Marcus Leatherdale’s photos of Adivasis in India
May 12, 2022
Marcus Leatherdale is known for his portraits of Andy Warhol, Keith Haring, Robert Mapplethorpe and other major figures of the 1980’s pop art movement in New York. He was also the studio manager for Mapplethorpe. “I was a part of ‘the in crowd.’ However, I did not totally realize at the time that I was archiving an era that would be extinct in twenty years. We thought we would be twenty-something forever,” he told an interviewer for Holden Luntz magazine.
In the late 1980’s, Leathersdale, his assistant and a driver drove all over India. “This was the start of my life’s work in India. I never took another photograph outside of India again,” he told Holden Luntz magazine.
Guna Samad, Ho Aduasi, Chaibasa. 1999. (c) Marcus Leatherdale. Throckmorton Fine Arts.
Ramsur Ram. 2001. (c) Marcus Leatherdale. Throckmorton Fine Arts.
Shukdev Bobo II 1997. (c) Marcus Leatherdale. Throckmorton Fine Arts.
Sagnu Marawee - Stilt Dancer, 2001.(c) Marcus Leatherdale. Throckmorton Fine Arts.
Sudhram Mana 2001 (c) Marcus Leatherdale. Throckmorton Fine Arts.
Shukev Baba II - Banaras 1990s.(c) Marcus Leatherdale. Throckmorton Fine Arts.
Goshla, Sundan & Madhu. Ratwa youths. 1993 (c) Marcus Leatherdale. Throckmorton Fine Arts.
In the 1990’s, along with his partner Jorge Serio, he lived part of the year in the state of Jharkhand, India. They also had homes in New York and Portugal. Since moving to India, Leatherdale mostly photographed holy men, beggars, fishermen and others in the country.
He also documented the Adivasi tribes, living in various forest regions of India, collectively more than 84 million in population. “I want to preserve the tradition of these proud people as best I can, somewhat like Edward Curtis did with the American Indians,” he told HowardLuntz Magazine. “My work can be viewed as anthropological portraiture.”
Last month, Leatherdale, 69-years-old, passed away in Jharkhand, India. Born in Canada, he earned a degree from the San Francisco Institute of Art.
Leatherdale’s photographs, both of India and New York, are available at Throckmorton Fine Arts, New York.
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