For some, tigers are to be feared, as Frank Stockton writes in his celebrated short story “The Lady or the Tiger” — “the cruel fangs of … that awful tiger, those shrieks, that blood!” Others, such as the English poet William Blake, see the tiger in poetic terms:
“Tyger Tyger, burning bright,
In the forests of the night;
What immortal hand or eye,
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?”
Photographer Kunal Krishan Singh, whose photographic exhibition “Tigers of Ranthambhore” is currently on display at the Gandhi Memorial Center in Bethesda, clearly approaches the tigers which are the focus of his photography from a poetic view.
His poetic vision of these majestic animals can be witnessed in the titles he has given many of his photographs: “Dynastic Walk, “Prince,” “Reflections,” and “Paradise.” “Paradise” refers specifically to his location of choice, the Ranthambhore National Park in Rajasthan, India. Here are situated ancient ruins of forts and a monastery. This sacred locale of the latter may be the reference in his title “Paradise,” or it might be that a personal paradise came for Mr. Singh the day he finally succeeded after trying for many years to photograph a tiger strolling in this part of the park, with its many human visitors.
The photographer notes that one can spend thousands of hours in the severe, punishing heat of the sun and not see a tiger at all. In fact, his recommendation is that one should not expect to see a tiger on a mission to see one, for he notes, “a tiger sees you one hundred times before you see it.”
The many hours that the U.S.-based Mr. Singh has spent at the park since 2012 yielded him unforgettable photographs, such as the aforementioned “Reflections,” with two images of a tiger: one on land and the other its reflection in the water. There is also “Fire,” which catches an eagle in the middle of a fiery sun landscape possible only in the winter season. “Brothers” captures two tigers (one following another), whereas two other tigers may be seen fighting each other in the humorously titled “David vs. Goliath.”
Lastly, it should be noted that visitors who wend their way to the Gandhi Memorial Center will be embarking upon a vicarious trip to India. Not only are the fifteen photographs of tigers and other animals in the stunning natural backdrops of Ranthambhore National Park larger than life, but there are also an altar bedecked with the Vedic scriptures of Hinduism, a statue of Mahatma Gandhi at the spinning wheel in view of a gushing outside fountain, and a sizable library collection of books on Indian history and culture.
This, indeed, is the mission of the Gandhi Memorial Center: to foster the iconic legacy of Mohandas K. Gandhi as well as to promote in the national capital region an interest in the arts and culture of India. The “Tigers of Ranthambhore” photographic exhibition, which is free of charge, may be viewed by appointment through the end of May 2026 by contacting here.
