[Reader-list] I asked, "What is your name?"

[Shveta]

Dear All,

Sorry, the link I sent on the list for the texts is incorrect. I'll post 
the correct link shortly.

best
shveta


shveta at sarai.net wrote:

>Dear All,
>
>What kind of a world does a photographer in a photo studio create for
>himself?
>
>This is Prem Studio in Daryaganj (Delhi), for anyone who wants a story for
>next time they pass by it!
>
>An enjoyable interview by Babli Rai, researcher-practitioner at the LNJP
>Cybermohalla Lab.
>
>This text is from the CM Broadsheet 03, which engages with the
>technological universe in the localities (LNJP, Dakshinpuri, Nangla
>Maanchi).
>
>(The CM Broadsheet is a quarterly publication in Hindi. Editors: Lakhmi
>Kohli, Yashoda Singh, Suraj Rai, Love Anand)
>
>Translation by "Frank Huzoor" (frankhuzur at rediffmail.com) and Shveta.
>
>For more texts, see http://www.sarai.kit/wiki/index.php/CM_Translation
>
>best
>shveta
>
>----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>I asked, “What is your name?”
>
>He replied, “Subhash Kumar”.
>
>I thought your name was Pankaj. That's the name on the board, and I
>assumed you were Pankaj.
>
>Subhash (laughing): No, it isn't. Pankaj, in fact, is the name of studio
>owner. I only work here.
>
>I: You are a photographer. You take photographs. Can I speak with you a
>little bit about photos?
>
>Subhash (running his hand through his thick, dark hair): Oh yes, go
>ahead and ask me whatever you want.
>
>I: Well, I get myself photographed, I also click photographs myself and
>am also a collector of photos. It's something I enjoy. This is your
>work. What is your perspective on photography?
>
>Subhash (one hand in his jeans' pocket, a smile on his lips) I don't
>really know how to answer that.
>
>He became quiet for a while. Then he said, "Whenever I get ready to take
>someone's photo, my only desire is to produce good quality work. I want
>to make a photo look like what the person who is getting the photo taken
>wants it to be.
>
>I wanted to prod him more on this, but I wasn’t sure if he would like
>it. So I decided to ask a different question.
>
>I: How do you take a picture?
>
>Just then, there was a knock on the door and it opened.
>
>"Yaar, give me the photographs if you want me to deliver them! I'm on my
>way to Dariyaganj."
>
>An young man of about eighteen to twenty, was standing at the door.
>
>Subhash: Hold on, let me get them out.
>
>Opening the cupboard, Subhash handed over a paper bag, presumably
>containing the photographs, to the young man. Then he turned to us.
>
>Subhash: See, taking a photo is quite a simple job. Just ‘click’ the
>camera, and a photograph is produced. However, the face of the person
>whose photo has to be taken is important. Keeping the face in mind, we
>adjust the lighting in the studio, and figure out the distance at which
>the camera should be positioned. (He was gesturing with his hands to
>create a virtual impression of holding a camera, as if to explain his
>technique better.)
>
>I: Where did you learn the art of photography?
>
>At this moment, a woman walked in through the studio door.
>
>Subhash: Yes, how can I help you?
>
>The woman: I want to see him
>
>Subhash: He is not around at the moment. Come back at 5:00 [in the evening].
>
>The woman left.
>
>I took this time as a chance to ask my colleague, who had come with me,
>whether my question made any sense, but she didn't get time to respond.
>
>Subhash: I wasn't trained at any institute. I'm a self-taught
>photographer. I've learned the tricks of the trade through observation
>and practice.
>
>I thought to myself, "Even this question won't lead to anything
>interesting! The obvious line of questions following this will be, why
>did you take to photography, what was the idea behind that and who
>motivated you." This didn’t excite me and I didn’t ask them. I thought a
>little and then continued:
>
>I: I've often seen that if someone is not able to strike a right pose,
>you suggest some styles. How do you suggest a particular pose for
>someone? Is it just by looking at the face, or do you think about a
>relation between the angle at which you would like to take the photo,
>how close or how far you would like to take the photo from?
>
>Subhash (Breaking into laughter): Yaar, your question are always very
>serious and I have to beat my brain to answer them! In a way, striking a
>pose is also an art. Before suggesting a pose to someone, I think about
>whether it will suit, and if it will look good on the person whose photo
>I am going to take. For instance, sitting in a very simple posture is
>also a sort of style.
>
>(You have probably guaged from how he addresses us as "yaar" constantly,
>that he is what is known as a pucca Delhiite, and somewhere between 25
>and 30 years of age.)
>
>I: What do you do if even after elaborately instructing someone, there
>is no positive result?
>(I thought to myself, "This is not a good question! It's too similar to
>and close to the one before.")
>
>Subhash: Just because someone fails time and time again, it doesn't mean
>one should stop trying! Rehearsing so many poses together builds some
>kind of a rapport between the customer and me. It's a good thing. It
>also prompts the customer to visit us again!
>
>I: Do you also make fun of them with others, later?
>
>Subhash (Laughing): Oh yes. Sometimes when the customer is gone, I
>narrate his repeated failure to everybody and we all laugh over it. This
>is our job, yaar.
>
>I thought, "This man with a serious face has a funny side to him!" I
>relaxed now, and felt encouraged to ask him some friendly questions.
>
>I: What kind of photographs do you like for decorating your studio? Do
>you only use photos you have taken, or do you use other kinds of photos
>to make your studio more attractive?
>
>Subhash (He was looking out of the studio now): Not a single photograph
>on these walls has been taken by me. As such, we don’t have a tradition
>of embellishing our studio interiors with our own photographs. People
>object to such publci display of their images. All these photos have
>been bought from the market. Well, if you have no objection to my
>putting up your photographs in the studio, I could do that.
>
>I (Two vehicles passing by caught both our attention simultaneously): Do
>you take pictures out of your choice?
>
>Subhash: No, I haven’t clicked any image of my choice. I just do it the
>way people want me to. People visit us to get a photo of their choice.
>This includes photos of their teeth, eyes, nose and parts of the mouth
>where they experience trouble so that they can submit it to their doctor.
>
>I: But, there is provision of X-rays for all these body parts.
>
>Subhash: No, getting phots taken is therapeutic. So, we do therapy as well!
>
>I: So many people come here. Does someone attract you? For instance,
>someone with beautiful eyes or a lovely smile? Or for that matter,
>someone who moves his or her hands in interesting ways? Do you ever feel
>tempted to click only beautiful eyes in different ways? Have you ever
>experienced such moments?
>
>Subhash (laughing): A lot of such faces visit us and sometimes someone's
>laughter and how they look when they laugh stays with us for a long
>time. For instance, there is a girl with greenish blue eyes who is quite
>a regular visitor to our studio. I am so enamoured with her eyes that I
>keep asking her if she will allow me to shoot only her eyes from
>different angles. But she doesn't like this idea. I can't do it against
>her will.
>
>I: Any other face or some gestures, which interest you a great deal? So
>much so that they haunt you even during sleeping and you don’t hesitate
>to share it with your friends, family and near and dear ones?
>
>Subhash (running his hand through his hair): See, people come to the
>studio dressed for the occassion of getting a photograph taken. Then our
>challenge is to get them to understand if the pose they want to be
>photographed in is suitable for them or not. Sometimes it's really
>difficult to get them to change their mind; and we have to make sure
>they stay in a good mood when there photograph is being taken. It can
>get a little difficult. Then there are some people who come to get
>photogrpahs taken for a special someone. All these things become etched
>in our minds, but we can't keep thinking about them.
>
>I quickly recaped all the questions I had asked till now, and thought
>about what more I would like to ask him.
>
>I: Ok, tell me how do you manage those photos in which someone stands
>touching the top of the Qutab Minar or the minaret of the Taj Mahal?
>
>Subhash: This is a good question to ask me. That is 'trick photography'.
>
>I: What do you mean by 'trick'?
>
>It seemed to me he expected some more questions relating to the skill of
>photography, and that I hadn't quite managed to ask him these till now.
>Maybe he'll find this question apt.
>
>Subhash picked up a black bag in his left hand.
>
>Subhash: Trick photography means bringing something close after taking
>it far away through photography. (As he said this, he moved his right
>hand, first close to the bag, then away from it.)It creates the illusion
>of something being smaller than it is in this way. It's just a question
>of perception, trick of the camera and the skill of the photographer.
>
>I: Are you also into doing 'trick photography'?
>
>Subhash: I can do it. But we don't do trick photography in the studio.
>We don't even get any customers requesting such photography.
>
>I: Nowadays, a lot of tricks are done with photography. For instance,
>morphing makes it possible to juxtapose an image of girl with that of a
>boy. How are such types of photographs produced?
>
>Subhash (Now sitting on a stool): All these photographs are produced
>digitally. Digital camera technology allows a lot of changes after the
>photograph is taken. I work with a bromide film camera, which doesn’t
>allow me such changes. But still, its possible to make changes later on,
>by digitising the photograph. But changes like these are easily
>recognisable. That's why people still believe more in cameras which
>produce bromide print images. They believe those images are more "original".
>
>I: Do you also do morphing?
>
>Subhash: No, what does one gain fro it? Anyway, we are hard pressed with
>time for such frivolities, as we have a large number of customers.
>
>I: Do people visit your studio for developing such images?
>
>Subhash: So far, I am yet to receive any such visitor in this area.
>Sometimes we do talk over these things with friends. However, I have
>never done something like that.
>
>I: But my colleagues and I are very comfortable playing with images on
>the computer. We find taking a face from one photo and then placing it
>somewhere else very enjoyable.
>
>Subhash (Laughing): But it's very easy to identify such pictures,
>irrespective of how uch skill you have. I could make out something like
>that immediately. (Laughs again) After all, this is my world.
>
>I: How is it possible to get oneself photographed alongside a hero or
>heroine?
>
>Subhash: This is quite a common photo, and it is called 'Murti Kala'
>(Statue Art). Just get yourself shot standing beside a cut-out of a film
>star. I think if photo is appealing, it should really be attributed to
>the cut-out, rather than the person in it! Such photographs were sucha
>rage with people till recently, especially during the Dussehra fair or
>Eid festivities. We would often set up our stall in such fairs. Now
>everyone understands the trick and nobody's interested in it at all.
>
>I: How are such photos which appear on fresh album releases like Dil
>Wali or Panwali Dil created?
>
>Subhash: All these are digital images. In fact, the stylish marriage
>albums are produced using digital technique these-a-days.
>
>I: Well, when someone comes to you to learn the tricks of photography,
>what is your first question?
>
>Subhash: I can share my photographic skill with anyone without posing
>any question before him or her. After all, I don’t believe in taking an
>interview before having shared anything myself!
>
>I: Well, what is your opinion about the current crop of aspiring
>photographers?
>
>Subhash: Nowadays, people are learning photography using digital
>cameras. Anyone can learn photography now. Once they have the skill,
>they opt to make it a means for earning livelihood. On the other hand,
>quite a lot of people are passionate about photography, and some learn
>it as a hobby. As for the earning potential of photography, there are so
>many options in the market, and anyone can easily land with a good job...
>
>This happened to be our final question. We said goodbye and headed back
>to the lab.
>
>     
>o%29
>
>_________________________________________
>reader-list: an open discussion list on media and the city.
>Critiques & Collaborations
>To subscribe: send an email to reader-list-request at sarai.net with subscribe in the subject header.
>List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/>
>  
>