Chennai: Gone are the days we waited with bated breath for days on end to see the wonderful moments of life captured on camera. Today, photography as an art has come a long way ever since it was invented in 1800s and everyone with a mobile camera has become a photographer.
Evolution from cumbersome machines to digital cameras to mobile phones was slow and gradual. These days, technology helps not only to capture pictures on mobile cameras, but transmits it across continents in a jiffy, free of cost.
Democratisation of photography has led to end of monopoly of professional photographers. Yet, professional photographers have not lost their edge and relevance. DC talks to some accomplished professional photographers and commemorate their best photograph on World Photography Day.
Alphonse Roy, Wildlife Cinamatographer, based in Chennai
I have spent most of my life photographing tigers. This picture taken 14 years back in Bundaberg National Park is very special to me because she is a famous tigress called Fita. It appeared on the cover of National Geographic. There was no record of tigress delivering a young one or even attending to the young one in the wild. Fita was pregnant and we were continuously following her in the wild, since we knew it was the time she was going to deliver. But somehow we lost track of her and she disappeared in the wilderness.
When she returned after four days everything was normal but her stomach had gone down and there were signs of cubs suckling. Based on the signs we arrived at the conclusion she had delivered and we followed her. When a tigress delivers she hides under rocks or in the wild. We constantly followed her and tracked her down, but she came charging close to us. But for some strange reasons she did not attack us. She left after giving warnings to leave the place.
Iqbal Mohammed based in Ooty
On this World Photography Day, my mind goes back to times when I was doing photography with 4”x5” camera and film. Every frame was so precious, it was almost a ritual to load film into the film holder, look closely at every square millimeter of the frame before pressing the trigger. Most often, there was no second chance, especially in the outdoors. And then one has to wait for the film to be processed to see the final result, which would take about half a day. This discipline was actually a boon, as I was so focused on the image, that I saw so many layers of details. Making the image that much better.
In today’s digital age, there is no waiting to see the end result. Which means, you take a shot, look at the frame, and if you think it is not good enough, you immediately take the next shot. In a way, this is very useful, especially in situations where you may not get the same frame again—like events, both natural and man-made. On the other hand, this speed of making the image has compromised the sense of detailing, which no amount of post-production can make good.
And then we have the cell phone. This has made photography accessible to a vast number of people. And the level of technology is so good that even in low light, a cell phone can deliver good images instantly. And you can transmit these images at once, free of cost! With more and more people taking to photography, it is good news for the visual world.
Moments: Over the last 27 years that I have been taking shots of all kinds of subjects, from nature to automobiles, there have been many moments that are unforgettable. One such is when India’s only dormant volcano, at the Barren Island in Andamans, decided to erupt. I was fortunate to get on to one of the first government ships that went to study the eruption, with a whole host of specialists. I was on the deck of the ship, rocked by massive waves, the air smelling of volcanic fumes, making me extremely nauseous. It was dawn and every time the ship was lifted by a wave and it reached the crest, there was a fraction of a moment of stillness when I pressed the trigger. And I was so thrilled to capture this majestic sight.
M.A. Parthasarathy based in Chennai
Being photographers, we always have a frame of the picture we are planning to take. But during the shoot of this picture on May 21, 1991, I was totally blank.
Soon after the bomb blast, we were all searching for Rajiv Gandhi and only after seeing the Lotto shoe we identified it was Rajiv. I was totally blank and kept clicking pictures for 10-15 minutes, which is unusual for a photographer. Only next day, when I developed the pictures I realized I have taken these pictures. This picture captured when I was 27 turned out to be my greatest picture. But I am sad that I could not give dignity to dead person.
Sondeep Shankar, photo journalist based in New Delhi
As a photo journalist, I am shooting pictures almost every day on news assignments. A large number of these shoots are photo-ops covering important political personalities for the paper. This picture was shot on August 18 in Rashtrapati Bhavan during Raksha Bandhan celebrations.
Almost 500 school students and others were offering Rakhis to President. But when I shot this frame, I knew that I had a strong picture which will be in my portfolio of special pictures. This is a group of widows from the holy town of Vrindavan and for the first time they had come to see the President. Pranab Mukherjee is seen with a very animated expression and he reacted with a warm smile. The picture is strong in terms of its composition and has a warm appeal.
