The one name generations of actors and actresses have turned to for the best shot of their lives is Gautam Rajadhyaksha. An artist who has devoted his life to the field of photography is also the pioneer of the ‘soft focus’ photos that have long created an aura around the celebrities he has captured. It is no wonder then that even in today’s slam-bang world of digital shoots Gautam’s photos and unique style are still much sought after.

Gautam Rajadhyaksha is a people’s person and for him, communication with his ‘subjects’ holds the key to bringing out their character on film. His knowledge includes varied subjects from music (he loves Opera) to theatre to art and even sports and business. Making his subjects comfortable is half the battle for him. He believes that it is the most unnatural thing to ask someone to just ‘act natural’ and has therefore always made sure that he first has an informal chat with the person he plans to shoot.

 

In a candid chat with Fotoflock.com, Gautam tells us what motivates him and what he loves to do.

What inspires you?

People inspire me. I find them very interesting. They must have something to say and that is what stimulates me. Politicians don’t really catch my attention. There has to be some correlation somewhere, I don’t like to make people pose for me; I have never asked anyone to, either. I am very talkative and I love to talk to those who come to me. Since I have knowledge of quite a few things, I have never found it difficult to talk to anyone and break the ice. Once they ease out, only then can they converse and communicate to the camera. And these different faces keep inspiring me.

 

Some may call it an abstract way of self expression and all of that but for me, photography is my conversation with someone. If the subject is caught well, the photograph will communicate in the same way to the viewers as well. Photography for me means that the camera freezes the fragment of the time I have spent with that particular person. This may sound strange but I actually remember all my shoots. Like I remember this one time when Lata and Asha had come for a shoot and Lata cracked a joke on me and I captured the moment when both of them burst out laughing. It is a wonderful photograph.

 

The camera has been instrumental in my life in making friends with people from different walks of life. I have different relations with different people as per their interests and what makes them comfortable.

 

People. It is my answer for anything and everything related to me and photography together. I get to make so many new friends. I get to meet new talent. It is lovely shooting fresh faces because they are still more natural than the seasoned actors. Their photographs have a different look. The experienced actors have more or less adapted to the camera, but the fresh faces are an altogether different experience to shoot.

 

So many people who have reached eminence have come back to me and thanked me for my work but you know what? I really feel lucky that these people came to me. After all, they are the ones who inspire me and keep me going. I like to help and guide them. I think it is really wonderful that these people walk in to my life. To name a few, Salman Khan, Madhuri Dixit, Juhi Chawla, Kajol, Hrithik, Aamir and lately, Ranbir Kapoor. I have seen some of them as kids and I have seen them grow up in front of my eyes.

 

It is necessary that we know each other before we start the shoot. The reason it is so important to me is because when people are comfortable and talking, their eyes become alert... they are more involved in the process and the pictures are more candid. I love this part of my job. I love to talk!

I think my first professional assignment was in 1977-78. I was working with Lintas then and there was an urgent requirement for a photographer. My boss was not in town and so I was asked to take up the assignment. Shyam Benegal had to be shot as he had won an award for “Manthan”. I had already met him a few times before as part of my writing with Shobhaa De. I called him up and we met and that was my first assignment.

That was the time when I stumbled upon the fact that it is better when you can talk to the person and then shoot. Later, I also got to shoot Ismat Chughtai. I knew her also because she was the mother of one of my colleagues and so I could talk to her and easily click a few good photographs. Then on I started to develop the habit of taking a short interview before I shoot and that has slowly and gradually developed into my signature style of shooting.

This method also has some difficulties. Like with some artists it is really difficult to make them talk. Amitabh Bachchan, for example, will just not talk. Neither will Shabana Azmi. Aamir Khan, for that matter, is easy to talk to but he stiffens up once the camera is out. It is essential that a person is natural in a portrait. It is absolutely unnatural to ask anyone to act natural. Portraits have to be communicative and it is only possible when the person is a little relaxed and in his/her natural flow.

I am a very visual person, I like sights. I was the only child and there was no TV in the house and I had rationed sources of entertainment! I used to go through magazines, see pictures and I always wondered how they were done. I was a good student and music and pictures fascinated me since childhood. I was introduced to the names like Richard Avedon and Henri Cartier Bresson at a very early age. I admire Bresson and I think that he is the portraitist of the 20th century.

I have come to a point where everything seems like the usual to me. I am not expressing disinterest in my work by saying this. What I mean is that unusual and interesting photographs are something that I can come up with by playing around technically. Also, for me, each photo is a unique one. Capturing candid moments of the subject is interesting at all times. In every shoot I make an effort to take an offbeat angle, something that defies light and what I get out of each of these shots is different. Some turn out to be extremely natural, others are preserved by the subjects and they request that these not be released.

 

I am using the Canon Mark II DS. It has a lighter, quicker and brighter view finder. Digital cameras are easy to use even if you don't have complete technical knowledge. But I don't think it is ethical photography if an operator or an Art Director has to clean up your photographs. Even though I use a digital camera, my effort is always that the Art Director should have to do the least amount of work on it.

 

I don't think it is a correct work ethic, but it is surely developing into a different genre of art. Now the expectations from the young budding photographers have increased. They have to be technically sound and only then can you bend your grammar of lighting. For instance, the contrast in digital photgraphy is more and this should be known by the photographers.

 

Digital media has some pros, though. For instance, it reduces uncertainty and offers more storage. But I feel that to reach the quality of say, Kodachrome, digital cameras need to go through another generation of refining. The midtones and the grey tones are also not well defined in digital cameras.

However, digital cameras are surely a revolutionary introduction in the field of photography. It has raised the bar for amateurs and has also become a widespread hobby of the masses. Now more and more people can capture what they see and would like to preserve. Camera phones are also a boost to the hidden photographers in many. If you have the presence of mind and an eye to look at things differently, anyone can produce fair pictures.

The camera has now made so many people into artists in their own way. I would like to quote my contemporary Wilas Bhende here. He always said that there is a vast difference between a “photo take outer” and a photographer and that is exactly what the amateurs should keep in mind. With fancy new digicams and mobile cameras anyone can become a “photo take outer” but the trick is to be a "photographer".

 

Keep on shooting! This will help you slowly and gradually gain some first hand knowledge. Get your hands on some technicalities as well. Sound technicalities will leave you with a better scope to experiment further. If you like something, shoot it. There is an artist in everyone. Try and capture movements and moments.

 

Photos by Gautam Rajadhyaksha | Fotosocial