Fashion

by Samar S Jodha

Viewer Discretion: Nudity

Having worked in fashion photography at the start of my career led to one clear understanding. It’s mostly about selling perception, vanity and other self-image projection. Once I met a designer in Milano, and she put it perfectly, “When you walk into a room full of people and knowing you want to be the center of attention, and that first impression, where your individuality is everything (I say like an elevator pitch), And this is where the brands/fashion comes in, and the Italians have cracked it the best.”

So there came a time I felt shooting frocks was just not my bag. But I was very fortunate to have worked with designers who gave me the more significant meaning of clothes (ok, we can call it fashion), the education on weavers, traditional crafts and the larger ethos of that ‘fashion’ would come through. This learning even ended up with a textile book with Christie’s. But what always fascinated me was the human shape, the originality. The all kinds of shapes (not limited to size zero), flaws (to some), ageing bodies (part of life) and most importantly, is not living under the influence of photoshop and post production (pitfall in fashion photography for most). The raw and the uncooked is indeed the original cool. And we celebrate this with our lover/s, friends or even the self in the mirror.

Over the past three decades, I have been celebrating this idea of picture making with my friends, lovers or even professionally for women who wanna document themselves for posterity.

I believe this is the space away from that world of fashion and perception where a person’ confidence doesn’t need to ride a brand.

Fashion trends come and go faster than one can blink. But the natural us stays, grows and evolves on the path of life. It’s the non-judgmental space of life. And that is the ultimate signature of our individuality, the true freedom to celebrate self

The Analogue Days Of Photography

by Samar S Jodha

The Film Camera: 

The Principal was to observe, absorb and then hit the shutter. No carpet bombing /No screen/No instant gratification.

Darkroom Printing:

No assembly line looking/digital spitting prints cause there was human intervention while printing in the darkroom. The more one mastered the printing process, the better one managed to standardise the print quality.

Films and printmaking were not affordable, so you put a lot of thought before indulging in the darkroom set-up process (unless it was a paid gig or your daddy was rich)

The smell of chemicals in the darkroom, the emerging image in the developing tray and the tones settling in as the print dried had the unique pleasure of anticipation and the joys of Slow Photography.

Folks obsessed with printing could disappear into this space forever, living into infinity. The engagement of self or mindfulness in the world of analogue photography!

Photography & The Real Heroes

by Samar S Jodha

To me, photography practice is like a pyramid—nothing to do with what is more or less creative. So the way it goes, the most significant amount of professionals are passport, school-student photographers, above sits weddings, then comes travel ones, on top sits commercial & advertising, followed by a lesser number of professionals in the field of personal, documentary and artistic narrators. And above all sits photojournalism, who I have tremendous respect for, But what I think is at the pinnacle of this pyramid are the professionals who work in conflict zones. What we call the “war photographers.” They are the brave ones; they risk their lives, knowing very well that a bullet or a bomb blast is waiting for them. Also, let’s not forget, they are photographers and not combat trained for any of these situations. And to get that image, they are in line of fire between the two warring parties. They don’t do pictures that can be rescued/ saved/ retouched in the comfort of a photoshop studio. They are driven by courage and grit in these dangerous situations. In our non combat world, documentaries and Hollywood movies are made on these fearless men & women.One such person was Danish Siddiqui (not a pal other than connected on social media). His work leads him into hotspots of conflicts across South Asia; the work on the Rohingya refuge crises even got him the Pulitzer.Unfortunately, yesterday he took that bullet, and we lost him in Afghanistan. But this man not only leaves precious work behind but will inspire generations of young photojournalists into the future of this profession.It’s beyond words for the vacuum he leaves behind for his wife and children, his friends, professional associates and countless people he inspired through his photographs Thank you, Danish for the courage you represent, the compassion you always carried and for telling us such powerful stories driven by your pure passion!

Our Salute!

RIP

#DanishSiddiqui#warphotographers#Afghanistan

Website: https://www.danishsiddiqui.net/

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danish_Siddiqui .

Olympics and Activism Art

by Samar S Jodha

Bhopal-A Silent Picture

Two Olympics back, in 2012, London was hosting the summer games, with DOW chemicals as their sponsor, yes, the owners of Union Carbide, the MNC with blood on their hands of thousands in that chemical poisoning. The “all is well” brands are very good at Profits from all but Responsibility towards none.

The first challenge was that it was March/4, months before the games opened. London was under a high-security alert with planning/permits already in place. And I wanted to arrive with the Bhopal project with no location plans during the biggest show on the planet.

The second challenge was there was no way we could build this enormous container in India and put it on a ship for its timely arrival into London, and sail it through various security apparatus.

The first step, the super Divya Thakur, as the designer steps in (who had earlier designed the India showings), we set off to create the experience of that cold Dec. night of 1984. Fabricate a 40′ container, a metaphoric train journey with a sound piece, smoke machine, single degree temp to match that night and names/tribute to the thousands who died on that dreadful night.

While sitting in Dubai, struggling with budgets, fabrication, location, permissions/security clearances, logistical issues etc., I get a call from Amnesty International out of London (a journalist friend John Elliott had ref/reported this project on BBC) wanting to know if they could host the showing (but with a low budget)

So, where is the money for this big gig in the sky? My stretched $s were short of a make-or-break situation. There walks in another gem of a human being, Raza Beig (who runs more than a successful fashion brand, is a significant collector of art and a prominent philanthropist), with an open chequebook to take care of this venture should happen.

The next task, buy a 40′ container in London and store & insured (liability issues are critical in that part of the world) plus the contracts and the legal paperwork. And in comes Suzanne Alexander, who puts on her “Can Do” hat and makes sure no glitches and logistics run seamlessly.

Meanwhile, in Rochester, with all the designs/drawings by Divya, we set off a customised fabrication at an industrial design outfit. Also, with the capacity to handle crowds (so far in Asia/Europe/ US, we have clicked in over 250K walkthroughs)

Finally, Amnesty launched Bhopal-A Silent Picture/installation art project in London, with all their fanfare (prominent environmentalist activists, including Bianca Jagger, show up)

Post the show; one can’t pack up this gorilla and put it under the bed. So, after each show, it goes to a storage yard (with painful rental costs/insurance) But each time, hoping to take it to the next gathering, so when one has the $£€, ship it across oceans (Houston photo Biennale 2018), & at times miss a few like the Tokyo Olympics.

Bhopal is not some forgotten suffering but a reminder that daily BHOPALs are happening globally. Corporates and their lobbies in the public policy space are destroying not only the human lives/future of our children but also our planet’s fragile environment. Plus, throw in the hyper-consumption habits.

Personally, Bhopal is also about what can one do with the art practice, both for creativity (not art for art’s sake but a more significant social change/advocacy) And a voice (if one has discovered) you want to amplify in forums where you take the message to people on the street (why we love public art) and not limit oneself in a white cube gallery syndrome.

The most significant takeaway, your biz, talent, and ability to earn can get you the name, money, fame, or a slab of posterity when you are six feet under, but what will keep it shining is how you lived through the NOW.

I have been fortunate to have some seriously moneyed/collecter friends with wealth beyond ordinary imagination. And then I also have some superbly talented friends who are beyond billing their talent. What is impressive is some of them have always extended the above to my causes. They are the NOWs. They believe their money or talent can make a significant difference on issues I work on (at times, I am their personal CSR). My biggest gratitude to all of them.

Each of you is my Olympic Hero

How do you define your childhood?

by Samar S Jodha

Many creative people are big fans of memoirs, conflict and the marginalised voice. The connect is because, as an artist, one is interested in that mind, the personal experience and the struggles within and outside.

Here is a memoir, which I finally got to read. It’s about a young girl growing up in Kashmir. It’s in an environment of deadly politics, religion, violence, and one can make a whole list of what has been going on in the most conflicted part of the world. Under the dark shadows above is a personal story of a girl with all that noise outside and the silent child within.

The impact on her family and her community, and her missing out on that normalcy of childhood, which we all otherwise take for granted. Her laughter, the freedom to run in open land, the daily after school hanging out with your mates in the playground, that free spirit each child is born with. Instead, each time her dreams are shot down, she lives through nightmares of being woken up in the middle of the night to the sounds of gunshots. It is to live with anxiety, fear, trauma, which are all part of her daily life.

I don’t want to create a review of Farah Bashir Rumours of Spring (for that, you’ve got to read this sensitive narration). Still, it’s about the harsh growing up years of an individual, which unfortunately continues for countless children even today.