HOME AWAY FROM HOME

In collaboration with Sapnay, Bollywood dance company, I tried to document how they have retained their cultural identities over the years in the United Kingdom. While they have managed to find a balance between both the Indian and the British culture, they have also connected quite well with the people of the United Kingdom. Mrs.Ash Oberoi says, it is important for people here to hold on tighter to their culture and identity not just of the fear of losing it but also because it has to be passed on to generations to come. "Everyone has the right to know and understand their roots and origin", she adds. Their lovely home is Harrow is a daily reminder of their family and heritage.

Cricket in India is more like a religion than anything else. When I visited their residence, in spite of their long tiring day, I saw the Oberois were never tired to cheer for the India cricket team.

In a city like London, where there are constraints for space, the Oberois felt it was necessary to allot a separate room to place their holy book, Guru Granth Sahib. The room was beautifully decorated as an obvious importance for their religion and culture.  The Diwan hall (the place where the holy book is placed) is covered with intricate Indian sequin designs. But looks like even in the holy room, one can't escape the London cold.

The collaboration with Sapnay, Bollywood dance company has taught me the importance of communication for a photographer. The persistent effort to persuade your associate to ideate your thoughts was a challenge I faced. Understanding and personal rapport with the subject makes a lot of difference in the photographer's mind,  the subject's mind and as well as in the photograph itself.

Meeting Sapnay: International 'Dols'

Mr. Charanjeet, the co-founder of Sapnay, Bollywood dance company, asked me to meet him at their dance studio in Harrow.  He introduced me to Mrs. Ashwinder Oberoi, the creative director of Sapnay. An hour into my conversation with Mr. and Mrs. Oberoi I decided to photograph their interesting life. The multicultural students at their dance studio impressed me even further. There was this one girl who was trying to collaborate few gymnastic movements into the choreography caught my attention from a distance. Later to my surprise, I found that it was their daughter, Prabhleen Oberoi which made me even more happier, as I would have 3 very interesting and varied subjects to photograph. I've always wondered how one can hear dols and not want to dance!

The international appeal of Bollywood dancing is something that has been in the making for many decades. Originally, it was found mostly in places that had a significant exposure to Indian films. But today it is rising in popularity in the US, Canada and even in Europe. With the success of films such as "Pride and Prejudice", the Oscar-winning movie , “Slumdog Millionaire”, Bollywood dance styles have taken the world by storm & has now come into the global spotlight.

Sapnay, an 11-year-old dance company based in London is on an upswing with high profile shows and events in the United Kingdom. It was a real pleasure to be associated with the Sapnay family. Dancers from completely different backgrounds coming together for the passion for dance, learning a style completely new to them was a true inspiration. The technically trained dancers were having difficulties to shake their hip (tumkas) and hold a position in their hands (mudras). While playing songs like, "Dhoom machale","Aaja Nachele" or "Dar-de-Disco", they need to be explained the idea behind it. At the end of the day, every dancer understands musicality and beats, irrespective of the language.

Prabhleen, who grew up with the company, spent more time in the rehearsal studio perfecting her techniques than anywhere else. She follows Bollywood dance styles and combines them with contemporary techniques she learnt in the UK to create a perfect fusion. This is her identity. This is the culture she follows.

This 18-year-old is a strong, independent young lady who is one of the top Bollywood style dancers in the UK.

Sapnay, Bollywood dance company has artists from different backgrounds and from different parts of the world. You can see dancers from Cyprus, Sweden, Scotland and many more as part of Sapnay. Each of them brings to the table what they can offer with mutual respect for one another and the art form.

The above pictures are shot on a 5D Mark iii with a 1.4f 50mm lens. This lens enabled me to blur out the cluttered background and bring to focus only the necessary subject. It also helps me to determine how I want my viewers eyes to flow through the picture.

From 'Lightroom' to darkroom.

I spent the whole day today in the darkroom of London College of Communication, University of Arts London. This was very different from my usual days of spending time in front of my laptop working on Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom. The college has the best of faculty and access to top-notch facilities allowing me to try absolutely anything. As a student of photography in the digital era, I must admit, stepping into the the darkroom was exciting as well as scary. A photographer is tuned to look into the details of daily life, the patterns, the colors and much more, and his eye being the most important sense organ of all. When you have finished taking that photograph on film and you step into that darkroom, that very sense is lost, awakening all the other senses.

Today I learnt how the different combinations of yellow, magenta and cyan filters affect a photograph and how the variation of these 3 elements can give solutions to the color printing problems you face.

Things you need to remember to correct a color cast,

• Too magenta - Increase the value of magenta filter
• Too green - Decrease the value of magenta filter
• Too yellow - Increase the value of yellow filter
• Too blue - Decrease the value of yellow filter
• Too cyan - Decrease the value of yellow and magenta filters
• Too red - Increase the value of yellow and magenta filters

Remember,

The higher the value of a particular filter the more the color is filtered out, for example, if a photograph has too much magenta, an increase in the value of the magenta filter increases the amount of magenta that should be filtered out to give the correct color cast in the picture.

Hope you learnt something, because I surely did.

Shoot away. Happy clicking!

My morning walk through Durham.

It's a very funny story and my friends always say these kinds of things happens only to me. So I decided to give myself a treat, a weekend getaway to Newcastle, alone. This was the first time I ever did something like that. I've always travelled with family, friends or Arumugam anna, my driver. I took the night bus from Victoria coach station at 11 pm. I was supposed to reach Newcastle the following morning at 5:45. As everybody would guess I was half asleep on the bus and got off one stop earlier, Durham. Unfortunate for me, it was one of the coldest weekends in the UK. Not even a couple of layers could beat the cold. I must admit, I wanted to go back to my cozy bed in London but the first bus out wasn't for at least another two hours. I stayed at the bus coach station till 6:30 in the morning and then decided to explore the town having already got down there. I walked through the streets of this beautiful little town just as the sun said 'Good Morning'.

The morning sunlight and the empty streets made me succumbed to its beauty. I almost forgot that I hadn't reached my destination yet. As I gazed through the streets, the cold didn't hurt anymore and thought to myself these are moments I would like to seize.

Durham was an unexpected halt, my next blog post will feature my actual planned journey to Newcastle.

Stay tuned.

Happy clicking! :)

Underwater Figure Photography

Over the last couple of months, I have been doing my research on underwater photography and the changes from silver to digital. Analyzing how it all started and why, and where it is taking us in the future. I must say I was hooked on it and wanted to try my hands at underwater photography. Cashing in on the Christmas break, I traveled to a more sunny side of the world, my base, Chennai, India and decided to collaborate with my friend Tanitha Periera, who is a fashion blogger (TEAL). We were both excited to explore how much control we would or would not have underwater, both as a photographer and as a model. I have done all my research, I have all my references, I have theoretically understood the laws of water and its effect on camera... I have my iPhone with a waterproof case (Digital) and a Kodak disposable underwater camera (Analog) that I bought from the Boots store in London which is also available on Amazon. We jumped into the pool in our bathing suits and threw in a bright colored dupatta to break the hue from the blue water. All done and set. Let's shoot and get some amazing pictures, I thought. Ahaaa!!

Not that easy. Hurdles a photographer can expect shooting underwater,

1. You need to find the right model who is comfortable with you and the water. Not everyone is fully aware of their body underwater but Tanitha knew exactly what she was doing. It is quite evident from the output.
2. You and the model have to be in sync, this applies to pretty much all genres of photography, but a little extra emphasis on this point when you shoot underwater.
3. Model's outfit and props, as the water makes clothes seem heavier, choosing the right kind of material is important. You don't want it to weigh you down.
4. Lighting, due to the law of refraction most of the light that passes through the water is dispersed. Shooting when the daylight is at the maximum is important though this problem can be solved with the help of external flashlights.
5. You have the freedom to shoot from literally any angle but the problem arises when water makes the subject seem almost 25% larger than it actually is. This is usually corrected by the use of dome ports.

It was an amazing experience. If you get a chance, go give it a shot and you know what to expect. Here are a few pictures from the shoot. Hope you enjoy them. :)

I'd like to thank Tanitha Periera for readily accepting to do this shoot with me. Follow more of her work on Instagram & Facebook.

7 Inspirational Underwater Photographers

Can the laws of gravity be replaced? Photographers answered this question with the invention and evolution of underwater photography. Over the years, the improvement of camera housings and underwater equipment have changed underwater photography. We can also see the ways in which underwater photography has not changed.

Here is a list of underwater photographers who've inspired me.

1. Toni Frissell (1933-1967):

   One of the first photographers to take lifestyle and fashion away from the confines of the studio.

2. Bruce Mozert:

Bruce Mozert took underwater photographs of women performing above ground activities, such as playing golf, peering through a telescope, and barbecuing.

3. Sam Shere:

Photographed an underwater fashion show hosted by the Miami fashion council, that took place in 1947.

4. Emma Critchley:

'In water not only are shape and form suspended, but so is time, words, limbs and breadth float in an eternal present moment, neither past nor future, neither moving nor completely still'

-Emma Critchley, At the still point of the turning world

5. Zena Holloway:

‘Cameras capture too much sometimes and the water takes it back a step, takes it almost being like a painting’, she says.

6. Howard Schatz:

American based ophthalmologist and photographer. One of his many books is "Waterdance" published in 1995.

7. Elena Kalis:

Elena Kalis, the Russian-born who practices underwater photography by the deep blue sea in the Bahamas. Elena’s fine art background has helped her create a unique painting like style in underwater photography.

Coming up next is a blog post of how these photographers have influenced and inspired me. Watch this space for more!!!

When London surprised me.

Leaving home was not easy but was exciting at the same time. The day I got to know that I could do my Masters in London, I had a million thoughts running through my head. It was an opportunity for me to learn the newer technologies and methods of photography. But oh boy, was I in for a surprise.

I landed in London on an early winter morning. The first thing that hit me was the gloomy, uncoloured life. I thought it was just a new calm and a zone outside my chaotic comfort zone. The first week was about what is in and around the university and familiarising myself to the weather and the gloominess. Strangely, I found it beautiful in its own way. It started to sink in and I was enjoying it. As I started settling in, we had our first class on the history of photography and cameras.

During the course of these classes, I familiarised myself with the fellow students and their view on the world of photography. What fascinated me was their method of photography. Kong still uses a film camera and Zhou uses just an iPhone to capture her world. It was different from the world of DSLRs I thought of.

It got exciting when I got the opportunity to try the Pentax. The challenge was to capture a new city, from an outsider’s viewpoint – with an Illford HP5 black and white 36 film roll.

I had one week to capture the moments that got me and just two days away from returning the camera, I had just 7 pictures, because I couldn't wrap my mind around THE 36 shots I'd like to take. I decided to take this as an opportunity to use my day off, to walk around the city and see what would connect to me.

 

With the roll filled with the city, my next task is to bring them to life. The darkroom is my next stop, I'm really looking forward to bring these moments to light. I am looking forward to the experience.

Till then, let the camera keep clicking. :)

My first time : in the darkroom

Developing a picture in the darkroom was a magical experience to me and I think everyone should experience the very same magic at least once in their lifetime. I'm sure many photographers who have shot on film are familiar with the nervousness I felt. The adrenaline rush I felt when I first saw the picture that I shot printed on what was once a blank sheet of paper almost made my heart skip a beat. Of course, I was intimidated by the process and the whole idea of working in the darkroom for the very first time. As much as I was excited, a part of me was skeptical about how it is going to turn out.  Unfortunately, my biggest fear came true for my friend. Only after processing her film did she realise she didn't load the film right and she ended up with a completely blank film.

'Phew'... Crossed half the tunnel!!!!!

In the second half, everything seemed a little more at ease.  For this particular printing session I used light-sensitive resin-coated paper to make the prints. All photographic papers come packaged inside a light-proof black plastic bag inside a cardboard box.

Making contact sheets and deciding the picture to print, setting up enlargers, fixing my lens (50mm) and the print frame, loading the negative and setting the aperture and then making test strips in increasing intervals (2,2,4,8,16,32,64...) It took a couple of test sheets to understand the different exposure times and grades.

And,

Tadaaa!!!!

Finally came to print this picture.