991; and elsewhere.

Collections

Gupta's work is held in the following permanent collections: *

, New York: 2 prints (as of October 2020) *

, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania *

, UK: 18 prints (as of October 2020)

References

External links

*
"Sunil Gupta’s life in photos"
at ''i-D'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Gupta, Sunil Royal Photographic Society members 21st-century Canadian photographers 20th-century Canadian photographers People with HIV/AIDS Alumni of the University of Westminster Alumni of the Royal College of Art Alumni of the University for the Creative Arts The New School alumni Concordia University alumni Dawson College alumni People from New Delhi 1953 births Living people Indian LGBT photographers Canadian LGBT photographers 21st-century Canadian LGBT people 20th-century Canadian LGBT people