Interviews Indians are more comfortable with being photographed
It has been over six years since British photographer Tom Pietrasik decided to settle in New Delhi, India. He spent close to 8 years photographing the Indian middle-class which was featured in the Noorderlicht Photofestival 2006: Another Asia. His work has been published in renowned international newspapers and magazines like The Times Magazine, The Financial Times Magazine, Newsweek and National Geographic Adventure. He is also known for his development projects with UNICEF and UNDP as well as Non-Governmental Organisations like Action Aid, Oxfam and Save the Children. When we approached Tom, he was happy to walk us through his amazing photography career.
You started your career as a freelance photographer in Scotland and now you are based in New Delhi. What brought you to India and what has kept you here?
I first came to India in 1997 to cover an event for The International Award for Young People in Lonavala near Mumbai. My position with the youth award was sponsored by Fuji Film after I won a student bursary with them in 1997. On that first trip to India, I was struck by the warmth with which people received me. After covering the event in Lonavla, I returned to the UK but I wanted to visit India again. I was given the opportunity in 2002 and I have been here ever since.
What is it about the Indian middle-class that fascinated you? You spent close to 8 years shooting it...
When shooting in sensitive locations...it is very important to know when to stop photographing and walk away.
The Indian middle-class is a community with whom I have always felt comfortable. During my first few visits to India I made a lot of friends who came from middle-class families. I noticed almost immediately that Indian middle class lives are generally less private than you would find in the West where so much of life is lived beyond the public gaze. And I would say that on most occasions, Indians – including the middle class - are more comfortable with being photographed than people in the UK.
Most of your photographs covering India have been shot in Black and White. Why is this so?Most of my initial work was in Black and White but in the last few years, after switching to digital, I photograph almost exclusively in colour. I like Black and White because it copes better in difficult light conditions like harsh sunlight and I find that in certain circumstances the colour in colour photographs can distract from composition and subject. Many of the photographers I admire work in Black and White. My affection for Black and White may also have something to do with the fact that I used to spend a lot of time working in the dark room printing Black and White pictures.
What was it like to be photographing in the aftermath of the Tsunami?
I had just landed in Chennai for a holiday on the morning of 26th December 2004 when the Tsunami struck. Luckily I was carrying my camera equipment. I teamed up with a couple of journalists and travelled straight to Sri Lanka, reaching the coastline at dawn on the 27th, exactly 24 hours after the Tsunami waves had struck. Photographing in the aftermath of such a traumatic event was not easy, the fact I had a job to do - with editors in London waiting for my photographs – provided me a sense of purpose. I had plenty of trivial details to distract me from dwelling too heavily on the suffering around me. I had to worry about filing photographs, where I might be sleeping that night and busy with all those other little concerns.
Your photographs depicting the lives of tsunami-affected children in Chennai were exhibited by UNICEF and the British Council in December 2006. How was this experience?
In Sri Lanka I spread myself thin, continually moving between different locations. Once back to India, I was keen to look at the lives of children affected by the tsunami and I made the conscious decision to limit myself to photographing a handful of lives. These lives would then speak for the whole. UNICEF field workers assisted me in my photography and helped me build a relationship of trust with those I photographed. Journalism is often a transient existence. Encounters with those individuals I photograph are often intense while lasting only a few days – or even hours. These relationships are inevitably broken once the photography is complete. However, this work on tsunami-affected children has been different because I continue to visit my subjects regularly. I am curious to see how these children grow up.
What was it like to shoot in Sonagachi, the largest red light area in Kolkata last year?
I have not really begun photographing the sex workers of Sonagachi. I would like to document their lives but so far my trips to Kolkata have been more about building a trust with the community. Trust is obviously particularly important for a male photographer wanting to document the lives of female sex workers. Kolkata is at the forefront of a movement that intends to challenge exploitation in the sex trade and it is hoped that female sex workers can have more say in the way things are run. A cooperative society has been established and elections are held for key administrative posts within this organisation. This has helped unite workers and has given them the power and confidence to turn their clients down if, for instance, they refuse to use condoms.
You have worked with UNICEF on a polio eradication drive in India. How did you get involved in this project?
I was approached by UNICEF who have been involved in polio eradication in India from quite some time. They wanted my photographs to create awareness of polio prevention among the public while informing donor agencies – including governments - about how and where their money was being spent. Together UNICEF and I prepared an itinerary and decided to document the issue in detail in just two places. By concentrating on two locations – Moradabad and Patna – I was able to avoid devoting too much time to travelling and instead spend time with those I was photographing.
I think photography is a tool that can help expose the huge disparities that exist in India’s health care system.
Some subjects you have shot depict the starkness and the desperation of life… is it hard to capture this?
When shooting in sensitive locations, emotions are running high and it is important for a photographer to depict and capture those emotions. It is very important in such an environment to know when to stop photographing and walk away. As an extension of this respect for the subject, I feel that photographs should be supported by captions and text to help the reader understand the context in which the photograph is taken.
What development assignments are you working on currently?
I am currently working on the Public Health sector in India because I think it is a subject which tells us a lot about India’s development. I have been visiting public hospitals in Delhi and Shivpuri district in Madhya Pradesh, sometimes with the assistance of UNICEF. I think photography is a tool that can help expose the huge disparities that exist in India’s health care system where only the wealthy are able to access proper care. I feel that this injustice needs to be exposed and I hope my photographs can help in provoking a debate on this issue.
Your portrait collection was recently exhibited at London’s National Portrait Gallery as part of the Taylor Wessing 
Prize. Can you elaborate more on the portrait?
In all, 5000 photographs were submitted as entries in the Taylor Wessing Prize. Just four were declared winners with sixty other portraits hung in the gallery. My portrait, exhibited among those sixty, depicted a child who had lost her home in the 2007 monsoon floods that swept across northern India.
Many believe the subject’s eyes are the life of any portrait. Your thoughts on this…
There are several factors, which make a photograph powerful and insightful. Eyes are certainly one factor. There are a lot of other clues in a photograph which provide deeper insights. I would say the expression of the subject is one of the most important components of a portrait.
Besides people, what other subjects do you enjoy photographing?
I recently tried my hand at wildlife photography while working on a story about tigers in Ranthambore National Park for National Geographic Adventure Magazine. It was a challenge because photographing wildlife is so different from photographing people. There are the usual photographic concerns when deciding on composition and judging light but photographing animals entails understanding something of their behaviour. The tigers at Ranthambore park are quite used to humans which certainly helped me get close to them. Also, the sensitivities of photographing animals are quite unlike those of photographing human beings. You of course have to be respectful and be mindful of not intruding into their space.
Have you ever tried your hand at abstract photography?
I occasionally like looking at what some might describe as abstract photography but I am most confident and comfortable photographing people. What interests me most is anticipating the emotions and actions of the subject. If that were captured through abstract, editorial – or any other type of photography, then it would likely interest me.
With digital cameras becoming the norm over the last few years, how important is printing for you? Do you have any special processes or methods you follow?
As I mentioned, I used to make a lot of prints in the darkroom in my early years. Now, as I don’t have any printing equipment of my own, I do most of my printing at a lab in Delhi. It is still great to see photographs on paper. I enjoy looking at prints and books of photography where you are able to reflect on an image for longer than you might when viewing a computer screen. When it comes to printing, the most I do now is adjust the colour and contrast of the images on Photoshop before sending them to the lab.
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Tom Pietrasik's Blog | Photos by Tom Pietrasik | Fotosocial
