A Man of Many Dimensions
KORAMANGALA: Atta Galatta recently presented a conversation with poet, performer and photographer Pramod Shankar. He is an advertising creative director by profession, a published author and has been enjoying chasing various creative impulses over the last 23 years he has spent in Bengaluru with wife and two children.
Excerpts from an interview:
What was your career path? How did you get interested in photography?
I started out as a wedding and studio photographer and darkroom technician during my student days. I took my first picture with an old, discarded film camera. Then learned under a well-known photographer and trained to understand lighting, darkroom techniques etc., and then veered off into black-and-white imagery all over again.
How do you actually get your photographs to convey your ideas?
I look for the image, an interesting object or a shadowy play of forms and compose it in my mind. Sometimes, a frame forms when I am not even looking and the hardware just captures it.
We also know that you are a poet. What prompted that journey?
I have many writers in the family and there was a culture of reading and writing at home. I just started writing almost as if I was expected to, and then started loving it. Slowly, after many years of experimentation, I found my writing voice.
How does a poem begin for you, with an idea, a form, or an image?
Could be any of these. Sometimes the poem just forms itself in no particular sequence. There is always a thought trying to escape, and it forms itself in words and verbal images.
What conditions help you with your writing process?
A fountain pen, paper, an uncluttered mind, and a pressing need to just write and be rid of the angst.
As part of the poetry and music band, The Rickshaw Muse, who do you think are your musical influences?
Singer-poets like Leonard Cohen and Johnny Cash... and many more.
Can you tell us something about The Rickshaw Muse?
The Rickshaw Muse started as an experiment to combine poetry with music. It was pure curiosity and the need to experiment that led us to start the band. Today, its music and poetry are appreciated.
Since you are a performer, how do you handle goof ups before an audience?
We simply accept them and don’t try to cover up; we move on and laugh about them later.
How are you able to manage your time and devote yourself to all your activities, be it photography or poetry?
When you love what you do, you make time. Apart from poetry, music and photography, I also do standup comedy, public speaking and training. If you have an open mind, the ability to multitask, a loving family and friends, and most importantly, if you don’t take yourself too seriously, it’s possible to do anything.