CHENNAI: Dark and intense with goth-like ambience — black clothing, laces, long veils, smoke and candles are things you will find in the portraits by photographer and artist L Ramachandran, who recently inaugurated his exhibition, Melodrama of Melting Mesmerism, at The Legend, T Nagar. Model Manju Shankar has posed for almost all of them.
“I worked on this concept for four months and wanted to come up with something that is unique and also acceptable to our Indian audience.
I didn’t want too much glamour, as I wanted to connect with our culture,” says the Chennai-based international photographer, who also works for the Playboy magazine.
Ramachandran is not only the photographer on this project but also art director and designer.
“I decided to personally work on the props, background and sets so that I could give the entire concept a realistic look,” he explains.
There is one portrait where Manju has nearly 100 candles on her head. Quiz him about it, and he explains, “That was a difficult shoot for all of us.
The candles kept melting and it took us a while to come out with a good shot. Yes there was a certain risk too, because we were using fire.” But why fire for this shot?
“The concept depicts an independent woman who is empowered and has embraced the negative influence of the society. The fire helps her get rid of all the unpleasant energies around her.”
The artiste has worked on a number of concepts in the last 15 years. We were curious to know how he comes up with just quirky ideas.
“In a day, all that I can think of is what I can work on next,” he laughs. “My next project again is for the Indian audience with less glamour. The photography is based on a cloth with a multi-coloured background.”
He strongly believes that fashion sense is a must for photography, “Not only fashion, every photographer must be a good artist. We need photography to visualise the art we want to create.”
Ramachandran has won numerous awards and one of which is the Best 60 Photo Master award. He has a few words for aspirants “Believe in yourself and always be ready to explore places and people.
Everyone must go through the struggle to achieve. Do not give up during the struggle. Try out different kinds of photography and don’t restrict yourself.”