I believe whosoever has the ability to just enjoy the photographic process and is not bothered by the yield has the potential of becoming a good photographer. You see there is a good photographer and there are successful photographers. Both are different from where I stand.
1. Tell us about your background and journey as a photographer.
I started my career with advertising/communications back in 2004, and four years later landed up with an unpaid stint with India Today that went for 2 months, and then I started regular for them.
Just after working for 15 odd months for Living Media India limited, I started with a wire agency (European PressPhoto agency EPA) in 2008 and, till today, I have always been associated with wire agencies. Presently, I work for Gettyimages, Bloomberg News, and as a consultant Photo Editor with the AFP.
2. How do you think photography helps one connect with the world and its diverse cultures?
I can only speak for myself as my assignments take me mostly to those places which are usually not visited by many. I get to witness the harsh realities of life. Here we are doing a job that we like and enjoy and talk of quality of life but I have witnessed people struggling for survival. Such experiences keep me grounded and also respect their cultural practices as those are what keep them motivated.
3. What professional photographers have influenced your work, and how do you incorporate their techniques into your photographs?
I usually don’t incorporate any techniques or styles as the situation in which one photographer has worked and mastered is and always will be different from what I may encounter. So basically, I have to improvise as per the situation. Also, documentary projects which had been done earlier are totally different from the times we work now.
Today we work on shoe-string budgets, a very tight schedule, and have to make do with whatever situation is presented before us. I do have my favorites and they are not the ones in limelight or had been lucky but the ones who work practically like us, with us….Kevin Frayer is one such example.
4. Do you think editing is important for bringing out the meaning of a photograph or the colors in it? Or do you prefer raw images?
Editing and post-processing are two different things altogether. Post-processing is necessary as the camera equipment has certain limitation and are subject to wear and tear hence post helps a photographer to try to recreate the lighting and other color situations as exactly as possible.
Overdoing it makes the images look too artificial and fake. Just like some flaws make us beautiful, the same applies to visuals (at least for me). Editing is what makes a story…curating and sequencing are the real deal.
How to explain a story in a series of 8 or 10 photographs is the main challenge and now this challenge increases by the day due to the advancement of technology and multimedia presence where still and video footage with animation are combined to gather eyeballs.
5. What's your favorite thing to photograph?
“My favorite thing is to photograph” what I photograph depends on the assignment. I enjoy doing daily life sort of images.
6. What, according to you, are the important skills one should have to be a successful photographer?
I believe whosoever has the ability to just enjoy the photographic process and is not bothered by the yield has the potential of becoming a good photographer. You see there is a good photographer and there are successful photographers. Both are different from where I stand.
There are many things that make a successful photographer – like one can be extremely lucky, or his/or her contemporaries might be unlucky (laughs), opportunities, access…….these are a few things that make a photographer successful. But these things don’t make one a good photographer.
7. What are the biggest challenges you’ve faced to capture a moment or to get the perfect shot you want?
I face that all the time. Like sometimes there is lack of access or limited time to photograph and so on. Each assignment brings its own set of challenges.
8. What are some tips you would like to share with amateur photographers?
In this age of social media if someone wants to be a photographer he or she does not necessarily need to do a job as a photographer. If there is enough zeal one will always find time to go after their passion. Secondly, even if someone has landed into a job as a photographer one thing is to stay away from the ‘likes’ and secondly to never be satisfied with whatever one has shot.
9. If not this, what would you be doing?
I’d be doing this only even if I have continued with advertising. I might be earning a little less or a little more …….But would have been a photographer only.
10. Which is your favorite book/show and why?
There is nothing in particular but I like Kushwant Singh a lot and I read whatever William Dalrymple comes out. There are more but I can’t pinpoint on any. I realize as I grow and mature whatever I read or saw a decade back sometimes makes a greater impact on me when I re-read or revisit them now.
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