editorial the Meandering route “It slows you ...where my aim is to not have one. Quieten the mind so that it whispers down and yet inconsequentially in the midst of that reverie. Nothing more but pleasant communion with the road. The crowds swirl past, as though I do not you speed up exist. They don’t exist either. Just a form here, a movement there. because you see Raucous laughter. Faces, drenched in the late November afternoon so much more.” sunlight. Bicycles glide slowly into the frame. A goat thoughtfully chews on watermelon peels by my knee. Things happen in a coordinated dance, a ballet where nothing is in control but everything really is. Who am I now? There’s no identity anymore. I’m free. Not everyone is, though. Tacked inescapably to the banyan tree, a faceless colour-streaked rain-damaged God watches on with infinite patience. One more monsoon, and he would be free too. A few missed moments stick around, and then fade. Once in a rare while, I manage to pluck one and save it from oblivion, hopefully just as I saw it. How the hours roll away! A delicious, dull ache in the feet finds them ambling over to Cafe Hindustan. The tiny, rundown, hole-in-the-wall eatery behind a line of parked taxis looks exactly as it has, for the last three years. “Do Suleimani chai, shakkar kum, nimbu daalke”, yells the owner at a window connecting to the sooty kitchen. And then asks me about my thoughts on The Potato Eaters. He introduces me to Edvard Munch, I introduce him to Frida Kahlo. “It’s Mun-kh, not Munch,” he corrects my pronunciation. We talk lighting. He made me look at more paintings than any gallerist. Odd place to discover great conversation like that. Behind the kitchen is a door that opens to an aquamarine green wall. A red bicycle leans against it. It has been around in exactly the same position for a while now. The cook at the kitchen window leans out for yet another portrait. 4 I remind myself that I need to get back to work with sending this issue to the press. The greatest joy of photography is that it lets you escape, away from yourself and into yourself at the same time. It slows you down and yet you speed up because you see so much more. There is no focus and there shouldn’t be, but so many things inexorably become clear and sharp. When you meander, you let yourself discover. The type of photography you do does not change anything. The streets may differ, the path remains the same.
K Madhavan Pillai [email protected] Untitled, Alabama, 1956 by Gordon Parks A magazine left behind in a dining car by a patron, where a restless, 25-year- old Gordon Parks was waiting tables, turned his attention towards photography as a way to both make a living and, possibly, make a statement of his times. “I chose the camera as a weapon against all the things I dislike about America—poverty, racism, discrimination,” he said.
To read more about Gordon Parks and his will to never give up or give in—
Photograph by Gordon Parks. Parks. Gordon by Photograph Foundation Parks courtesy of The Gordon Copyright Turn to page 94
Better PhotograPhy decemBer 2016 VOLUME 20 • ISSUE 7 • DECEMBER 2016
CEO-NEWS AND GROUP EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Chief Human Resources Officer, Network18 GET PUBLISHED IN BETTER PHOTOGRAPHY Rahul Joshi Girish Naik Participate in online contests, share your best tips and techniques to get your work noticed. Follow EVP-Human Reasources these simple guidelines: EDITORIAL For Your Pictures, Reader’s Gallery and Reader’s Tip: Chief Editor Sanjeev Kumar Singh Visit http://betterphotography.in/contests and K Madhavan Pillai register yourself on the website NEWSSTAND & SUBSCRIPTIONS Participate in the relavant contests on the page. Deputy Editor-Technical There will always be a contest open for you to take Head-Circulation & Subscription Shridhar Kunte part in! Kripanand S For Reader’s Gallery contests, make sure the Assistant Editor images have been made using a cellphone Raj Lalwani For Reader’s Tip and Your Pictures contests, WEST: Mumbai: Dinesh Devadiga, Laxman include a 100-word note on how and why you shot Features Writers NORTH: Delhi: Kamal Bisht, Kamakhya Pandey the image Conchita Fernandes Winners of all the contests get featured on our EAST: Kolkata: Debraj Sur website and can be featured in the magazine too. Natasha Desai SOUTH: Chennai/Hyderabad: Karunanithi, Naveen They will also receive special prizes! Sakshi Parikh Send in a synopsis, with low-resolution images for viewing, to contribute articles to the Newsstand Accounts Senior Editor–Online following sections: Sanjay Yalavatti Anant Athavale, Rahul Mankar On Assignment, Step-by-Step, Photofeature, Tips & Tricks, Shooting Technique, History, Story Behind the Picture DESIGN & PRODUCTION Subscription Team Get in Touch with us: To have your images reviewed by our panel of experts: Assistant Art Director Kamlesh Mathakar, Vaibhav Ghavale: 9324490187 [email protected] Santosh D Kamble To showcase your best photographs: Mahesh A Jadhav Logistics [email protected] Anant Shirke To contribute articles and for questions MARKETING & SALES on photography: [email protected] For your suggestions, appreciation and criticism 6 Vice President Sales & Marketing NEWSSTAND & SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES on the magazine: [email protected] Amit Seth For newsstand and trade queries, please write to at [email protected] Views and opinions expressed in this magazine are not necessarily National Sales Head those of Network18 Media & Investments Ltd (Network18)*, its publisher For any subscription queries, please write to Vaibhav and/or editors. We at Network18 do our best to verify the information Badri Narayan: 9845045008 published but do not take any responsibility for the absolute accuracy at [email protected] of the information. Network18 does not accept the responsibility for any investment or other decision taken by readers on the basis of information North Customercare No-33634760 | 4562 provided herein. Network18 does not take responsibility for returning Harshvardhan Verma: 9899555090 unsolicited material sent without due postal stamps for return postage. No part of this magazine can be reproduced without the prior written Rajat Chauhan: 9868103422 To subscribe to Better Photography online, permission of the publisher. Network18 reserves the right to use the information published herein in any manner whatsoever. visit http://eshop.infomedia18.in West Published and Printed by Amit Seth on behalf of Network18 Rekha Billava: 9819002934 ADVERTISING SERVICES Media & Investments Ltd. Editor: K Madhavan Pillai Printed Sales Support at Indigo Press (India) Pvt. Ltd., Plot # 1 C/716, Off Dadoji For advertising and sales queries, please write to Konddeo Cross Road Between Sussex & Retiwala Indl., Estate, Sagar Salunkhe [email protected] Byculla, Mumbai - 400027, & published at Network 18 Media Abhijit Bhoir [email protected] & Investments Ltd., Empire Complex, 1st Floor, 414, Senapati Bapat Marg, Lower Parel, Mumbai - 400013. Asst. Manager Marketing
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“It’s amazing SHOOTING TECHNIQUE SHOOTING TECHNIQUE “When combining is like a pictorial time machine, allowing art with sport, what matters is how some not the reaction of its readers to time travel and know more the audience, but that of the athlete.” Daniel Vojtech about the photograph. What TIME has It’s important to look at sport from an Based in Prague, Daniel insider’s perspective, not that of a distant individuals can owns his own studio but works almost everywhere observer. This thrilling moment needed on the planet. He loves the POV of the pilot, for which I used a shooting action sports, fisheye, and got really, really close. lifestyle and commercials created is wonderful. Although, BP has as well. He is the winner Equipment: Nikon D5, Nikkor 16mm f/2.8 AF Fisheye create stunning of the Sequence category. Exposure Details: 1/250 at f/5.6 (ISO 640) been doing the same by covering every photographs aspect of history and not just the iconic by living and moments, thereby inspiring us one image 70 71 shooting so at a time. precariously.” Rithika Jain, Bhopal Covering Photo Festivals DANIEL’S ADVICE While Shooting Sequence Shots Tripods are usually Since a while, I have been enjoying invaluable while making sequence images, but there are vantage points that won’t allow the same, and that’s when it’s crucial to be quick, the turn that Better Photography has well planned and instinctively reactive. Daniel Vojtech/Red Bull Illume Daniel Vojtech/Red BETTER PHOTOGRAPHY NOVEMBER 2016 NOVEMBER 2016 BETTER PHOTOGRAPHY taken, writing stories about upcoming photo festivals and highlighting the Shooting on the Edge The story on Red Bull photographers who will be showcased The November 2016 cover story about Illume Quest appeared in there. As an amateur photographer, the November 2016 issue the Red Bull Illume Quest was one that of Better Photography, this helps me to see new work and seek I thoroughly enjoyed. I loved how each and documented the inspiration from it regularly. These stories photograph was created with raw emotions experiences of 15 action give us a closer insight into the ever and at epic locations. Every photographer photographers as they expanding photography fraternity, captured the winning featured, has managed to capture the images of the contest. worldwide. moments and thrill of adventure, doing I was particularly drawn to Saumya justice to the theme of the competition. Khandelwal’s photo story, Shattered 10 When I saw the cover on the stands, Childood and Claire Rosen’s Birds of a Feather I was stunned by the sheer brilliance of series which were featured in the Indian the picture that was created by Daniel Photography Festival, Hyderabad. Kudos to Vojtech. Being an avid mountaineer and BP for bringing the photo community an adventure photographer, I always tend together in every possible way. to seek inspiration by going on treks, Vinayak Kalani, Pune and shooting on the trails. But, these 15 imagemakers possess much needed A Beautiful Emergency bravado to create something so enthralling As a fi ne art photographer who is drawn as these images. to self portraiture, I am in a constant More than the mindblowing visuals, Cig Harvey’s search for inspiration. Cig Harvey’s profi le photographs were what really inspired me are the stories that showcased in the in the November 2016 issue, You Look at give us a sneak peak into their courageous November 2016 issue of Me Like an Emergency is one of the most lives, and allow us to marvel at the way they Better Photography, and stimulating pieces I have read in a long are living it. spoke of love, loss and time. I was particularly attracted to her embracing your life. Delilah Rodrigues, Bengaluru Showcasing 100 Iconic Images PROFILE
hether set up or found, While observing it, I felt like I was I recently stumbled upon TIME preconceived or in-the- suspended somewhere between a teenage moment, Cig Harvey’s novel and a mother’s world. The ambiguity images evoke a sense of both drew me in and left me wondering. Cig feels that faces mystery and wonder, and are too specific to the W Diaristic Visualisations The stories that often involve human interaction with the person. Hence, while natural world. When I saw her work for the Over the years, Cig’s tenacity, brought about Cig tells through her magazine’s celebratory photo collection making self portraits, pictures become a place first time, I so was pulled in by the strength by an extreme and infectious passion for she consciously tried to that helps her to go back hide her face to make and vibrancy of the images that I was a little photography, opened up new avenues for and make sense of the of 100 infl uential images of all time on the image look universal. cautious of being seduced. her, all of which she was able to accomplish world and people in it. their website. Along with the photographs, TIME also shared the story behind these iconic photographs and 20 documentary 115 fi lms regarding the same. The website reminded me of a regular BP feature, Story Behind the Picture that is published every month. I tend to read the You Look at Me magazine backwards, and that section if Like an Emergency Sakshi Parikh delves into Cig Harvey’s life, as she talks about her relationship with her my favourite thing to read as it is extremely family, finding true love and striking a perfect balance between reality and fantasy.
BETTER PHOTOGRAPHY NOVEMBER 2016 NOVEMBER 2016 BETTER PHOTOGRAPHY informative. Apart from that, this section
BETTER PHOTOGRAPHY DECEMBER 2016 Twitter: twitter.com/betterphoto Facebook: facebook.com/betterphotography Youtube: youtube.com/betterphotoindia FIND US ONLINE! Website: betterphotography.in
Capturing the Magical Mundanity I have been a professional photographer for more extensively photographing Nyasa. As a control than a decade. With an elaborate shooting style, I freak, I read every book on the subject matter, We believe that the spend days brainstorming and prepping for a shoot. borrowing ideas from Sally Mann, Nikki Boon and joy of a family photo where everything on the set is preplanned and in others, only to learn that my child has a mind of is in displaying order. I gave up this control two years ago, with the her own and she cannot pose. it. To make your birth of my daughter, Nyasa. I slowly began photographing her, observing special memories her effortlessly play. By doing so, not only did she As a woman on quest of being a doting mother, stand out, this photography took a backseat for me. Althought, and I devised a new method to bond, I also began Letter of the motherhood is an extraordinary feeling, and I love learning several things about her, which I initially every bit of it. But, at the same time I missed making thought are regular. Creating images of Nyasa Month wins a pictures because I found solace in it. The absence made me once again fall in love with my passion special Photo Frame of imaging resulted in cribbing about being unable to and motherhood. I also realised how magical from Red Moments! shoot as I didn’t have the time or a muse, forgetting these tiny humans are, and its incredible to lose that my inspiration is crawling and growing in front control once in a while. of me. It was my mother who suggested that I start Sripriya Khaitan, New York
“Cig Harvey’s honest approach towards the medium, as everything around her. As she talked work involves she photographed herself and her family. about the chaos that she once loved, I a deep human Her images weave a journey, so simple realised how much I could relate to her as interaction yet so profound that I could not help, but an individual and as a photographer. resonate with it. We all try to fi nd quietude amidst the with the I was amazed at how deeply she can noise and chaos. Each person needs an natural world, thing and create such banal images from outlet to channel their negativity into 12 and strikes a thoughts that are basically these deep something beautiful and worthwhile. perfect balance diaristic visualisations. Her documentation This edit note is a fi rst step towards it. of her life is indeed a catalogue of Sreyashi Pandit, Ahmedabad between reality psychological representation that and fantasy.” highlights several stages of growing up and seeking contentment. Editorial “It’s incredible Finding Comfort in the Abandoned Shyamali Basu, Udaipur how feelings of pessimism I’ve often wondered… What makes the cellphone such an attractive device to and negativity tell stories? Beyond the obvious reasons, I wasn’t able to arrive at a satisfactory conclusion. And so, I decided to look at myself. can result in Some of my favourite photographs are of the mundane, devoid of any a beautiful human presence. On the rare occasion where I have included some form of revelation, one life, it has been that of a horse or a stray. Their presence has always comforted that I discovered me, and I have found reassurance in their ability of unconditional love. Otherwise, my visuals come From a Negative to a Positive from dilapidated structures and castaways. It is strange how I continue to be drawn to an old rusted through the bicycle, lodged against an abandoned wall, located close to where I live. It’s even stranger that I don’t cameraphone.” quite know why I continue to visit it, like an old friend. But during each of these encounters, my phone has always been with me, and I’d make sure to record a snippet of its life, as if it were its last day. Every month, I eagerly wait to read As I continued to look at the photographs, I discovered what I was running away from; the chaos that I had once loved and come to enjoy, had now turned into a deafening noise. It was slowly taking away bits and pieces of me. That’s when I discovered the answer. The cellphone is my personal diary. Better Photography’s issue. Apart from I have found solace in it, in the act of documenting the various snippets of my silent encounters. My cellphone does not judge who I am. It lets me be who I need to be with myself and gives me the freedom of choosing who I am with others. It allows me to escape when I need to. Could this be the reason why the cellphone has become such a personal device... Because it protects all of my identities, the remarkable articles featured in the and allows me to switch and slip in between? This, to me, is the best quality of the cellphone; one that I hope continues to prevail above the addictive, deceptive and meaningless imagery that threatens to take over. journal, the edit notes are my favourite 51 Conchita Fernandes thing to read. Conchita Fernandes’s edit Instagram: @schmoochita note, Finding Comfort in the Abandoned in Untitled by Mitul Kajaria “The absence in Mitul’s quiet and contemplative the cellphone section of the November photographs, is not made out to be something to loathe or despair over. Conchita Fernandes’s Instead, it’s calming and symbolic of the quieter 2016 issue is my favourite. and peaceful moments that we often overlook.” edit note, Finding Comfort
To see the winning images from the Reader’s In the article, Conchita has talked Gallery Contest — in the Abandoned, ‘A Place Called Home’ Turn to page 54
Cover photograph by appeared in the November about her cellphone being her personal Mitul Kajaria 2016 issue of Better diary, and how she found solace in the Best wide-angle lens? Two steps backward. Look for the ‘ah-ha’. ERNST HAAS (1921-86) Photography and talked One of the pioneers of colour photography, Haas bridged the gap between photojournalism and the use of photography as a medium for expression. His, in art of documenting scenes as she quietly fact, was the first ever single-artist exhibition of colour photography at New York’s Museum of Modern Art. about the diaristic side of NOVEMBER 2016 BETTER PHOTOGRAPHY walks around observing and absorbing cellphone photography. Editorial_CF.indd 51 23-10-2016 13:42:21
BETTER PHOTOGRAPHY DECEMBER 2016 SnapShotsShots
WHaT’S neW Renuka Puri Wins the Press Council of India Award nikon D5600 he Press Council of India recently The Nikon D5600 features 24MP sensor and EXPEED Tcelebrated the golden jubilee of 4 processor. It includes a National Press Day by announcing the 3.2-inch fully articulated winners excellence in journalism awards. touchscreen LCD and allows Veteran journalist, S Nihal Singh won the to control auto ISO via the touch Fn button. The camera has adopted Nikon D5’s frame Raja Ram Mohan Roy Award, whereas advance bar touch interface, and is equipped Renuka Puri, head photographer, Indian with SnapBridge technology along with time Express won the National Award for lapse movie function found in advanced models. Photojournalism. Renuka won this award Leica TL for her photo story that documented the The Leica TL is an updated life of a young girl undergoing police version of the Leica T. training at the police academy in New presented the awards to the recipients. The camera features an Delhi. The newspaper won the award Other winners included, T P Dhanesh 16MP APS-C sensor with an improved AF performance especially while consecutively for the fi fth year. of Malayalam Manorama and Pritam shooting in continuous AF-C mode. It has a The function was attended by the Prime Bandyopadhyay of Asian Age who were 3.7-inch touchscreen, 5fps continuous shooting Minister, Narendra Modi, Information jointly selected in the Single News Picture with an ISO range of 100–12500. The Leica TL has and Broadcasting (I&B) Minister, category for Photojournalism. Vijay Verma an internal memory of 32GB and retails for USD 1700 (approx. Rs. 1.1 lakhs). M Venkaiah Naidu and Minister of State of The Press Trust of India got the Special for I&B, Rajayvardhan Singh Rathore who Mention Certifi cate in the same category. 14 PC nikkor 19mm f/4e eD The PC Nikkor 19mm f/4E ED is a tilt shift lens with perspective control. The lens Sharbat Gula, From Magazine Cover to Mugshot offers an ultrawide angle of 97° can shift +/–12mm and he woman who rose to fame as the face tilt +/–7.5°. Unlike the previous designs, the of Steve McCurry’s iconic photograph, mechanism for tilt can be rotated independently T from the mechanism of shift. This allows the The Afghan Girl (1985) was arrested by tilt to be set either parallel or perpendicular to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) the shift. Priced at USD 3400 (approx. Rs. 2.3 in Peshawar for alleged forgery of a lakhs), this lens is ideal for shooting panoramas Computerised National Identity Card and even fi lmmaking. (CNIC). Sharbat Gula, 46 was accused Vivo V5 of using fake identity card and living in The Vivo V5 has a 5.5-inch HD display Pakistan illegally. McCurry’s famous magazine cover with Sharbat’s photo, The and comprises of 13MP rear camera Initially she faced about 14 years in and a 20MP front camera with a afghan Girl along with her mugshot while in the custody of FIa. Moonlight Glow feature that induces a prison and a fi ne of USD 5000 (approx. natural glow on the face while taking Rs. ) if proven guilty. FIA was also looking Pakistan back to Afghanistan where she has selfi es. The phone runs on Funtouch OS at the government offi cials and their role in been given a fully furnished apartment by 2.6 based on Android 6.0 Marshmallow and has issuing identity cards to foreigners without the Afghanistan’s president, Ashraf Ghani. a 4GB RAM. It includes a 3000mAh battery and retails for Rs. 17,980. proper papers. After a spending a month She will soon be arriving in Bengaluru and in the custody, Gula was deported from receiving a free treatment of Hepatitis C.
Whether he is an artist or not, the photographer is a joyous sensualist, for the simple reason that the eye traffi cs in feelings, not in thoughts.
WaLkeR eVanS (1903-1975)
Walker Evans was known as the founder of documentary tradition in American photography, and one of the most infl uential photographers of the 20th Century. He along with several other Farm Security Administration lensmen under the guidance of Roy Stryker, documented the Great Depression (1929). However, Evans focused on the essence of American life and revealed a deep respect for the neglected traditions of the common man through his pictures. Later, along with James Agee, he published Let Us Now Praise Famous Men (1941), a book about the sharecropping families from Alabama.
Better PhotograPhy decemBer 2016 snaPshots
WHaT’S neW Souvid Datta Wins the Visura Grant 2016 ZOPO Color F2 isura recently announced Souvid Datta The ZOPO Color F2 Smarfeatures a 5.5-inch HD display and uses a 8MP Vas the recipient of the photojournalism rear camera with AF, along with an grant 2016. He received this award along 5MP front camera. It is equipped with a with USD 5000 (approx. Rs. 3.4 lakhs ) for 2300mAh battery, front and back LED his long term photo project, Vanishing Girls of flash, and Face Beauty 4.0 feature for perfect selfies. The phone comes with a Android West Bengal that explores the socio-economic 6.0 Marshmallow OS and retails for Rs. 10,790. contexts perpetuating child trafficking in Kolkata’s red-light district of Sonagachi. HTC 10 Desire Pro The work showcases the routes and a photograph from Souvid’s award winning photo series The HTC 10 Desire Pro is a dual sim about child trafficking,Vanishing Girls of West Bengal. phone with a 3000mAh battery. mechanisms by which girls are kidnapped, It features a 5.5-inch full HD display, a abused and sold into unlawful areas. Visura who earned top honors and honorable 20MP f/2.2 rear camera with laser AF also recognised 12 other photojournalists, mentions for their work and vision. in pro mode, and a 13MP front camera that can create 150° selfie panoramas. The phone is equipped with 64GB internal and 4G RAM, and also has an ultrafast fingerprint system. Photographers Assaulted Outside Bombay House Olympus STF-8 ecently some of the security officials Among the assaulted lensmen were The Olmpus STF-8 twin at the Bombay House, Tata Group mid-day’s Atul Kamble and Hindustan Times’ flash offers a weatherproof R macro flash option. Designed headquarters in Fort, Mumbai attacked Arijit Sen. According to Atul, “I have been with full TTL support for media photographers who were gathered in this profession for nearly 20 years, but Olympus cameras, this flash will illuminate close there to capture images of now oustered Tata have never seen such a ruthless attack up subjects and can control over 4 groups of chairman Cyrus Mistry. on photojournalists.” This was strongly 16 flashes wirelessly. The unit can it will cover a 12mm lens on MFT format camera and each The minor scuffle turned into a major condemned by Mumbai Press Club. flash head can be tilted up to 60°. Priced at USD attack, as the guards began abusing and Tata Sons issued a statement stating, 480 (approx. Rs. 32,500) this flash is dustproof, assaulting all the photographers present “We profusely apologize to the press corp splashproof, and freezeproof. there, injuring them in the process and and their families for this incident. We will Loupedeck damaging their gear. ensure that such a situation doesn’t recur.” Loupdeck is a new physical console that is designed primarily for editing photos in Adobe Lightroom. The console weighs 1kg Photojournalist Ruth Gruber Passes Away at 105 and is 15.7-inch wide, and has all buttons, knobs and sliders required for operating the software. enowned photojournalist, Acting for president, Franklin Loupdeck has a simple plug and play mechanism, Rauthor and a fearless D Roosevelt, Ruth escorted over and will retail for USD 410 (approx. Rs. 28,000). chronicler of the Jewish struggle, 1000 refugees from over 19 Nazi- Walkstool Ruth Gruber, passed away on occupied countries to the USA Walkstool is a three legged seat 17 November. With a career in 1944. She also worked for The meant for photographers on the spanning over seven decades, New York Herald Tribune, and The move. Featuring telescopic legs that she was a correspondent in New York Post where she covered can be fully unfolded, it is available in six heights ranging from 18–30 Europe and the Middle East, and various war crime trials. inches. The legs are constructed wrote several books based on According to Ruth, “I had two from sturdy, lightweight aluminium that can bear a her plight of Jewish refugees, intercepted by tools to fight injustice— words and images, load of up to 250kg. The variants weigh from 650g the British on the infamous passage of the my typewriter and my camera. I have to to 1050g that make them easy to carry around. Exodus to Palestine in 1947. live a story to write it.”
Better PhotograPhy decemBer 2016 eVenTS
1-31 December Photosphere 2016 India Habitat Centre, new Delhi
PRO TaLk BBC Wildlife Photography Awards Unveils its Winners Organised by India Habitat Photosite or Centre, the year-long photoreceptor is a he Natural History Museum, UK and an award in the Birds’ category for his Photography Festival tiny well on an image TBBC Wildlife recently declared the photograph, Eviction Attempt that shows a an based on sustainable sensor that collects development will winners of their 52nd wildlife photography Indian rose-ringed parakeet combating a photons of light culminate in a one-month contest. American photographer Tim Bengal monitor lizard over a nesting hole. and measures the grand finale which Laman claimed the Wildlife Photographer UK-based, Gideon Knight received the title includes workshops, brightness of red, exhibitions, show and tell, green or blue light of the Year award for his Entwined Lives of the Young Wildlife Photographer of the talks, curated walks and falling into it. data from image series that displayed a critically Year. The winning images can be viewed on photo festival. For more these three colors is endangered Bornean orangutan in the the museum’s website, www.nhm.ac.uk. information, visit www. combined to produce indiahabitatcentre.org the pixels that make up Indonesian rainforest. a digital image. Mumbai-based photographer, 3-10 December Nayan Khanolkar was awarded the The african Portraits ICIa art Gallery, Mumbai Wildlife Photographer of the Year Award in the Urban Wildlife category. Selected out of 50,000 entries, his image, The Alley Cat, emphasised the co-existence between the Warli tribe Mahesh Shantaram living in Mumbai’s Sanjay Gandhi The exhibit features work of Mahesh Shantaram, National Park and the leopards. who attempts to bring the Ganesh H. Shankar, another stories and lives of African Indian photographer bagged Khanolkar Nayan students living in India to the conscious attention of the larger Indian public. Call for entries 18 These photographs highlight the necessity Prize: The overall winner of both categories gets a cash of acknowledging and prize of RMB 100,000 (approx. Rs. 9.8 lakhs). Also, five addressing the racism runner ups of each category will receive a cash prize they face. For more of RMB 10,000 (approx. Rs. 98,800). details, visit www. entry Fee: Free entry tasveerarts.com Website: en.g-photography.net 15-18 December Deadline: 28 December 2016 Grassland Fantasy Rajasthan Sony World Photography awards The Competition: The world’s largest photography competition’s aim is to raise the level of conversation around photography by celebrating the best imagery and photographers present in the world. Categories: Professional (Architecture, Landscape, Sport, Portraiture, Conceptual), Open (Architecture, Organised by Darter Culture, Enhanced, Motion, Nature) Photography, the wildlife Prize: The photographer of the year will receive USD photography tour Participate in the exposure awards 2017 25,000 (approx. Rs. 17 lakhs) and the Open competition explores the spectacular exposure awards 2017 The Competition: The contest aims at discovering winner will receive USD 5000 (approx. Rs. 3.4 lakhs). grassland in the hidden to win cash prizes and showcasing the world’s best contemporary entry Fee: Free corners of Rajasthan. worth Rs. 6.8 lakhs. photographers from different parts of the world. The tour costs Rs. 33,650. Categories: All types of digital and film photography, Website: www.worldphoto.org For more details, visit including portrait, travel, fashion, wedding and more. Deadline: Professional– 10 January 2017, and Youth and www.darter.in Prize: The grand prize winner will receive a cash prize Open– 5 January 2017 of USD 10,000 (approx. Rs. 6.8 lakhs) along with a B&H 17-18 December gift card worth USD 1,000 (approx. Rs. 68,000). The Vox Voubs International Photography awards art and Science Populi Award winner will receive a cash prize of USD The Competition: The contest aims at searching and Photography 5,000 (approx. Rs. 3.4 lakhs). awarding the best photographer internationally. Workshop entry Fee: USD 20 (approx. Rs. 1360) Categories: People and Portraits, Architecture, Food, Hotel Parle International, Mumbai Website: www.lensculture.com Fashion, Reportage Organised by Toehold, the Deadline: 20 December 2016 Prize: The Photographer of the Year gets a cash prize two-day workshop will of 5000 Euros (approx. Rs.3.6 lakhs) and the winners help in understanding the of each category wins a cash prize of 2000 Euros concepts of photography Global Photography International Contest (approx. Rs. 1.4 lakhs). and bridging the gap The Competition: The contest encourages the participants between what you see and to record moments that express aesthetic interest and entry Fee: 9.6 Euros (approx. Rs. 693) what you get. The fees is subjective emotions. Website: www.voubs.com Rs. 7100. To register, visit Categories: Documentary and Fine Art Deadline: 15 January 2017 www.toehold.in
Better PhotograPhy decemBer 2016
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17-18 December How to Transform Passion into Profession Cuckoo Club, Mumbai PRO TaLk TIME Releases 100 Most Influential Photos of All Time Moiré is a wavy pattern that can ecently, TIME magazine celebrated the birth of photography and Discovery Channel, appear when the object R in association with being photographed photojournalism by releasing a multimedia The Walnut School of has repetitive details experience that tells stories behind the 100 Creativity, is organising that exceed the a workshop on how resolution of the image most influential images ever created. to creatively imagine, sensor. Intricate fabric Displayed as an interactive virtual capture and develop weaves, the screens in museum, the photo collection includes content. The fees is windows and even hair essays, 20 original documentaries that Rs. 1500. To register, visit can produce moiré. www.thewalnutideas.com changed the world and shaped the human experience. Along with the website, TIME Bourke-White Margaret 12-14 January - Bharatpur 19-21 January - Varanasi is also publishing a companion photo story. The entire set is available for viewing Photo Tour with book and will feature the story as its cover on their website, www.100photos.time.com. Better Photography CMOSIS Unveils its 48MP Sensor with Global Shutter elgian manufacturer, 27.62mm. The new sensor Amarjeet Singh Experience the best of BCMOSIS that makes uses a 8-transistor pixel street photography and sensors for some of architecture to offer bird photography with BP’s photo tour to the the Leica cameras has low noise and excellent undiscovered lanes of announced the launch of electronic shutter efficiency. Varanasi and Bharatpur. their new high resolution The sensor operates at 30fps 20 Along with interactive sessions and assistance, 48MP sensor with with 12-bit pixel depth the tours costs Rs. 25,000 global shutter and 8K at full resolution, and up respectively. For more video feature. The global to 60fps with pixel sub details, please send an email to workshops@ shutter will record the images of fast moving sampling to 4K resolution. The sensor will betterphotography.in subjects without any distortion. provide a detailed view of large surface areas Described as a medium format sensor, required in automation applications like 9-23 March Focus 2017 the CMV50000 CMOS sensor is sized systems for inspection of displays of mobile Mumbai close to 35mm and measures 36.43 x phones, tablets and so on. Facebook to Relax its Image Censorship Rules fter receiving harsh criticism for abuse of power. The iconic photograph removing the famous ‘Napalm Girl’ was removed on the grounds of a blanket For the third edition of A the biennial photography image, taken by photographer Nick Ut, ban on nudity in all images posted on the festival, the theme Facebook is planning to relax its censorship social network. Facebook announced this ‘Memory’ will focus rules around news event. change in its new blog post stating, “We’re on revisiting the past and talking about the This was a result of an open letter going to begin allowing more items that present. For more published by a famous Norwegian people find newsworthy, or important to information visit, www. newspaper, Aftenposten that accused the public interest— even if they might focusfestivalmumbai.com Facebook CEO, Mark Zuckerberg of otherwise violate our standards.”
Better PhotograPhy decemBer 2016 snaPshots
In DuSTRy VOICe Adobe Announces its Seagate Unveils 5TB “Being able to focus on details while editing is a definite game changer for me.” Reuters Partnership Portable Hard Drive Photography is constantly evolving, technically as dobe is planning to team up with eagate has launched the world’s largest well as aesthetically. The AReuters in an effort to strengthen its Scapacity mobile drive. Known as the market is booming with the Stock app offerings. This partnership will Backup Plus Portable, this drive measures arrival of the new digital bring the entire video and editorial image 4.5 x 3 x 0.8-inches can store up to 5TB and mirrorless cameras along with an expansion collection of Reuters under Adobe Stock, of data in a small lightweight case that is in the cellphone section. where users will be able to license content easy to carry around. It weighs 250g and There are more images directly from Creative Cloud. The company has Seagate’s 2.5-inch BarraCuda platter Paul Burnett taken on a mobile camera has also unveiled, Adobe Sensei, an AI technology. The hard drive has a durable Principal aPac evangelist, everyday than in the adobe creative cloud history of digital camera. technology based visual search tool that will aluminium cover, and is compatible with Today, commercial photographers need to make a help users find images with similar content both windows and Mac via USB 3.0. It will living too. Taking a great shot is only part of the job. that matches a particular photograph. retail for USD 190 (approx. Rs. 12,950). Adobe’s premium tools, Photoshop and Lightroom have been helping photographers by enhancing and completing the process of image creation. For these products to reached the unmatched standards of your artwork, we have been constantly Nikon Small World 2016 Winners Declared working towards their evolution. With a new selection tool and intelligent algorithms, Photoshop now allows ikon Instruments abnormalities such as its users to keep their workflow in the selective mask NInc recently cleft lip and palate in panel. It can see the difference between sub pixels announced the winners humans in the lab of Dr and tones which are not visible to the human eye. of its 42nd Nikon Small George Eisenhoffer at The We have also launched two new platforms where photographers can share their work. Adobe Behance World Photomicrography University of Texas. 22 is a great way to highlight your portfolio and get Competition. American The jury comprised of assignments, whereas Adobe Slate is a tool that researcher and distinguished name in allows professionals to have an independent website photographer, Dr Oscar the scientific community, of their own. The media is advancing. We make sure that your artwork does too. Ruiz was awarded the first science journalism and — as told to Sakshi Parikh prize for his microscopic photography. In addition view of the facial to Ruiz, Nikon recognised Dr. Oscar Ruiz’s Four day old zebrafish development of a four- embryo won the first postion in the contest. 76 76 other winners out of day-old zebrafish embryo. 2000 entries, comprised Nikon Plans to Cut Over Ruiz has been the zebrafish to study of top 20 winning images, 14 honorable 1000 Jobs in Japan genetic mutations that lead to facial mentions and 61 images of distinction. ikon is planning to eliminate Naround1000 jobs or 10 per cent of its workforce in Japan. The company World Press Photo to Debut a No Rules Contest has decided on these cuts as a result of a ecently, in their calendar for next year, transition from core businesses to medical Rthe World Press Photo Foundation devices and other growth areas. announced the launch of their new contest The procedure that will take place over starting October 2017. The new contest will the next three years will affect company’s have no rules and will be specifically for semiconductor equipment operations creative documentary photography, and will and its shrinking digital camera business. not be bound by journalism ethics. Initially known as the world’s leading Unlike the organisation’s conventional producer of semiconductor lithography contest for photojournalists that disqualified systems until the 1990s, Nikon has lost its over 20 per cent of the finalists and photojournalism standards in the age of major market share to Dutch rival ASML implemented a Code of Ethics, this new digital photography. Photographers will in recent years, and close to 17 billion yen contest will be for photographers who be able to submit a single photo or a series (approx. Rs 104 crore) in sales, annually . want to tell storys by deploying creative that comprise a story. Judges will make By doing so, Nikon plans to reform its techniques of imagery. a range of awards, recognising work in structure and strengthen its presence in According to the foundation, this genres like social documentary, personal the medical area after acquiring British competition is an answer to the ongoing documentary, alternative imaging and retinal-imaging device maker in 2015. debate regarding photography and innovative production.
Better PhotograPhy decemBer 2016 snaPshots
iOS Unveils Patch App Canon’s TV Series to be Streamed on Netflix pple has introduced an app that fter being first aired some of the world’s most Aoffers a ‘fake bokeh’ feature for all Aon the National extreme and fascinating its users who operate a single lens camera Geographic Channel environments in pursuit of phone. The Patch app for iOS applies in Australia and New beautiful images that tell shallow depth of field by using neural Zealand, Canon Australia’s stories. The photographers networking to select the foreground six part television series, featured in the first season subject in an image and isolate it from the Tales by Night will be now are Art Wolfe, Darren Jew, background. Once the selection is final, available through Netflix Richard I’Anson, Peter you can choose from five blur strengths to for all of its 86 million subscribers. Eastway, and Krystle Wright. get the desired effect. The app works with Started as a collaborative effort According to Canon executive, Jason almost all iOS devices and also allows the between the channel and Canon Mclean, “Partnering with NatGeo is perfect users to make the select manually if the Australia, this series follows five world for us given their dedication to telling scene is to complex to be registered. class photographers as they venture into powerful stories through insane imagery.”
LwOOk WHO’S SHOOTInG A Shattered Childhood When Saumya Khandelwal heard about the prevalence that I wanted to tell the story from the perspective of child marriage even today, she knew she had to of the girls because they face the most loss in this find out for herself. “I knew much about the context process.” she said. of Shravasti, a district in Uttar Pradesh with the most Saumya had to struggle a lot to get her stories initially. 24 alarming statistics on child marriage, but meeting Imagine a girl from an urban city in the interiors of Uttar subjects in their space and hearing human stories was a Pradesh, with a camera in tow. These were reasons more unsettling experience than analysing facts.” Here, enough for her questions about their way of life to be met she discovered a world wildly different from her own, with suspicision. “It was very difficult to convince them Saumya khandelwal where children did not understand or realise that they to tell their stories, as they were always afraid of me were getting married until traditional ceremonies like reporting it to the police.” Saumya does not know how haldi were taking place for them. long she will continue photographing the lost childhoods. “I didn’t know what structure or shape this project “May be when I feel that I have explored all the elements would take. I met brides, to be brides, grooms, their of the story I will think of stopping.” parents, and spoke with them. Over time I figured out — Written by natasha Desai
“The fact that the lives of these young girls were so different from nirma, 16 years, my own, kept married to Rakesh. nirma lives in her won me going.” home, but talks to Rakesh on phone who tells about his friends and school. Rakesh has studied till 12th while nirma is in 11th. She aspires to become a doctor someday. now she even looks forward to her Gauna. Though when she got married, she was scared, because she didn’t know how to do any work that is
expected out of a bride. Khandelwal Saumya
Better PhotograPhy decemBer 2016 TESTTEST GearGuide HOW WE TEST Product Categorisation We fi rst segregate products into categories for the purpose of equitability in testing. RECOMMENDED The DSLR is divided into entry-level, semi-professional and professional categories. For compacts, we distinguish between advanced and basic compact cameras. Similarly, we also test consumer and pro lenses, fl ashguns, printers, and other photographic accessories and gear. Sigma 50-100mm f/1.8 DC HSM Art The Process We primarily test for features, performance, build, ergonomics, warranty and support. While this remains constant, the weightage we give to these parameter differs from category to category, because different Mastering the Art types of consumers have diverse The Sigma 50-100mm f/1.8 DC HSM Art is the fastest constant aperture expectations from products. zoom of its kind, providing undeniable advantages. Shridhar Kunte reports. Final Ratings Under each main parameter, 28 we list out hundreds of individual ith APS-C sensors transmission, colour consistency and to variables (for eg. colour accuracy reaching new heights reduce fl are. for individual colours in different in terms of resolution Both zooming and focusing is internal, lighting, individual features, and performance, Sigma ensuring that the overall length remains dynamic range, center-to-edge defi nition, light falloff, etc) against was the fi rst company to the same and that the front of the lens does which we either give points W respond with the seminal 18 – 35mm not rotate (a big plus for CPL and ring fl ash or simply mark ‘yes’ or ‘no’. f/1.8 DC HSM (tested in the Jan 2014 issue users). The Hyper Sonic Motor allows faster Thus, we arrive at a score for that parameter, and then, the fi nal of Better Photography). Following in its noiseless focusing, with full time manual score, denoted as a percentage. footsteps, the second lens in its line-up is focus override. The lens accepts 82mm Additionally, based on the current the new 50 – 100 f/1.8 DC HSM. fi lters. This, unfortunately, is a big issue pricing of a product, a star The lenses enable two extremely especially in India. 82mm fi lters are not only rating for ‘Value for Money’ is considered. Value for Money does important advantages for APS-C users. diffi cult to fi nd, but are also expensive. not affect the fi nal percentage, Firstly, it delivers the same level of bokeh because prices for products and control over DOF as f/2.8 lenses on a Handling change constantly. full frame sensor. Secondly, given the same We received the Nikon version of the lens. Our Seals of Approval resolution, the extra 1.3 stops of aperture Out of the box, it feels very well built and Any product that scores 80% allows APS-C sensors to have the same beautifully fi nished, in line with Sigma’s or higher in individual tests gets WEIGHTAGE OF level of noise performance as full frames now famous Art series. I used the lens with ‘BP Recommended’—a seal PARAMETERS of approval from our team. with f/2.8 lenses. So far, none of the other the Nikon D7200 for most of the time. In comparison tests, we also tag manufactures have addressed this gap. products as ‘BP Best Performer’ 5% SPECIFICATIONS 20% and ‘BP Best Value for Money’. 15% Features Model name 50-100mm f/1.8 DC HSM Art BP Excellence Awards The 50 – 100mm has an equivalent 35% MRP Rs. 95,900 At the end of the calendar year, 25% focal length of about 75mm to 160mm. the highest rated products in Lens construction 21 elements in 15 groups The minimum focusing distance for this each category automatically Closest focusing distance 95cm win the Better Photography lens is 0.95m, at which the magnifi cation Features Max. Magnifi cation 1:6.7 Excellence Award. This is Performance ratio is 6.7 times less than life size. With a Diaphragm blades 9 Better Photography’s recognition Build Quality zoom ratio of just 2x, the lens construction of the very best products Ergonomics is very complex, with 7 special lements out Max. Aperture f/1.8 launched in the course of the Warranty & of 21, arranged 15 groups. These elements Filter diameter 82mm year, and the companies that Support made them. have special coating to improve light Dimensions, Weight 93.5 x 170.7mm 1490gm
BETTER PHOTOGRAPHY DECEMBER 2016 TEST TEST Zeiss Milvus 15mm f/2.8 Vanguard The Heralder 51T TEST The third and widest Distagon A large backpack with the prime in the Milvus lineup convenience of a four-wheel drive! 30 34
This image captured at the tele-photo end of the lens with a wide open aperture exhibits good sharpness, especially at the center. Exposure: 1/2000sec at f/1.8 (ISO 6400)
Shridhar Kunte
It is a large, metal bodied lens with a metal light fall-off wide open, but this evens mount, and will feel more at home in larger out from f/4. While shooting against the hands. In terms of both weight (1490 grams) sun, control over fl are is rather good with and balance, it is not dissimilar to the new a minimal loss of contrast. High contrast full frame Nikkor 70 – 200mm f/2.8E VR scenes display some purple fringing at the (60 grams lighter). It harmonizes reasonably wider focal lengths, and disappears towards well with larger APS-C DSLR bodies. the telephoto end. There is hardly any FINAL RATINGS The MF ring in front of the zoom ring distortion. Focusing speed and accuracy Features 18/20 HSM AF motor, f/1.8 offers good damping and rotates by about 95 is excellent. Despite the f/1.8 aperture, degrees across the focus range. Both rings I personally missed IS in low light. Performance 32/35 Excellent Sharpness, light fall off are ribbed, comfortably separated, and Conclusion Build Quality 21/25 afford a good grip. The lens comes with a No weather sealing, Metal construction tripod collar that sits quite close to the zoom With the new 50 – 100mm f/1.8 DC HSM Ergonomics 12/15 ring, and it is not removable. It can be rotated Art, Sigma has produced a lens that offers Full time manual focus override, Small and locked quickly into one of four marked undeniable advantages for APS-C DSLR tripod collar positions though, so that it does not get in users who shoot wide open. It is not small in Warranty & Support 3/5 the way of operating the zoom. There is no size or light to carry. Yet, the constant f/1.8 Two-year warranty, limited service in India stabilization, which is a tradeoff for its price and optical performance places the lens in and large optics. the category of a prime, or rather, several f/1.8 primes packed into one, making its OVERALL 86% Performance price of Rs 95,900/- well worth it despite
While the bokeh at f/1.8 on the APS-C the modest 2x zoom. Those who do not Who should buy it? Street and Specialized portrait sensor is quite fantastic and equivalent need these particluar qualities, however, photographers who shoot a lot in low lighting conditions to a full-frame at f/2.8, the best optical would be better served by the fl exibility of Why? It offers convenience and performance of multiple performance from this lens is when used at a full frame 70 – 200mm/f2.8 lens with IS, block lenses. f/2.8 to f/4. The centre sharpness is excellent which would cost much more but offers an Value for Money at f/1.8 at all the focal length. There is visible upgrade path to a full-frame camera.
DECEMBER 2016 BETTER PHOTOGRAPHY test
RECOMMENDED
Zeiss Milvus 15mm f/2.8 Distagon T* Milvus Ultrawide Joy K Madhavan Pillai tests the Zeiss Milvus 15mm f/2.8 Distagon T*, the third and widest prime in Milvus’ ultrawide range, and comes away quite thrilled with its performance.
ighlighting their commitment to The aperture range extends f/2.8 to PLUS photographers, the new 15mm f/22. There is an aperture ring very close f/2.8 Distagon by Zeiss follows to the lens mount, and it clicks at half • superb optical 30 the 18mm and 21mm (both f/2.8 stops up to f/16. For Nikon DSLR video performance • Design, handling, lenses) in the ultrawide range of users, a big bonus is that the ZF.2 mount H construction the Milvus lineup. While the increments of the 15mm can be ‘declicked’, for smooth in focal length between them may seem aperture transitions while shooting video. MINUS rather small, for the serious practitioner, it Nine aperture blades provide a near circular • Price makes a rather important and pronounced aperture for smoother, circular bokeh. difference in the angle of coverage, framing, Unlike competing lenses that come with shooting style and handling. Like the other integral hoods, you can attach fi lters of a Zeiss Milvus lenses, the 15mm is precision diameter of 95mm to this lens. A detachable milled, beautifully designed and feels simply metal hood is provided. The Milvus 15mm is fantastic in the hand. Of course, the features sealed against weather, dust and splashes. don’t end here. Handling Features This is a manual focus only lens with control The retrofocus Distagon design with fl oating over focus enabled with a broad, rubber lens elements promises a high level of ring. The focus ring is silky smooth but optical performance. The Milvus is made well dampened, and rotates by about 120 WEIGHTAGE OF of an array of 15 lens elements in 12 groups degrees across the range, and stops precisely PARAMETERS (fi ve anomalous partial dispersion elements, at infi nity and the closest focusing point of four aspherical elements). As the lens is 5% SPECIFICATIONS 20% focused across the range, the level of axial 15% movements between various lens elements Model name Zeiss Milvus 15mm f/2.8 and groups change to enable precise 35% MRP Rs. 1,99,950 25% corrections in the image. The T* coating Lens construction 15 elements in 12 groups on the glass, along with a construction to Closest focusing distance 0.25m eliminate internal refl ections, maintains Features Max. Magnifi cation 0.11x Performance optimal light transmission and improves Diaphragm blades 9 Build Quality micro contrast. In fact, the claim by Zeiss is ergonomics that all the lenses in the Milvus lineup are Max. Aperture f/2.8 Warranty & optimised for full frame sensors with the Filter diameter 95mm support highest stills and video resolutions. Dimensions, Weight 99 x 102mm, 947g
BETTER PHOTOGRAPHY DECEMBER 2016 test
K Madhavan Pillai
9.8 inches (unlike AF lenses). This allows that display sharp edged bokeh, with the In the field, 15mm smooth focus transitions for video, while the Milvus, it is surprisingly smooth. Peripheral needs you to be right in the middle of the action. hard stop at infinity comes extremely handy sharpness suffers a little wide open, but Yet, despite being a MF for street photography. not badly, and the slight, easily corrected lens, the Milvus allows A focus distance and depth of field scale is fringing visible only at f/2.8 disappears by you to react quickly. It is embossed into the metal barrel, and nicely f/4. Control over flare with the sun directly optically quite brilliant. Exposure: 1/400sec at f/11 spread out. Given the large DOFs possible in the lens is quite fantastic. (ISO 800) for 15mm, this comes especially handy. Distortion is extremely well controlled The DOF scale is set for a circle of confusion too. In fact, at infinity, one can just about of 0.03mm... perfectly sufficient for 24MP barely make out the curvature at the FINAL RATINGS sensors. One will need to be more stringent edges. Of course, for subjects close to the Features 18/20 Declick for Nikon mount, design, f/2.8 with higher resolution sensors, allowing for lens at the periphery of the frame, it is reduced DOF from what the scale displays. more pronounced. But with some basic Performance 33/35 Excellent distortion and flare control, Otherwise, in terms of handling, the 15mm postprocess corrections, the image looks as exemplary sharpness Milvus is a pleasure to use. if it were shot with a good 24mm! Build Quality 24/25 Metal construction, weathersealing Performance Conclusion Ergonomics 14/15 The Milvus 15mm is brilliantly sharp Priced at Rs. 1,99,950, the Milvus 15mm Excellent distance scale and handling for its focal length, with the best optical is a lens with exceptional design, optical Warranty & Support 3/5 results from f/5.6 to f/11. At these apertures, performance and handling, that moves Two-year warranty, limited service in India sharpness is exemplary edge to edge. I used quite beyond its focal length competitors. the lens at f/8 most of the time, relying on Yet, there are options to consider... from the hyperfocal distance (with a DOF of 3 feet flexibility of ultrawide zooms with good OVERALL 92% to infinity) and shifting from it slightly, optics and AF, to lower priced primes. depending on the main subject placement. Whether you should buy this lens or not Who should buy it? Technically adept landscape, Despite its focal length, there is sizeable depends on your technical familiarity with architectural and street photographers. foreground and background bokeh at using a manual focus prime of this focal Why? The optical quality, build and handling are excellent. f/2.8, with the lens focused at infinity or at length, and the understanding that you get Its a Zeiss, and it shows it all the way! its nearest distances, and it can be used to what you pay for, and more importantly, that Value for Money good effect. Unlike most ultrawide lenses finesse always comes at a price. decemBer 2016 Better PhotograPhy micro test
Vanguard The Heralder 51T Photographer’s Thrill of a Four Wheel Drive Sakshi Parikh marvels about the urban practicality offered by the Vanguard The Heralder 51T rolling backpack as she takes it around for a test drive.
ptimisation for an elaborate four rolling wheels, which give an ease of SpeciFicAtionS camera gear, accessories or movement. The handle is well concealed laptops are just a few of the via a zipped enclosure and features a • Product Name: Vanguard The possible categories to focus on rubberised handle for extra grip. The wheels Heralder 51T Owhen buying a camera backpack. raise the bag approximately two inches • MRP: Rs. 20,990 As a photographer I am constantly in a above the ground, thereby keeping it away • Dimensions: 14 x 12 dilemma regarding which camera bag from the dirt and liquid. The bag also has x 23 inches • Weight: 4.4kg should be carried for a shoot. Sometimes, I an intricate shoulder strap system, multiple • Maximum Capacity: even end up carrying two bags, which is not zippered compartments with magnetic 16.4kg convenient especially when I am travelling. strips and a rain cover. That’s where Vanguard The Heralder 51T rolling backpack comes to rescue. How Does it Fare? I took the bag to a couple of shoots with me What is it All About? and surprised me with the large amount of The hefty backpack is constructed of storage it had to offer. Despite looking like high quality 1000D polyester, offering a a large bag, its engineered to be lightweight 34 removable large equipment storage tray that and easy on the shoulder. This bag is an can house 1-2 DSLRs, 5-7 lenses, 2 flashes, ultimate choice of convenience for the related accessories, 14-inch laptop and a professional photographer who enjoys tripod. It features a telescoping handle and travelling and working on location.
Vanguard the Heralder 51t is a dual system bag Product source: combining the Nikita Distributors best aspects of RAting a backpack and trolley bag.
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photography2016 January • 8 no. • 19 vol. Shooting stunning pictures is now so simple. Everything you ever wanted to know about photography We speak to 10 emerging street photography talents to know their motivations, tips, techniques PROFIlE exclusive ONE PROFIlE tests CEllPh S L Shanthkumar on his hunger is here. Tips, tricks, techniques, news, views, reviews, assignments, brilliant pictures... and more! canon yOUR PICTURES Bredun Edwards' dream-like SSIgNMENT powers photos for the perfect offbeat moment ON a nikkor 24mmIntimate, f/1.8 hotsoulful g family5 x vignettes from daily urban life The journey of Amit Mehra's sent in to us by our readers food s iPhone photobook 'Roznaama'igma 20mm f/1.4 art photography V Five extraordinary food lovers lay out an ISUal MUSINgS eyewateringly Shakespearesque feast Bandeep Singh's musings on CEllPhONE T contemporary photography EChNIq Start the new year with 12 creativeUE ON aSSIg photography exercises for your eye NMENT Kaleidoscopic scans of food 1000 WORdS that are sure to trick you Pertinent, important images 200 from mainstream news media
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URBAN UNDERTONES Matthew Wylie gives us a glimpse into the subtle and often overlooked nuances that lend a city its character Editorial “You have to How it All Began with a Scribble... learn to take a step back, Even before I began to learn to write, I was drawing, or rather scribbling. From what and allow I remember, my first impressions on the paper were circles, which grew complex as the years grew. They became so elaborate and intricate that they ceased to have the medium a time and place. I would doodle anywhere… in the train, in between classes, at the to dictate bus stop, wherever I found the time. What I enjoyed and became interested in was the course.” the effect that my pen had over paper. It wasn’t something that I was consciously thinking about. My hand seemed to have a mind of its own. Soon, I began doodling portraits, of friends and individuals that I had come to admire. My process involved copying the lines that inhabited a person’s face, using carbon paper. What I did next was inject life into them, through colours and patterns. I would sit for hours, meticulously drawing tiny circles resembling tadpoles, without realising how subconscious and therapeutic the entire act was. Then it all came to an abrupt end, somewhere around 2014. Suddenly, my pen felt heavy and no longer possessed the same weightlessness that I had come to enjoy and love. The drawing stopped and the restlessness began. Around this time, I began shooting with my phone. Not because I wanted to do it, but was forced out of obligation. The ugliness of the latter showed. My pictures appeared contrived, like attempting to join the dots that did not exist. But I grudgingly kept at it, and it’s now slowly starting to pay off. My early photographs were what my scribbled circles were. The only problem was that I hadn’t allowed my camera to take the lead. I was thinking too much about the kind of photographs I wanted to make, instead of letting them happen to me. This was an important lesson, and one that continues to surface every time that I become a little too impatient or desperate for moments to photograph. Now that I have taken a step back, I am happy and a little less restless. Maybe it’s time that I got back to my pens too.
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Conchita Fernandes Instagram: @schmoochita
untitled by Matthew Wylie “Just like open-ended narratives, Matthew prefers to leave his photographs with their loose ends. Part of the exchange is to create multiple narratives, so as to give his viewers some raw data, and enable them to tie the story together on their own.”
to check our verdict on the apple iPhone 7 Plus— Turn to page 40
Cover photograph by Matthew Wylie
A window covered with raindrops interests me more than a photograph of a famous person. saul leiter (1923-2013) Leiter began experimenting with colour as far back as 1948. His painterly sensibilities defined his use of light and tones, and his pictures were largely about a recognition of colour in a surrealist world around him.
december 2016 Better PhotograPhy test
RecoMMended
apple iphone 7 plus an eye for the 12MP telephoto camera offering a focal length of 56mm provides a reach that is usually not possible with a a phone? cellphone unless you go near your subject With the hype around the iPhone 7 Plus at or crop. With this phone, you don’t need skyscraper levels, Natasha Desai investigates to do either. whether it is truly groundbreaking.
rior to the release of any iPhone or resistant with this iteration, something that iOS update, the interwebs are fi lled competitors have been offering for years. with breathless anticipation and Following the footsteps of the LG G5, subsequently glowing reviews. No Huawei P9, Honor 8 this year, the 7 Plus’ Pdifference with the 7 Plus, which biggest talking point is the dual lens set up. had a lot of people salivating. With a healthy While the G5 came with a ultrawide lens (to 40 dose of scepticism, I approached the review. complement the regular wide angle), the 7 Plus comes with a 56mm f/2.8 tele lens. In low light, the noise reduction goes into Performance The tele produces extremely sharp, vibrant as I usually fi nd overdrive and edges What’s new is a faster six-element lens, OIS, photos as long as its in bright light. Low light with apple phones, the and shadows get pretty a dual lens set up, quad-LED fl ash, and DNG performance, suffers comparatively to the colours were not as smudgy. It does however vibrant as I would like RAW capture with third party apps and primary 28mm f/1.8 lens, also because of the perform far better than them straight out of the pervious iterations of an organ-selling price tag for it’s premium faster shutterspeed and thus higher ISO that box. But, that is more of the iPhone. 256GB variants. The iPhone is fi nally water the phone automatically choose. a personal preference All photographs by Natasha Desai Natasha by All photographs
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The camera picks out details in the Conclusion In the tiny room that shadows better than any previous iPhone. The iPhone 7 Plus’ camera is the organisation Dishaa Prastishthaan visits, Bright light photos have a good amount revolutionary, there is no doubt about its near impossible of detail in both highlights and shadows, that. That said, a lot of photographers to photograph the and it handles flare extremely well too. may choose to look at other options as the children with a camera. Difficult lighting conditions are tackled form factor and large, ultraslim body of Being jostled by excited Playing with the younglings and them Portrait Mode with ease and both well lit and dark parts the 7 Plus isn’t as ergonomically tuned to getting distracted by With the 7Plus, of an image come out properly exposed. shooting, as the iPhone 7 or SE designs. a large device are key came the portrait Metering, colour fidelity and tonality are This may be the best cameraphone we reasons. the 7 Plus’ mode, which was excellent with both lenses. Low light quality have tested, but with our Google Pixel performance indoors subsequently made was good enough to available to all iOS is visibly improved over the 6S Plus, which and Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge reviews to render this fun scene to devices with an was already very good. follow next month, it will be interesting to update. It essentially great effect. blurs the background That said, while this is a definite leap see whether that changes. creating depth in the cameraphone category, one has to and producing at a glanCe remember that it is, at the end of the day, a pleasing bokeh when specifications 5.5-inch, 12MP f/1.8 wide angle, 12MP f/2.8 tele dual camera setup, 7MP shooting a subject. phone. Apple has decided that any kind of front camera, A10 64-bit chip, 3GB RAM, 256GB at Rs. 92,000 However, unlike the Honor and Huwaei grain is a big no no and the noise reduction what we like Tele lens, good depth in pictures, good low light performance phones, it does not gives you edges that look like brush strokes, what we dislike No manual control without third party apps allow you to control most noticeably in low light, but, sometimes the amount of depth why buy it? Super fast phone with a great dual lens set up and plenty of storage with after shooting. unnecessarily in brightly lit images too. good image quality For effective, real That said, iOS 10 gives you the ability to FInal RatIngS 90% looking depth, now shoot RAW (with a dedicated app for there needs to be caMeRa featuRes 12MP dual camera sensor set up 23/25 a clear separation the same) and our observation was that iMaGe Quality Good low light performance and RAW files 28/30 between subject and the RAW files give a significant textural background, but you Video Quality 4K at 30 fps, 1080p 30/60 fps, 720p at 30fps 13/15 can sometimes see detail advantage, as we start seeing the real problems around capabilities of the optics and the sensor, handlinG Sleek, not easy for one hand shooting 12/15 the hair. rather than a cooked noise-reduced file. speed & ResponsiVeness Speedy phone without too much lag 14/15 decemBer 2016 Better PhotograPhy test
Motorola Moto Z play & hasselblad true Zoom RecoMMended the ultimate power couple Conchita Fernandes places the dynamic duo, the Moto Z Play and the Hasselblad True Zoom on the test bench.
he rather small realm of modular What’s Inside the Moto Z Play phones have so far been limited It features a 16MP rear camera (f/2.0 to just battery attachments. aperture) with dual LED fl ash, 4x digital This image was shot This changed though with zoom, laser AF and PDAF, 5MP front on the Moto Z Play. Motorola’s latest fl agship, the Moto camera, and shoots 4K Ultra HD video at The phone beautifully T renders colours and Z Play and its range of moto mods—one 30fps. There is a Professional mode (Focus, of which is the Hasselblad True Zoom. WB, Shutterspeed—up to 1/6000 sec, ISO contrast in the image, and requires barely When put together, it promises to be a and Exposure Compensation) too, available any adjustments at the strong partnership. for the front camera as well. You can also editing stage. 44 All photographs by Conchita Fernandes by All photographs
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Owing to the shoot panoramas and slow motion videos, receives its power from it. The exterior of the The compact camera along with HDR on both the cameras. module features a power button and zoom sensor in the Hasselblad considerable True Zoom did a good job toggle, which also acts as a shutter button. in bringing out details in bulge that How Did it Fare... The back features a textured rubber grip at the photograph. comes with The Moto Z Play was a quick shooter and did the bottom, making it convenient to hold. the Hasselblad a good job of locking focus, even in low light. The module comes with a 25–250mm module, the It also performed well in avoiding blown out (35mm equivalent) f/3.5-6.5 lens and a 12MP highlights and renders colours well. Up until 1/2.3-inch BSI CMOS sensor, with 10x company has ISO 2000, the camera does a good job in optical zoom and 4x digital zoom (there’s provided a suede keeping the details intact, beyond which an option to turn off the latter), and also pouch to keep there is a steady increase of noise reduction. features a Xenon flash. The camera can the device intact, On the not so pleasing side... Images shot shoot 1080p Full HD videos at 30fps. with the camera’s dual LED flash appeared AT A glAnce while you’re on as if a bad cast had been applied to it. Also specifications 16MP rear camera with dual LED flash, laser AF and PDAF, 5MP front the go. sometimes, even if the scene did not warrant camera, 4K Ultra HD video, Qualcomm Snapdragon 625, Rs. 24,999 it, the phone would automatically switch what we like Good camera, sleek design, fast AF to the Night mode. This would require a what we dislike Dual LED flash, no RAW, pricing little extra effort from my end to keep the why buy it? The phone is a good buy if you are looking for a device that provides good camera steady. Additionally, the burst rate image quality, UI and a premium finish. of the camera seemed to lag behind a bit. FInAl RATIngS 85% The smooth exterior of the phone felt a bit caMeRa featuRes 16MP, Laser AF, PDAF 23/25 slippery and not as sturdy to hold. iMaGe Quality Good low light performance 25/30
What the Hasselblad is All About Video Quality 4K Ultra HD video at 30fps 13/15 The Hasselblad True Zoom magnetically handlinG Sleek but slightly slippery to hold 12/15 attaches to the back of the Moto Z Play, and speed & ResponsiVeness Slight lag when shooting in the burst mode 12/15 decemBer 2016 Better PhotograPhy how the hasselblad true Zoom Renders Raw+JpeG photographs
The left image is the untouched JPEG photograph, and on the right is an edited JPEG image converted from a RAW file. You will notice the visible distortion and vignetting, a result 46 of the camera’s RAW+JPEG mode. However, the images remain unaffected when I only shoot JPEGs. While it may seem like a hindrance, I quite liked how the image turned out.
It also features a Professional mode a tad bit expensive. It doesn’t offer anything (Focus, WB, Shutterspeed—up to 1/2000 exceptional on the camera front. But I do sec, ISO and Exposure Compensation) and appreciate the phone’s UI and build, and lets you shoot Panoramas as well. There are may consider spending a little more for a a bunch of scene modes to try out as well— device with a good camera and design. Sports, Night Portrait, Backlight Portrait, On the other hand, the Hasselblad is Night Landscape and Landscape. priced at Rs. 19,999, an amount equivalent today to a good cameraphone. However, for The good and the not So good this price you get a compact camera sensor In low light, at ISO 800, there is a fair in a phone device, superior flash, 10x zoom amount of noise in the RAW files, but the and the ability to shoot RAW. If you are images are still usable. However, at ISO 3000 serious about photography and the quality and above, luminance and chrominance of your images, then the Hasselblad True noise is very evident. The camera’s JPEG Zoom is probably something you should engine did a decent job in processing the consider investing in. RAW files. I also particularly enjoyed the AT A glAnce The Hasselblad results of the images shot using flash, and specifications 25–250mm (35mm equivalent) f/3.5-6.5 lens, 12MP 1/2.3-inch BSI CMOS True Zoom lets the quality was similar to something you’d sensor, 1080p Full HD video, OIS (stills), EIS (video), Rs. 19,999 you shoot in get out of a DSLR. The camera’s AF was good what we like Camera sensor, RAW shooting, Xenon flash three formats— under ambient lighting. Additionally, the what we dislike Slight lag in RAW+JPEG processing, not as discreet colour JPeg, burst speed, just like in the Moto Z Play, was why buy it? If camera quality is important to you, then the Hasselblad module gives slow, and the phone also took time to render you a superior sensor, along with 10x zoom B&W (JPeg) JPEG+RAW files. Moreover, along with the FInAl RATIngS 86% module, the phone lost its discreetness, and and colour caMeRa featuRes 12MP 1/2.3-inch BSI CMOS sensor, 10x zoom 23/25 invited quite a bit of attention in public. (RAW+JPeg). iMaGe Quality Good low light performance and RAW files 26/30
The RAW files Video Quality 1080p video at 30fps Is it Worth the Price? 13/15 are saved in the Despite its good image quality and shooting handlinG Bulky exterior 12/15 Dng format. experience, at Rs. 24,999, the Moto Z Play is speed & ResponsiVeness Slight lag when processing RAW+JPEG images 12/15
Better PhotograPhy decemBer 2016 Lillian Bassman Stanley Kubrick Cecil Beaton David ZimmermanLewis Hine Raghu Swapan ParekhRalph Gibson Rai Kulwant RoySebastião SalgadoShahidul Alam Prashant Eadweard Muybridge Hari MahidharPanjiar Ansel Adams Dario Edward Who arE thEY? Mitidieri Curtis Just some of the most iconic photographers in Roger Fenton David Alan the world to be featured in Better Photography. Harvey S Paul
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asus Zenfone 3
RecoMMended a Zen-like experience Conchita Fernandes puts the photographic prowess of the Asus ZenFone 3 to the test.
ith its last few iterations, Asus fi nish. Let’s look at how the rest of the has centered their phones on phone fares. laser beam technology, and the ZenFone 3 is no different new AF technology either. This time around, it With its focus on photography, Asus has the camera’s OIS and W eIS feature enabled me has centered the phone on photography, introduced the TriTech AF feature, which to make this handheld with a few upgrades in the camera’s features, combines laser AF, phase detection AF and photograph at 1/8 sec, in addition to its premium, stylish glass continuous AF. The technology claims to on burst. 48 All photographs by Conchita Fernandes by All photographs
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Although the achieve clear focus in just 0.03 seconds in In regards with its low light performance, Overall, the ZenFone 3 camera allows varying light conditions. When put to the up until ISO 2000, the noise levels are produced good details and punchy colours. you to tap test, the ZenFone 3’s AF was significantly manageable, after which details start and adjust faster than the ZenFone 2, even in low light. gradually smearing. In the latter, there were a few instances the exposure where the laser beam AF struggled to focus Premium Feel at a Affordable Price of the scene, on a nearby subject. Although it doesn’t provide any significant the option is features for photography, the ZenFone 3 absent when you Abundance of Features at its price point (Rs. 21,999) offers manual The ZenFone 3 comes with a 16MP rear control and a plethora of features to enable the touch camera with a Sony IMX298 sensor, a experiment and have fun with, that too, shutter option. f/2.0 aperture, 4-axis OIS and 3-axis in a premium and stylish-looking body. EIS, 8MP front camera and 4K video However, it would have been nice had it recording. The other features (almost featured RAW shooting, considering that the similar to the ZenFone 2) are a Manual phone is geared towards photographers. mode (Focus, Shutterspeed, ISO, WB, At A GlAnce Exposure Compensation), HDR Pro, specifications 16MP rear camera, 32GB inbuilt memory (expandable to 2TB), 2GHz octa- Super Resolution, Children (a mode which core Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 processor, 3GB RAM, Rs. 21,999 automatically detects children’s faces), Low what we like Faster AF, premium design, packed with features Light (3MP stills), Depth of Field, Panorama, what we dislike No RAW shooting Time Rewind, Slow Motion, Time Lapse... why buy it? The phone’s improved camera specs, along with a comparatively fast AF make it a good buy at its price tag What’s Good FInAl RAtInGS 86% One of the things that I did not like about caMeRa featuRes 16MP rear camera, TriTech AF, histogram 22/25 the ZenFone 2 was the washed out colours iMaGe Quality Good low light performance and colour rendition 25/30 that the camera tended to produce. Video Quality Smooth video with decent sound pickup In comparison, the contrast and colour 13/15 reproduction in the ZenFone 3 were at least handlinG Sleek and easy to hold 13/15 two notches higher than the ZenFone 2. speed & ResponsiVeness Speedy phone without any lag 13/15 decemBer 2016 Better PhotograPhy TEST
RECOMMENDED
Kenko REAL PRO 0.65x Wide/Macro Lens 50 A Whole New World Natasha Desai gets her hands on Kenko’s REAL PRO 0.65x Wide & Macro lenses for her smartphone to see how well they perform in the real world.
or any photographer who uses The Wide View their cellphone to shoot as much The wide lens, can only be used in as I do, cellphone lenses offer the tandem with the macro lens, and to use opportunity to go beyond the the macro, one has to unscrew the wide Fusual fi xed focal length. Kenko’s lens. I found that the entire unit does range of lenses include a macro and wide stick out a bit, but is unobtrusive in unit, a fi sheye lense, a super wide lens general. While there were a few curious and a telephoto lens that also becomes a stares as I walked around with the monocular. For this review, I tested the apparatus on my phone, I was able to wide and macro unit on an iPhone 6. shoot as usual without any hindrances. All the lenses come with a clip, a With a 120 ° view on my cellhpone it was WEIGHTAGE OF pouch and a cleaning cloth. The clips quite fun to shoot with. Images do have PARAMETERS are like universal adapters and can be barrel distortion as one would expect interchanged between lenses. the lenses from a wide angle lens, but for one, you themselves screw on the clip and have to can correct that to some extent. You can 30% be centered on to the camera to be used. also use the distortion to creative effect. 40% The lenses themselves have multi I found that the edges of the image do get 30% layered coating and the optics are two pretty blurry, but, you also have to ensure elements in two groups and are made that the lens has been placed correctly. of aircraft aluminum alloy with anodic Features oxidation.They’re super light and weigh A Macro World Ease of Use Performance a mere 6 gms, allowing regular carrying As someone who does not shoot too around with ease. much of macro, using this lens on my
BETTER PHOTOGRAPHY DECEMBER 2016 cellphone was far more easy than if I and small flowers to great effect sans As seen in the picture had attempted in with a DSLR set up. a tripod. above and on the side, these lenses allow you Macro images come out crisp and sharp, perspectives that are provided you are able to be extremely Conclusion otherwise not possible steady. They give you a great amount of There is a lot of creative use for these with a cameraphone. detail. The only way to control focus is to lenses. Set to hit the markets in mid- move towards and away from the subject. December, the wide and macro unit is Using a cellphone tripod is advisable, but priced at Rs.3990 making it excellent not mandatory. I was able to shoot insects value for money.
FINAL RATINGS Features 26/30 Two lenses in one unit Ease of Use 26/30 Easy to clip on the phone and to carry as well Performance 35/40 Clear and crisp images with good detail OVERALL 87% Value for Money All photographs by Natasha Desai Natasha by All photographs decemBer 2016 Better PhotograPhy PRoFILE Subtle Abstractions Matthew Wylie Matthew Wylie takes Conchita Fernandes through the delicate nuances • He is based in Toronto and teaches English of city life, ones that we often encounter but don’t see. studies, literature, and philosophy. magine a world where we don’t have our Much like Matthew Wylie’s visual process, • He is a member of Tiny thoughts to comfort us; where we are where he took on the cameraphone to Collective and has had forced to consume the sights around us project his thoughts and hopes onto the his work featured by for what they are, without being able to rather redundant realities that make up the matthew finds himself National Geographic and perceive their meaning. Our personal everyday. That the picture we make with automatically drawn to other publications. I the film noir look, and • His favourite film, author thoughts are what keep us stable, I believe, the camera is the imagination we want to is inspired by the works and book are The Tree and help us to construct our identities, create with reality, perfectly summarises the of alfred hitchcock and of Life, Vladimir Nabokov piece by piece. thought process behind his visuals. h G wells. and Lolita, respectively. • His work also takes inspiration from Terrence Malick’s movies, especially the cinematography. His favourite photoessay is The Black Rose by 56 Trent Park.
find matthew here!
Instagram: @m_mateos
BETTER PHoToGRaPHy dECEMBER 2016 PROFILE
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abstracting his Subjects the image whole. You wonder if luck had he believes that Matthew’s visuals are comprised of the anything to do with the bird fluttering its there is so much that the camera catches everyday, occurrences and encounters so wings just below a pole line, or that of a that the eye cannot. commonplace and subtle, that they are swinging arm photographed at just the right “i like this aspect of often missed. But instead of photographing moment, where it is in perfect alignment to a photography and find it these scenes as they are, he uses the camera line painted on the road. quite akin to literature, poetry, painting, and to ‘abstract’ his subjects, thus allowing him a music—a ‘talking about chance to convey a more interesting story. Predicting the Outcome love is like dancing about These narratives often originate from There is no compromise to Matthew’s architecture’ kind of a preference for solitary figures and vision. It is as much about patience as it’s thing maybe,” he says. environments. It’s fascinating how he finds about anticipating the moment, where all secluded spots in the busiest corners of the elements are in perfect tandem with a city. The subject though is obscured. one another. After persistently shooting, This obscurity, whether deliberate or not, his ability to foresee has become stronger. serves an important purpose; to bring to Undoubtedly, there have been several surface the various elements that make missed opportunities or scenes that have dEcEmBER 2016 BEttER PhdECEMBER OtOgRaP2016hy PROFILE
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not worked out. However. the point is creative exercise to intentionally seek on any a lot of matthew’s to never stop your eye from seeing and given day, week or month of shooting, an photographs are shot anticipating. “Seeing multiple things at image that I feel is my own representation during his commute once is key, at least for me. It’s quite similar of a character in another author’s story, to work... although he to films and stories, where we are able to or imagery and mood from the poem of has reservations about the large influx predict the ending. But when you’re out another poet, or a motif from a play.” of photographs today, on the street the process has to be much And just like open-ended narratives, he would rather have quicker, within the span of a few seconds,” Matthew prefers to leave his photographs more photographers in he states. with their loose ends. “Part of the exchange the arena than keep it from the previous limited to a select few. is creating multiple narratives,” he says. spread, one can gauge matthew’s use of contrast Constructing multiple narratives “What I am doing is giving my viewers to bring out the mood Matthew, who works full-time in an some raw data so that they can tie the story he wants to project in academic field, often uses his writing together on their own.” his visuals. (below): matthew to inspire his next photograph and received his first iPhone in vice versa. “I write at the same pace that Seeing in Colour 2012 and was introduced I take photographs. I suppose, I use the While a majority of his photographs are to the hipstamatic app by atmosphere of a photo I have captured to shot in black and white, what’s seldom a close friend. Since then he has been shooting with inspire a character in one of my stories, spoken of is Matthew’s colour work. the app, and the Lowy or the imagery and the mood in a poem While the subject matter continues lens is his favourite. of mine. Sometimes I simply make it a to belong to the mundane, there is a PROFILE
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“i am personally more interested in how photography can break down the rules that seem to hound it, rather than merely following a tradition. with my work, i aim to comment on the photographer’s wish to document reality and impose their own subjectivity onto it.”
Chandan often roams the old quarters of delhi in search of capture- worthy moments.
a section of a bus seen unusually... matthew is of the opinion that while a lot of photographers emphasise on staying as close to reality as possible, he finds that it can be detrimental to one’s creative process, and limits the photographer’s vision to their gear and the project they are photographing.
BEttER PhOtOgRaPhy “i constantly pester my sister and friends for opinions when i’m contemplating whether to upload a picture. i’m afraid if i ask them one more time, they’ll probably kill me!” PROFILE
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when asked if he certain simplicity and subduedness that photographs within the throngs of the city. would consider teaching echoes through, which differs from his Mathew draws much of his inspiration from photography in the long run, he replied, “Literature is sometimes stark and layered black and Leiter, evident not just in his colour work, my first love and i will see white photographs. Reflections and frosted but in his black and white photographs as it through to my dying day. surfaces are brought to life in his visuals, well. He even mentions that when shooting i will probably photograph and are reminiscent of a certain master, in colour, “I am seeing the world through the moment too.” Saul Leiter, who also made several such his eyes.”
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today can lead to some very bad habits. Now, I treat the process as if it’s costing me money, like with film.” He also makes it a point not to retain photographs for too long; in fact, he deletes them immediately. There is simply no space for an ‘almost good’ photograph. “This discipline of deleting quickly has allowed me to be more objective with myself, and even a bit severe in terms of curating my work. Most of the photographs that I take are absolutely terrible,” he says. What I was most able to relate to from Matthew’s visuals were the solitary figures that inhabited his frames. Despite their solitude, there is a sense of flow, rather than inertia, which Matthew subtly evokes with matthew mentions how the usage of lines and movement, both a lot of his photographs pointing towards a definite direction. As a are a study of light and how it affects the mood in viewer, you are not left lost. This, to me, is his visuals. Composition a promising scene, one where I don’t mind on the other hand, came losing myself in entirely. rather easy to him.
delete, delete, delete... Share There was a time when Matthew photographed anywhere between 500-2000 photographs a week. Over the years, he has learned to slow down quite substantially, and shoots perhaps 10 images in a week. “The ease with which an image can be made dEcEmBER 2016 BEttER PhOtOgRaPhy ShowCase Serendipity Arts Festival: An Exclusive Preview Bringing together visual, performing and culinary arts in Goa, the Serendipity Arts Festival has a stunning photographic offering too.
ith a multi-disciplinary Jain, Manjari Nirula, Ranjit Hoskote and festival that includes music, Riya Komu for the visual arts. There are dance, theatre along with group and individual exhibitions, culinary and visual arts, the primarily displayed at the Adil Shah Palace, WSerendipity Arts Festival amongst other locations. On view will also promises to be an immersive experience be Prabuddha Dasgupta’s Edge of Faith, from the 16–23 December. which we write on, in the coming pages. The diverse panel of curators includes One can fi nd more information at www. Dinesh Khanna, Prashant Panjiar, Jyotindra serendipityartsfestival.com.
Curated by Dinesh Khanna, Serendipity Street showcases the works of photographers and collectives from around the country who capture the heart of the streets of India. With stories of simpler moments, happiness encompassed in striking visuals, this exhibition aims to explore the theme of serendipity that can be found on the 68 Serendipity Street streets of India.
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BETTER PHOTOGRAPHY DECEMBER 2016 69 DECEMBER 2016 78 by theedge offaith Time stands still Prabuddha Dasgupta GREAT MASTERS and hisfashion work His resilience, activism Gordon Parks GREAT MASTERS 94 110 evocative work onracism Mahesh Shantaram’s The African Portraits PHOTOFEATURE SERENDIPITY 2016 ETR PHOTOGRAPHY BETTER
Cop Shiva Prashant Godbole 69 Serendipity 2016
Curated by Dinesh Khanna, As We See Us will see the work of 34 Indian photographers and explore what form Indian portraiture today exists in. It examines how photographers explore the idea of what should be. Trying to answer the question “is there such a thing as the Indian Gaze?”, the exhibition examines how we choose to portray ourselves given our long tryst As We See Us with the British rule and a tangled, confused visual influence.
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Indian homes often have portraits of deceased loved ones adorning the walls next to deities on altars. Rajtilak Naik travelled across the length of Goa photographing these remembrance walls that have now made their way across the houses. He captures the spaces that have been lovingly adorned in the memory of loved ones, which often share space with other In Memory Of home decor, and portraits of the living too.
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All photographs by Rajtilak Naik 73 Serendipity 2016
From the family archives of Arminio S Riberiro, we see the journey of a family as it moves across continents. With birthdays, deaths, weddings and personal and professional achievements, we see photographs from a time Old Homes New Homelands when Goans were travelling far from their homes for better opportunities.
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All photographs from the private collection of Arminio S Riberiro 75 Serendipity 2016
Posed as the characters that they play on stage, the Goan Tiatr actors pose for Alex Fernandes as he explores the themes of identity and performance. While Alex Fernandes made a set of portraits around this concept previously, he created a new body of work that he will be displaying Goan Archetypes at the festival.
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PRABUDDHA DASGUPTA Prabuddha Dasgupta’s Edge of Faith is a remarkably ruminative document of a lived experience. Raj Lalwani muses on the journey of the visual poet of melancholy.
riting on the work of sentimental, and yet, to recount them, to Prabuddha Dasgupta is a put them together, is a matter of both joy little like writing a tell-all and anguish. memoir. However much I already know this. I have probably Wone may try to look at been writing on his photographs from things objectively, it’s inevitable that the time I first saw them, only, the writing the memories will be faded, coloured, was always in my head. For that’s exactly
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Procession of Tails, Mirror image, Deewar. Sé Cathedral, Old Goa. december 2016 Better PhotograPhy great masters
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Winona Fernandes in her home, Siolim (left), Interior, abandoned house, Deewar (right).
what his photographs tend to do, they always questions that were discussed, and draw out your deepest memories, and sink never really their answers. Our thoughts in new ones. They are, as said, a matter of would wander and meander, never to both joy and anguish. reach a finality, a conclusion. I had come In the few conversations we had had away after our very first meeting enthused before he moved on, and the several and yet, confused. We spoke so much, and I have had since, with his photos, it were yet spoke so little.
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Celine Nazreth and Gertrude Paes in their living room, Moira (left); D’Mello residence, Anjuna (previous page, left); Sacha and her parents, Pamela and Rene Mendes, in their living room (previous page, right). december 2016 Better PhotograPhy great masters
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But that was who he was. And who he was, was how his pictures were. He was erudite in the assessment of his own practice, but the assurance in his timbred voice was always accompanied by questions. By possibilities. By a series of what ifs. Much like his photographs, which until his final workLonging , were always about a certain subject matter, about an assured subject, and yet, they were always beyond subject matter. His subjects were women, Ladakh and Catholics in Goa, but what he was photographing was sensuality and harshness, beauty and the lack thereof, history and modernity, hope and despair… often in the same photograph. In fact, to look at his work in all its diversity is to perhaps miss the point. To talk in generics of him having straddled multiple worlds, of commerce and art, is only to skim the surface. One needs to look at Prabuddha, the person, and try to see him for who he was, understand him, empathise with 87 him, and that’s where his work truly begins to sing. It is Prabuddha, the person, who seems to linger, almost with grace and some trepidation, in the time- worn interiors that are seen in Edge of Faith. His photographs of the Catholic community in Goa are part document, part elegy. They are as much an insight into their world, as they are, into his. And yet, his presence never takes over, “Photography, for the photographs, remarkably quiet in their wistful existence. me, is not about The obviousness of Prabuddha as a itself. It’s about remarkable aesthete comes through, everything else. but with subtlety. One can imagine him It’s about who we having visited these homes, engaging in gracious conversation, becoming are, our experiences, a part of the stories of the particular our influences, our family. His photographs come across connections with as polite enquiries that may have people, with things, gently interrupted their storytelling. with music, with Questioning, reflective, almost shy, the essence of his photos can probably family, with life, with be felt by relating them to his essence, everything. I like as a person. Every photograph is an the idea that my life elaborate conversation in itself, but can be not just one Prabuddha is only listening. It is because of this that the thing, but it can be photographer’s gaze, while soaking many things.” december 2016 Better PhotograPhy great masters
in these time-worn interiors and like serendipity, that beautiful, intangible photographing these time-ridden occurrence, which is also the name of the protagonists, is non-judgmental, with art festival, where this work will be shown great dignity. It’s almost protecting, this month. the way he seems to look at them, the Sensuality and grace, sensitivity and vulnerability of this community meeting beauty, are platitudes that are often used his own vulnerability as an artist. to look back at the remarkable legacy that His craft is carefully studied, but is PDG. But beyond it all, his journey, his vision, intuitive, without pretence. both in his personal projects and in his The consciousness with which every commissioned work, has always explored subject is photographed is palpably the delicate nature of fragility. In Edge engrained within every frame. And yet, of Faith, it is their memories that are this is a work that brings forth the fragile, as past tussles with present, and a subconscious. It’s about memory and loss, generation that has lived through Portugal both theirs and his, and maybe our own. and India, liberation and today, ponders It is intriguing to correlate the multiple over its cultural identity. strands that run within Edge of Faith, the If the documentary nature of the portraits, the interiors, the presence, project may seem a little prosaic, it is the absence. Two men pose together, Prabuddha’s response to it that makes as do two women, they are identical- it poetic, whether it is the character on seeming people posing identically, their faces or that, in their spaces. A wall almost Arbusian in nature, and yet, both in one photograph with its artifacts, in Katina D’Mello’s photographs completely unrelated to conversation with another wall of another hands, Anjuna (below); each other, shot at different villages at photograph, both, again, unconnected, 88 Kitchen, Paul Braganza’s residence, Saligao different times. Like different stanzas of both, with their own sea of stories. (previous page). the same poem, as he had once said, or The sense of time suspended, almost as Fiat car, Fontainhas.
Better PhotograPhy decemBer 2016 Ballroom, Braganza if one could interchange the real people crack in everything, that’s how the light house, Chandor. with the photographs of their ancestors gets in.” One of his most beloved lines on the walls There is a fascinating amount from a song that took Cohen a decade to of storytelling detail that lies within write, though as Prabuddha said of each the nuances, within the physical space. family he photographed in Goa, whether And yet, while appreciating the specifics, you’ve known something for thirty years the emotionality takes over, the nostalgia, or for an hour, it is the intensity of the allowing the atmosphere to wash over. The feeling that guides you home. recently departed Leonard Cohen, who That said, to see Edge of Faith in Prabuddha described as his absentee poet/ isolation is to hear a piece of music guru, may have very well looked at these without understanding the poetry that it photos when he had written “There is a envelopes. Like listening to Cohen, but decemBer 2016 Better PhotograPhy great masters great masters
only hearing the gravel in his voice, not the fact that he would photograph the recognising the intermingling strands grand and the magnificent, and yet of time and emotion that are there in his manage to touch a chord that is raw in words. The secret to embracing his edge its simplicity. Away from the binaries of faith is to recognise the journey of that one often saw in the advertising Prabuddha Dasgupta, the photographer world that he would continually inhabit, and the person, not that the two have he was a photographer who’d seek out ever been disparate, and place it in the one’s essence, as gently as the grain in his context of a work that is a culmination carefully crafted silver prints. of his ability to see, to sigh, to make one Prabuddha Dasgupta’s photos are of sigh. To remember and forget, to call time, and of timelessness. His sense of upon one’s recall, to only tell a little, but empathy, so personal that his photos such that we would bring our own stories become ours, his photos, so personal and attach them to his. His visual journey that they can only be his, and yet, belong was extraordinary in its ordinariness, to all.
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Night in Morjim.
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Prabuddha Dasgupta straddled dual worlds. Whether it was commissioned work or his personal explorations, his work was characterised by deep stillness, pushing & pulling the viewer into reverie. Suave & articulate, he would also sing Cohen’s ‘Darkness’ in Bengali, impromptu, as an interview with his daughter Aleeya had once revealed.
decemBer 2016 Better PhotograPhy great masters All photographs by Gordon Parks. Copyright courtesy of The Gordon Parks Foundation Parks The Gordon of courtesy Copyright Parks. Gordon by All photographs Gordon Parks Conchita Fernandes looks back at the fantastic life of Gordon Parks, a man who resisted social prejudice from defining his worth. (1912-2006) rowing up in Kansas at a time for failing.” Having lost his mother at the when racial segregation was age of 15, Gordon was soon forced to fend at its peak, a young Gordon and make a living for himself in a world Parks grew up listening to his that was awash with grave animosity and (top): Department Store, Mobile, mother’s encouraging words… bigotry. In his most difficult moments and G Alabama, 1956; “If a white boy can do it, so can you. through his life, his mother’s words came (right): Untitled, Don’t ever give me your colour as a cause to him as a source of strength. Chicago, Illinois, 1957.
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The First Sign of Restlessness In a career that spanned over six decades, Gordon donned quite a few hats. He was a musician, a photographer, a filmmaker and a writer. However, growing up, he never showed any inclination towards these roles, except for music. They happened to him like accidents, or were an outcome of new opportunities, or out of a desperate need to stay afloat and survive... to eat another day. Photography was something of a coincidence. He was working as a waiter in a dining car (1937) when his eyes fell upon a magazine left behind by a customer. In it he was confronted by the harsh repercussions of the Depression. The visuals of the dispossessed migrant workers saddened him. He felt restless. He no longer wanted to serve, but be a part of the solution instead. The camera now seemed like an apt instrument to bring about change and to make a living too. The encounter also introduced him to names like Dorothea Lange, Walker Evans, Arthur Rothstein and others, who were all part of the Farm Security Administration (FSA). Little did he know at the time that he would eventually join the FSA. 96 A Difference in Perspective Gordon’s life took a turn when he applied for a photography grant. Even though he was unsure of his chances of being selected, Gordon was convinced that his pictures had the qualities that the jurists were looking for. He won (1942), and the Julius Rosenwald Fund sent him to Washington, D.C. to begin his apprenticeship at the FSA, under the formidable Roy Stryker. Stryker had developed quite a name for himself. As great a teacher as he was, he was equally ruthless. He seldom compromised on quality and was quick to discard work that did not meet his standards. So it was surprising that an imposing figure like Stryker would be apprehensive to take on Gordon under the tutelage of the FSA. It wasn’t because he couldn’t stand a black photographer or thought less of Gordon’s work. He was worried about a possible backlash not just within the FSA, but also in the city. However, the people at Rosenwald were staunch about including Gordon. Gordon was aware of Stryker’s apprehension, but decided against letting it set him behind. His first assignment involved getting himself acquainted with the city. As simple as it was, the experience was one that he never forgot. He was taken aback by the outright racism that prevailed in the nation’s capital. Gordon was either turned away or not catered to by the
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Ondria Tanner and Her Grandmother Window-shopping, Mobile, Alabama, 1956. decemBer 2016 Better PhotograPhy great masters
Untitled, Shady Grove, several establishments he visited on that study the photographs. It didn’t take long for Untitled, Shady Grove, Alabama, 1956. day. He returned to the FSA office furious, Gordon to realise the problem—there was Alabama, 1956. and poured his feelings to Stryker who no point in photographing the perpetrator, listened attentively. Gordon had made up his when the real focus should be on the mind, “I want to show the rest of the world persecuted. Soon after he photographed what your great city of Washington, D.C. American Gothic, and this set the tone is really like.” But Stryker had other plans, for all of Gordon’s subsequent projects 98 and advised him to look at the FSA files and on segregation.
“I chose the camera as a weapon against all the things I dislike about America— poverty, racism, Untitled, Shady Grove, discrimination.” Alabama, 1956.
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Humanising African Americans most important works. In them, he imbibed Even though the colour of his skin his anger over the inequality he had threatened to weigh him down, Gordon was experienced throughout his life. But more undeterred. He approached people with importantly, Gordon became LIFE’s link confidence and conviction—that he deserved to a world that was seldom visited by white as much of a chance as any other person. people. His own upbringing and experience It became his approach to everything, and of segregation made him invaluable. eventually got him a place in LIFE, making Moreover, the magazine gave Gordon a him the magazine’s first black photographer. platform to reach out to its white, privileged Willie Causey, Jr, with Gordon produced several photoessays readers, and get them into a discourse about Gun During Violence in for LIFE. The Harlem Gang Leader, 1948, and the severe prejudices that plagued the Alabama, Shady Grove, The Fontenelle Family, 1967, were two of his United States. Alabama, 1956.
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Untitled, Alabama, 1956.
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One of his LIFE assignments took him to avoided them. He shot discriminatory Mobile, Alabama, a place brimming with signposts with the words ‘black’ and ‘white’, the discriminatory laws of the Jim Crow thereby also reinforcing the injustice of the south. The photoessay (The Restraints: Open entire system. Moreover, his use of colour and Hidden) was shot in colour, and were made the issue of segregation more relevant photographs of three families who resided and less remote. in the area. Contrary to his hard-hitting B&W photographs, Gordon used subdued The Genesis of His Fashion Work hues and a rather delicate approach towards While Gordon is most known for his his subjects. He focused on the daily life documentary work, and for his movies and the intimate moments shared between like Shaft and The Learning Tree, not many members of the family. His intention was to today are aware that he began his career humanise these people, and liken them to photographing fashion. any other family in America—that they too Gordon stumbled upon fashion much enjoyed the simple pleasures of life, like in the same way as he had discovered the (left): Evening going out for an ice-cream or to the movies. FSA. In his memoir, A Choice of Weapons, he Wraps, New York, New York, 1956; Although he mostly kept away from any recounts... “Vogue was one of the magazines (below): Matched Pair, signs attributing to the poor conditions that well-to-do passengers left on the train. I used Cap and Gloves, Hoboken, his subjects lived in, it wasn’t that he entirely to study the luxurious fashion photographs New Jersey, 1956.
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“I still don’t know exactly who I am. I have disappeared into myself in so many different ways that I don’t know who me is.”—To Smile in Autumn, 1979
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(left): Skin-tight Suit, Malibu, California, 1958; (right): Untitled, 1962.
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Cocoon Cape, New York, New York, 1956.
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on its pages and the uncommon names for assignments. After facing rejection of the photographers who took them— upon rejection, he finally found himself Steichen, Blumenfeld, Horst, Beaton, at the doorsteps of Frank Murphy’s, Hoyningen-Huene. How lucky they were, one of the most popular fashion stores. I thought. Daydreaming once, I printed my The photographs he made for them were name under a Steichen portrait of Katharine eventually showcased on the store’s display. Cornell. And my imagination assured me Gordon also had his eyes on the big that it looked quite natural there,” he said. guns—Harper’s Bazaar, Vogue and Glamour. Evening Wraps Gordon decided to make this possible. Taking with him all the fashion work at Dawn, New York, He began visiting major departmental stores that he had shot so far, he approached New York, 1956.
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Aside from his Harper’s Bazaar’s legendary Art Director, achievements and Alexey Brodovitch. He was all praise for work in photography, Gordon’s pictures. However, his parting Gordon Parks was also a successful words to him were, “This magazine is owned and gifted author, by the Hearst Corporation, and it doesn’t hire composer and Negroes for anything; not even for sweeping filmmaker. His first floors.” Unfazed, Gordon approachedVogue ’s book (of the twenty that he authored), Alexander Liberman, who immediately took The Learning Tree, him on and gave him his first assignment—to was turned into a shoot a collection of evening gowns. film, which Gordon Gordon had a great sensibility for fashion directed, produced and composed and did an exquisite job in bringing out the music for. It was beauty of his subjects and the clothes they the first film to be wore. The city and its interiors became his directed by an African American and to primary backdrop, where his subjects posed this day, it is the only for him. The women in his pictures always non-exploitation exuded a certain timelessness. Their gestures film by an African were soft when they looked directly at the American. In all he has directed 11 films lens. And when they didn’t, it appeared as and composed the if he had caught them unaware, giving us a musical score for rather delicate and intimate look into their life. several of them. He also experimented with movement, using In 1956, a Vienna orchestra performed a slow shutterspeed to bring out the fluidity of his piano concerto, the dress and its colours. As his models swayed and in 1990, Gordon and danced, so did Gordon’s camera. 108 composed the What was particularly amazing about music and libretto for Martin, a ballet Gordon was his ability to seamlessly transition honouring the life of into different roles. “I had been given Martin Luther King Jr. assignments I had never expected to earn. Some proved to be as different as silk and iron. Once, crime and fashion was served to me on the same day. The colour of a Dior gown I photographed one afternoon turned out to be the same colour as the blood of a murdered gang member I had photographed earlier that morning up in Harlem,” he said.
Living Life Fearlessly Gordon was restless his entire life, and remained so till the very end. His restlessness took him to avenues that were often shut for people of his colour. Although most remember him for being a pioneer, Gordon himself never set out to be one. He did not accept jobs or take up assignments only to be the first black person to do so. He took them up to prove to himself and to the people who had doubted him—that he was well above the stigma that people of his colour came to be associated with. But his best quality yet, was his ability to see the beauty in the people and places he photographed, despite the evil that constantly threatened his existence. His advice to all was, “You need to have desire and the courage to fulfill that desire.”
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Untitled, New York, New York, 1956.
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t’s in the time of the hypersensitive that we are all desensitised. In the January of 2016, Bangalore saw a horrendous case of racism when a young Tanzanian woman was beaten Iup and stripped by a mob, after a Sudanese student—who was otherwise completely unrelated to the aforementioned Tanzanian— had run over and killed a local. It was a new low in a shameful series of crimes against Africans living in India. The vengeance of the vigilante mob, now commonplace in this age of constant outrage, painting their hate in one broad stroke. One dark-skinned African punished for the crime of another. It may be poignant to remind ourselves that Africa is actually a diverse continent of 54 countries. It is perhaps the turbulence of the modern day that even the rarest of rare is so common that we barely flinch. It was but just another headline, just another statistic. News media and journalism have too short a memory, and it was photography instead that came to the fore, urging us to observe and reflect. The incident was a flashpoint for practitioner Mahesh Shantaram. He chose not to react. 111 He instead chose to engage. Shantaram has been casting a mirror on Indian society for a few years. With a curious eye and a fondness for quirk, he has been documenting the disparate, yet similar worlds of weddings and elections. Both, social events accompanied by a theatre of the absurd, both, being a microcosm of India, an amalgamation of all that is right and wrong about this country. His is a subjective documentary approach, which seeks to unearth the layers that lie within the charades, and in turn, create a snapshot of contemporary society that can serve as a historic reference, several years down the line. But then, how does one even photograph something that is intangible? Racism is ‘visible’, in the photographic sense of the term, only in its external manifestations, but it is a phenomenon that is largely felt, often covertly rather than overtly. It is thus commendable that Mahesh weaves this narrative as a continuous conversation, not between a photographer and a subject, not between one community and another, but on a personal level, between one human being and another. “The first Mahesh Shantaram chronicles everyday racism in India thing I told them was not that I want to make some portraits, but that I want to talk to you. through a series of poignant portraits of African students There are several Africans who come to India who live here. Raj Lalwani discusses the visual and social to study, but because of the inherent biases nuances that lie within. and subsequent tension, they do not have decemBer 2016 Better PhotograPhy Photofeature
Natoya/Jamaica/Manipal/2016 (previous page); Wando/Chad/Bangalore/2016 (current page)
Indian friends. Photography was secondary to conversation and trust. They were just happy that there was an Indian who was interested in who they are.” Mahesh’s strength has always been in the fact that he questions, he probes, he shows us a mirror that may be cracked, where what it reflects makes the viewer uneasy and challenges his or her preconceived notions. But while his wedding and political narratives do this with harsh irony, The African Portraits are warm, sensitive and intimate. With his other work, he is looking for moments; here, he waits for many a moment. The crafting of each photograph is careful yet tender, a direct consequence of this slowdown, the use of long exposures while photographing people taking cue from the history of the medium, from early 19th century portraiture. Eight seconds is a bare minimum, Mahesh told me, as he asks his sitters to lie back, stay still and just be, while he uses a tiny torch to illuminate different elements within the frame. The subject is still, 112 but the photographer is moving, painting with light with varying intensity across his canvas, across the worlds inhabited by these African students. This is a work on colour, in colour, with its hues being painted by the kind of light that darkness seems to bring. “Daylight tends to describe everything,” says Mahesh, “it shows things as they are. The dark offers the security and intimacy of a warm blanket.” The process itself sounds rather simple, but when I saw the large, detailed prints of the Bangalore show hosted by Tasveer, I realised how the craft involved in the picturemaking helps create the emotional resonance that lies in each photograph. Just the way the photographer and his light travelled across the frame, so does the viewer’s gaze, noticing subtle nuances and objects that we may otherwise have not seen, had the illumination been constant. Every maneuver that the light seems to take urges our eye to travel. Travel is exactly what each of the Africans seems to do, while posing for Mahesh. The eight, ten or fifteen second exposures and the seven or eight frames that are made during each sitting add up to several seconds of unspoken conversation. This is your portrait as much as mine, the photographer seems to tell the sitter. All portraiture is collaborative, but this, more so. When a
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student gazes at the camera or in the distance for several seconds on his own, you wonder what he or she is wondering, where his or her thoughts are wandering. Some look at us, others look away, but they all look within, the glazed eyes that long exposures bring, enveloping their glazed thoughts, fears and concerns. It’s almost a performance, one can imagine, the ritualistic act of the making of the portrait lending an almost respectful, non-judgemental air. In an age of instant gratification, Shantaram’s portraits are experiential, both in their making and in their viewing. It was in experiencing the work that I also experienced the culture, several cultures, when I met some of the subjects, Done with college. and observed them looking at their own Bangalore, 2016 (below); photographs, at the opening of Mahesh’s Helen looks back at her trubled past, Jalandhar, show. That has been the most rewarding 2016 (right) . experience, according to Mahesh, the
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“In India, the word ‘racist’ comes to fore only when there is an incident. We need to recognise what it means, spot its various indirect manifestations and talk about it more often.”
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Charity & friends/ South Africa/ Manipal/2016. decemBer 2016 Better PhotograPhy Photofeature
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fact that his gallery Tasveer committed to a an online platform that flagged it down as five-city tour of the work, the Bombay leg offensive content, one must give credit to of which opens this month. “Africans are a gallery like Tasveer and publications like accustomed to meeting Indians in hostile The Wire who have played an important spaces—police stations, hospitals, TV role in disseminating this heartening, but studios—whenever there is an ‘incident’. uncomfortable project. As this work travels, it brings together Indians These aren’t just pictures of the others and Africans to meet in a venue of the arts that live amongst us. They are pictures of and culture,” said Mahesh. “It often seems us looking at the other, as the other, and the that photography has become too much other, looking at itself, through the eyes of about photography, with its audience being one of us. More than they tell us of what the limited to photographers,” he adds, “I’m Africans are like, they bare open who we are. hoping to break that wall.” And in this conversation of us and them, one The wall needs a lot more to be broken and the other, it makes us reexamine our though. Racism and prejudice of colour are prejudices, our biases, our very labels of us Vitu/Malawi/ Bangalore/2016 (left); touchy topics, whose acknowledgement and the other. The African Portraits is as much Hamza & Shukra/Nigeria/ itself tends to be a matter of discomfort. a window into their world, as it is a mirror Jaipur/2016 (below). With hate comments on social media and that shows us ours.
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Mahesh Shantaram uses personal and subjective documentary photography to study contemporary Indian society. A larger anecdotal narrative of this work and its findings can be seen on thecontrarian.in/racism. This work will also be exhibited in Mumbai at ICIA (Institute of Contemporary Art) from 3–10 December. decemBer 2016 Better PhotograPhy 146
Image Source: Library of Congress A Brutal Punch Written by: fter serving in the US infantry in WWI, Roy Emerson Stryker studied economics Sainethra Hariharan and followed the footsteps of his favourite economist Rexford Tugwell. He became a part of Tugwell’s brainchild, Resettlement Administration (RA) as the head of its Information Division. Due to several criticisms, the RA came Aback as the Farm Security Administration to improve the condition of the rural society during the Great Depression in the late 1930s. As its director, Stryker played a huge role in portraying the challenges of rural poverty through his documentary photography movement. He assembled some of the best photographers which included Dorothea Lange, Arthur Rothstein, Walker Evans and John Vachon, amongst others to portray the extent of economic disaster. Though he had a clear vision, he was criticised for his heavy handed editing method, which involved destroying negatives by punching holes into them. Usually photographers used a hole punch to indicate a selected frame but Stryker, used it to kill the images he disliked. In some negatives the holes were clipped at the borders while in some he seemed almost wrathful by punching the faces or necks. Although he was not a photographer, in the end Stryker had the final say. Ruthless as he was, he was known for producing some of the greatest photographs of the Great Depression.
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