Raceday

Description

Sunhil Sippy, director and photographer, very modestly describes RACEDAY as a documentation of the Mahalakshmi Racecourse and its ecosystem. But as you hold this beautifully produced photobook, you realise it’s so much more.

“I didn’t think I cared much for racing. But as I continued to return to the racecourse, I began to realise that I had stumbled upon a very unusual world. One that would reveal more about the city than I could ever have imagined at that time.”

The Mahalakshmi Racecourse, initially at the outskirts of a growing city, now completely overwhelmed by it, is never at rest. It is a place where people learn to witness greatness, and be part of it.

Over a decade of returning to the same place, at different hours and in different moods, led Sunhil to observe and document the many lives of the Mahalakshmi Racecourse — the horses, the riders, the trainers, the punters and everyone else. What began as an unhurried act of looking, grew into RACEDAY — a body of work shaped by patience, trust, and a deep curiosity for how communities endure within a rapidly changing city.

Starting with the arduous task of sorting through imagery made between 2015 and 2024, Sunhil and Zeenat Kulavoor (of Bombay Duck Design) spent two years meticulously designing each of the four elements that add up to what you are about to experience.

The Gamblers Booklet, with Sunhil’s photographs juxtaposed with brilliant racing slogans by Shiven Surendranath, a committee member of the RWITC, is an educational and humorous preview to the world you are about to encounter.

Up next, the magnificently crafted deep green embossed hardbound edition of RACEDAY gives you access to the inner world of the Mahalaxmi Racecourse. The excellent photos are reproduced with the finest attention to detail.

Below this volume is a matching green folder that holds a book of captions, a glossary and two essays. Through these captioned thumbnails, you will find yourself revisiting the photobook with a shift in perspective and curiosity.

Lastly, inside the green folder is another small square sleeve holding the best surprise: six monochrome slides of images from the book. Place them against the glossary’s white cover to see the scenes in all their glory. Holding up the slides against the light or a lighter background to see the details, will immediately transport you to a slower, more charming time in the city.

Whether you start your way through the book with the first photo, or wind your way through the racecourse, each picture’s play on light and darkness, the emotions of winning and losing, so sparingly rendered are complete stories in themselves, endless and enduring.