Subi Samuel, one of India's leading glamour, fashion and commercial photographers takes time off his schedule to talk to Fotoflock.com about things that he likes and things he doesn't. In a freewheeling chat with Sonu Sangameswaran, Subi lets us in on some secrets.

Tell us more about the Bollywood 2008 calendar. How did that come about and how did the comic strips idea evolve?
Comic art is something that is now evolving as a form of art. If you go and look internationally, this is what is being done in terms of people. We wanted to do something different and definitely not some run-of-the-mill stuff standard shots of heroes and heroines, which is what you invariably see in Bollywood. It’s predominantly exaggerated stuff; I’m not saying it is that way all the time but most of the time that’s what happens.

So I wanted to do something where you could break out of that norm and create something new, something that had not been done before and that’s how we decided to go ahead with the comic art plan.

Comic art turned out to be a reference point?
I do watch a lot of cartoon network and all that so I do have a bend in that direction. But if you ask me was that the takeoff point, I’d say no. It was the whole desire to do something unique and different and you know, the beauty of this when the whole thing comes out is that not too many people can do it because it’s not just one layer, or buying a plug-in and running some tool on it; there’s a lot more than that. In fact, it took me a long time to start understanding the dynamics of how to shoot it. We’ve now gone ahead and picked up new lights also so that we can do that style of photography.

I guess we can look forward to more calendars featuring such ideas then...
Definitely. I think 2008 second half is going to be a lot of cartoon art; in fact, I’d call it more of painting art which is where we’re evolving to now. We’re doing a lot of stuff I’d call painterly, so you see the face, you see the skin but it still looks like a painting. It has to be unique otherwise we’d be doing the same thing that Tom, Dick and Harry are doing and if that’s the way you market yourself, then it comes down to a scene where everything depends on who’s cheaper on a particular day which is NOT the way I work.

You have another book titled ‘Subi Samuel’; tell us more about that.
That was about 4 years ago, a different state of mind and expression. Predominantly black and white; it’s what I was going through at the time. A lot of portraits of people, celebrities and non celebrities; lots of stuff but I definitely can’t call it my style today. There’s been a change, transformation from then to now and we’re in a different space at this time. I still do B&W but it’s come down to how we work things with Photoshop. You’re not shooting fine grain because that’s an art that’s almost dead now; few people do that.

My work has been influenced by a wide spectrum of photographers. Also, I had the passion to gorge in as much as I could on photography, learn as much as possible, I still spend time figuring out new stuff. That’s the way you survive; you can’t survive otherwise!

This industry will not permit you to be around if you’re working on yesterday’s style. So Rakesh Shresta was whom I learned under. Indian photographers I like are Raghu Rai, Rajyadaksha and Shreshta of course; basically people I’ve learnt from and whose I’ve followed their work very intensively. Gautam Rajyadaksha is someone I’ve greatly, greatly admired; I’ve loved his work and seeing his style and his book called ‘Faces’, it was again something that hugely inspired me. I do have international influences as well. My own path is where I’ve got into this new style of comic art which I want to continue doing now.

But at the same time, unfortunately, the place that we come from, there’s times when the orientation is not that good and your mindspace is not as spaced out as it should be; I mean that in a positive way; and following their work opens your mind to think the way they think and that is why references of foreign photography can help.

Obviously they also follow your work regularly. We’re fooling ourselves if we think that they don’t do that. Internationally, it’s all going around; eventually you see that they interpret your style and vice-versa, which is why there’s a constant evolution that keeps happening. That’s the reason why people can last for a long period of time. I mean, when I see some of my work eight years ago, I don’t even identify with it anymore; doesn’t mean I’m embarrassed with it but it’s just not my style anymore. You want to grow so there’s this space that you need.

You’ve been associated with glamour and concept photography for a long time. What else interests you?
I like wildlife but I haven’t really shot too much of it but I thoroughly enjoy it. Just the beauty of capturing the moment. I also love street photography which is just to catch people and I do that when I’m traveling abroad but I take care because you might upset somebody doing something with their knowledge. As far as bread and butter go, it’s people photography, it’s celebrities and people and I do that and that’s what get published and pays me.

Do you remember any memorable shoots and stars you enjoyed working with?
I’ve enjoyed most of my shoots. There are obviously days I like to forget and I don’t want to talk about that for respect for the persons involved. But other than that, I’ve enjoyed all my shoots. I look forward to every shoot like a child. Even today I get excited; I jump out of bed early when I have a shoot. For instance, I have a shoot tomorrow which I’m already excited about, I’m already discussing what to do, what not to do, and stuff like that and when I even take a shower, I’m thinking how can I light up this person.

My earlier work was a lot of portraits and I think somewhere it became a style also. It was limited because I was working out of a small studio and taking full shots was difficult. I had to go out of the studio and work somewhere else just to have enough place to put all the lights and all that. So because of which predominantly I evolved this whole thing about faces and props around faces and mid shots etc.

However, having come to this studio where we are, which we moved into six, seven years ago, I still continue doing the same job because I enjoy doing that. I don’t do that large scale ‘let’s put up a set’ shot kind of a person and I’m more about capturing the person

So there are a lot of organized principles that you use while photographing?
I just keep evolving thing and there’s obviously a chain of thought but principles I don’t follow. I follow intuition and instinct loads. I don’t have a theory to photography; I don’t think anybody should have a theory to photography. If you want to do something creative it is. If you’re talking about wedding photography, that’s a different thing. Otherwise, each day a person can be lit up differently and seem more beautiful. There are theories of this ands that lighting but honestly, I don’t follow it.

Describe your journey from first Star N’Style with Shah Rukh Khan. What were the most important things you learned since then?

Grace of God! Predominantly, any career, business etc has to be grounded with a belief system, and everything else. Some days you feel like a Michelangelo and other days, you feel like someone else so it purely depends on how balanced and how secure you are. What’s your support system and what your family has to say; for me at least it’s that way, ten years into the business, I would say that the one thing is constant is family support. They started out by saying, ‘No, you shouldn’t get into photography’ the day that they realized it was a good career to step into, they fully supported me and it’s the same thing with my wife and that’s what keeps you level headed.

Today you could be shooting with Shah Rukh Khan and tomorrow you could be shooting with Yuvraj Singh and day after, none of them will be shooting with you. You can’t lose your head over the fact that X, Y or Z is not shooting and not shot with you in one year etc, If you believe in yourself and your balance is your family, God and all that, that’s my understanding of life.

Have you faced rejection and people who didn’t believe you?
Of course; I just went on persevering. There have been times I wanted to shoot with somebody but they didn’t want to shoot with me. But, basically when I was starting off, there’d be days I’d be waiting, waiting and waiting but the shoot didn’t happen. But that’s when I could get back into my prayer time and I may sound spiritual or whatever when saying that. I have definitely faced rejection and I’m not stupid to say I haven’t. I’ve had my work not being appreciated; some celebrity may call me and say, ‘I don’t like the shots, can we not use it?’ and stuff like that. I just discard the picture; nothing wrong with it. I don’t think we’re meant to be those perfect super humans who don’t go wrong in life. Unfortunately, the photography circle is not a bunch that’d discuss things that went wrong or you know, ‘I had this shoot with XYZ and something screwed up. How would you deal with it?’ and all that stuff. There’s no counseling; I do have friends here but everyone deals with it in their own way and so balance and priorities are important. For me, God is first, family comes second and career comes a poor third or fourth.

What kind of advice would you give for those who take photography as a career or an interest?
See, if it’s an interest and I think any interest, is something you should definitely pursue. It’s not like if I like art but don’t do it, it becomes invalid for me to try or study it. You never know, you might turn out to be the country’s most talented photographer, maybe even untrained. I’m an untrained photographer. So definitely, go with your interest and I back those who want to go with it and learn something out of it even if it’s just enjoyment.

But if you’re looking at it as a career, then there are a couple of factors, which are particular. One is ‘Do you feel that calling?’ The glamour is what people show you. Your work is sitting with stars and hobnobbing with them. But they’re hobnobbing with you because you’ve done your homework while they were sleeping. There was a space in my career when I’d be experiment from 7am to 10am before shooting with the star. So unless you have that passion to make a difference with what you do, I don’t think it’s worth even buying a camera as a professional photographer. You have to belief in yourself and where god wants to put you, I mean why would an architect take up photography? I know some architects who do so and I was doing management before I picked photography.

The thing about us photographers is, I’m only as good as my last shoot. If I blew it, for whatever reason, that’s how I’m remembered, at least by the agency! Because the stakes are so high and to get another date with that celebrity might be impossible; all that comes to play. You’ve got to have that passion to put yourself on the line every morning otherwise it’s not possible to handle. We’re researching, experimenting and that’s how things go otherwise you become a monument!

Any young guns that are turning your head?
Honestly, no. I don’t want to insult anyone by saying this, but nobody does anything unique anymore. Unfortunately, photography has become less of photography and more about Photoshop Art. So, whatever somebody does, you know what’s gone into doing that and its Photoshop most of the time. In that sense, it’s not as exciting to see a possibly new style. It depends on how people want to present their work. It’s up to you to take the tool and present yourself in a new manner; that may be evolution and coming up with unique stuff. A lot of stuff gets done with Photoshop.

I mean I got a call from Dubai and they were talking about some of my work on the calendar and how it was unbelievable that such stuff was coming out of the country. That’s what I’m talking about; I’m not blowing my own horn but I’m just saying that that the difference is because of the way I used a tool like photoshop to get the work done. You know color balancing and stuff like that.

The real world is very little of glamour and lot of labor, a lot of unfriendly conditions, environment and vibes, sometimes you get fifteen minutes to create the magic that you ultimately see somewhere and the magic has to continue. Someone like me who’s working with celebrities on a day to day basis, it’s an everyday lifestyle to work against the weather. It’s part and parcel of the job.

Photos by Subi Samuel  | Fotosocial