“Echoes of Silence” An Exhibition of Photographs By Eminent Photographer Dev Inder in Jehangir Art Gallery

 Dev Inder - The Silent Lens

In the corridors of my art college, where the smell of pigments and turpentine often lingered in the air, there was a man whose presence was as subtle as it was profound  Dev Inder Singh, he came to us as a teacher of the Punjabi language. His voice carried neither the weight of authority nor the pressure of command. Instead, he spoke with the gentleness of flowing water, soft and steady, as if each syllable he uttered had been tested in the silence of his heart before touching the air.

 Dev Inder

Dev Inder Singh is a man of few words, and those few words matter. It is as if he believes language is not meant to scatter recklessly like dry leaves in the wind, but to be placed with care, like flowers offered in prayer. He carries himself with an awareness so refined that even while speaking a single word, he seems to weigh its effect, as though a careless sound could make the flowers tremble or the leaves fall.

His photography, though he rarely speaks about it, is another form of silence. Through the lens, he captures what words cannot carry. Just as he uses language sparingly, he uses light, shadow, and moment with the same precision. His art is not about grandeur but about seeing, seeing with humility, with patience, with the same care he gives to words.

In my memory of him, there are no long lectures or loud expressions. There is only the quiet presence of a man whose wisdom is not in what he says, but in how he says it. He shows us that to speak softly is not weakness, but strength; that to live with awareness is the highest form of artistry. To us, he is less a teacher of language and more a teacher of life, a teacher of silence-the greatest strength of all great visualization.

Like the whisper of a hymn that lingers long after the sound has faded,  Dev Inder Singh remains in my heart-a reminder that silence itself is a language, and that the truest art begins not with paint or camera, but with the awareness of a single word. A man of few words, his voice is a hymn-soft as incense rising, gentle as a river turning. A disciple of the Guru, he whispers language like prayer, never to wound, only to heal.

Through his lens, he does not capture, he receives. His photographs are haikus, few lines of eternity, where clouds carry messages unknown, trees dance in joy, leaves descend as blessings, and shadows sing in praise, writing calligraphic forms with black ink upon the ground. Light itself becomes his storyteller, revealing the momentary flame of being-fragile, fleeting, yet radiant as creation's smile.

He wanders not as conqueror, but as pilgrim-eyes half-closed, surrendered, wondering at the vast play of the world, smiling at its mystery. From him we learn that silence is a language, that words can be prayers, that photographs can be hymns, and that the truest art is reverence.

- Sidharth

12th to 18th November 2025

“Echoes of Silence”

An Exhibition of Photographs

By Eminent Photographer Dev Inder

VENUE:

Jehangir Art Gallery

Terrace Gallery

161-B, M.G. Road

Kala Ghoda, Mumbai 400001

Timing: 11am to 7pm

Contact: +91 9872401204