Ashok Sinha

The photographer’s first book showcases his love for car culture and classic roadside architecture in Los Angeles. Steve Fairclough drives by

- Steve Fairclough

Ashok Sinha

Photographer and filmmaker

Ashok Sinha is an architecture and interiors photographer and filmmaker. He fell in love with architecture while working on a travel assignment that included shooting architect Oscar Niemeyer’s Niterói Contemporary Art Museum in Rio de Janeiro. Since then, Sinha has worked around the world on a variety of residential, workplace, commercial and educational projects, producing timeless images that capture a sense of place.

Sinha’s work has been shown in over 25 group exhibitions and two solo exhibitions. His images have been published in The New York Times, Interior Design, Architectural Digest and many others.

www.ashoksinha.com www.gasandglamour.com

During the 1950s and early 1960s, under presidents Dwight D Eisenhower and John F Kennedy, America’s car industry boomed. Hand in hand with this, the rise of rock ’n’ roll, the space age, and beautiful roadside diners, bars, coffee shops and gas stations gave the US a sense of purpose and pride. Ashok Sinha has developed a passion for the car culture and the roadside architectural creations of this era, which is celebrated in his debut photo book, Gas and Glamour.

Although he is based in New York, Sinha made frequent visits to Los Angeles for over five years to research, visit and shoot most of the iconic roadside LA establishments that were still in business. The resulting book is an homage to the sheer beauty and originality of these buildings.

What circumstances led to you first photographing architecture?