Bhairavi Parikh is an up-and-coming photographer from Mumbai. Having received a B.A. in English literature, she graduated from the Shari Academy in 2004 with an award in fine art photography.

She has participated in several exhibitions with the Photographers’ Guild of India and held her first solo exhibition, “FLORA”, which featured fine art photos of flowers, in 2007. In her own words, her photography strives to “create spaces” which “speak of the intangibles like beauty, absurdity, mystery, time and freedom”.

Which photographers have inspired you?
Five photographers easily come to mind. Cartier-Bresson is, for me, the quintessential intuitive photographer. Besides his great body of work, his simplicity inspires. I love the landscapes Sally Mann shoots. Their stillness and old feel takes one back in time. Sarah Moon's work uses nostalgic technique but stylistically is very modern and raw. Her vision is so unique and beautiful. Nadav Kander's imagery throbs with a distinctive perception. I am also a big fan of Kai Uwe-Gundlach. His use of tone, the way his personal and commercial work echo each other and the quirkiness of his images is appealing. The light in his pictures is perfect and he brings a personal vision to everything he shoots be they portraits, landscapes or architecture.

You assisted commercial photographer Jaideep Oberoi from September 2004 to December 2005. Do you think it’s important to first assist a photographer before setting out on your own?  

A photo assistantship is exciting, unpredictable and hands-on. It's a real job in the working world - what better environment in which to observe and hone one's technical, practical and business skills? 

You say that, “Through a frame, time slows”. This effect must be even more prominent in a busy city like Mumbai?
The phrase refers more to the experience of looking with a degree of concentration to make a picture, than it does to external environment. This slowing of time to really look at something happens even in a closed studio environment or in a serene landscape.

You seem to have a fascination for city architecture and roads. Why is this?
I have lived most of my life in Bombay and love to walk. Looking for beauty where I am, along with a basic love of symmetry and the unknown has probably led to the fascination for architecture and roadways.

How do you approach the use of colour in your photography?
I like to play with colours and tones and I adore chaos or randomness. So, on a shoot, I try my best to get a feel of the subject, a pulse on how I perceive it, the colours or shades of black and white that it would ideally look good in, and then I toss all these elements up, going in blind in terms of judgment and fresh in terms of sight. This purposeful undercutting yields mostly horrific results and sometimes surprising ones.

What was it that attracted to you to fine art photography?
The freedom to express oneself emotionally and the fluidity of arranging the elements of subject, tone and resonance to create a new, free and personally meaningful image each time I shot, attracted me to the complex world of fine art photography. This freedom also comes with a responsibility to be true to oneself and to be one's own strictest critic.

How would you describe the fine art scene in India?
In India we have a long way to go. While photography shows are more frequent than they used to be just three years ago, we need a lot more local art fairs, gallery representation and international exposure in terms of taking our work to forums abroad and having foreign agencies consider our work.

How important is printing when it comes to fine art photography?
The Fine Art Print is the point of communication between viewer and artist. The artist-photographer's attention to detail that has gone into making first the image, and then the print, is rewarded with corresponding clarity, on the part of the viewer. Dialogue between the two is possible from that moment on.

What printing equipment would you recommend?
While I do not own a printer, I print my work with Sanjay's team at Photokina Digital in Mumbai. The printers they use are the Epson Stylus Pro11880 and the Epson Stylus Pro 9800. Together, we experiment with different Archival Inkjet papers and see what their surface textures, colour range and luminosity can do for a particular image.  

Any tips for budding fine art photographers?
Cultivate a vision and have patience - you have to want this more than anything else. 

What project are you working on currently?
I am shooting candid portraits these days and landscapes when I get the chance to travel.

Bhairavi Parikh's Website | Photos by Bhairavi Parikh | Fotosocial