PHOTOGRAPHY IS OUR national passion. It’s in our genes, actually. Every single memory — happy or sad — is expressed in terms of photos. Hey, have you been to Agra? Haan yaar, went there for my honeymoon. Wait, I’ll show you the photos — right away comes a picture of the husband and wife standing in front of the Taj Mahal, holding hands and grinning. Pati, patni aur woh!
Now that’s what you call a photographic memory (no pun intended), don’t you?
‘Person’ and not the ‘place’ is all that matters while taking pictures — the golden rule of great Indian photography. You may visit anywhere — Delhi or Dubai, Varanasi or Vancouver — but do remember to take pictures with you in the frame. Always. The background is immaterial. You might be standing in front of the Taj, but more than the monument it’s you who is important. Shah Jahan’s creation might get out of focus, but not you. Never. Else you are in deep trouble — Arrey, you visited the Taj Mahal? Then how come you aren’t there in any of the photos? What’s the point in taking pictures of the monument only?
The logic is quite simple. Your photos act as a proof that you actually visited the place (yes, you read it correctly). Few weeks back a Facebook friend of mine uploaded some pictures of his trip to Delhi, and as expected he was present in each of them. No Red Fort, Qutab Minar, nothing. It was him everywhere. Looked as if the guy had done an entire photo shoot over there. In fact, had it not been for the lone India Gate in the background of one of his photos, I would have had enough reason to believe that the pictures were taken in the backyard of his house.
I wonder why people can’t concentrate on the beauty of the place (instead of their own) while taking snaps. Is it so important to make ‘human’ presence visible in each and every frame? Let your camera capture the splendour and picturesqueness of the place, the way it actually is. Why tamper it with artificiality? Good travel photography should attempt to capture the essence of the place, not mar its serenity with mindless look-at-me poses. I would any day prefer a snap of the Taj Mahal alone than that of an oh-so-romantic couple standing in front of the monument in an oh-so-appalling manner. The latter takes away the elegance of the subject (the Taj, that is) overcrowding it with unnecessary objects. However, this doesn’t mean that I’m against so-called ‘family vacation pictures’. They do conjure up fond memories of holidays. But can’t they be kept natural?
Unfortunately, in most of such pictures you’ll notice three distinct features: people standing in awkward ‘attention commandos’ posture, their eyes fixated on the camera lens and a stupid smile on their otherwise stiff faces — Everyone come closer... Dolly don’t move beta!... Pinku look at the camera and don’t blink... now all of you say cheese! Urghhh.
Posing for photograph — that’s something everyone (there’s no diversity in this unity) is quite fond of. And therefore you will find some of the most bizarre poses ever seen. I still remember a photo taken at the Taj Mahal where the husband and wife were facing each other with the Taj in between and — here comes the surprise — both their hands raised above in a gesture of touching the tip of the monument! A little trick photography can do such ‘monumental’ wonders (and you thought one needs to be a Raghu Rai to take mind-boggling snaps). Dumb.
I’ve long been labelled as a high-brow aantel by my family and friends since I refuse to take their pictures during our vacations. Ki shudhu rasta-ghat gaach-palar chhobi tule beras? Take our pictures too! — laments my mom often. But I’m glad there are still some people who think otherwise. During my recent trip to Delhi I met two elderly Iranian women, who asked me to take their photo with the Qutab Minar in the background. As I asked them to come closer in the frame, one of the women said, ‘Keep it like that. We are not important, the place is.’ Her statement said it all.
