CHENNAI:The village of Ottakudi in Thiruvarur district sings nature’s poetry through its lush fields and vast picturesque lands. As a young boy, Naveen Gowtham would capture these using his father’s analog camera. “Back then, there was an engineer in our village who had a camera, and one day when he was taking photos of his children, I was so intrigued that I forced him to take pictures of me too!” reminisces Naveen. His father was so happy with the photos that he saved money and bought a camera. “We would take photos around our village. We would develop them only a year later, as we’d not have ready money,” he recalls.
Naveen’s sensibilities for photography reflected in different series of photographs that he set out to click. His series on ‘Kadal Kadhalan’ represents a montage of slow-shutter seascapes that capture the varying colours of the sea at Marina Beach.His latest series, ‘Suyambu’, is perhaps his most stunning yet. It reflects an extension of his personality — simplicity and sincerity. The series captures womanhood in all ages, backgrounds, and forms, rendering their candid smiles, permanent and bright, in black and white portraits. “Everyone has significant women in their lives — mother, wife, lover — and I always wanted to do a series on women. When I read a poem by Vannadasan, which, when simplified, meant that women are the symbol of ‘Suyambu’, meaning independent, and have the power to create the whole world,” Naveen explains.
During his travels across Tamil Nadu, he met several women whom he approached to be clicked. Every time he asked them ‘to smile with your teeth’, their shy laughter is what he chose to freeze forever. “They would laugh from their heart, and many old women told me they have never been photographed or laughed this hard before!” says Naveen. He loved listening to their stories — of life, loss and love...and in the case of a particular tribal girl in Javadhu hills, of ambition. “We had gone for a workshop on pinhole photography, and this girl told us she wanted to become a photographer because she wanted to take photos of her village and show it to the whole world like they do in National Geographic,” he recalls.
“I don’t publish these stories. It’s something personal and close between two parties. I only want people to see these faces and smile,” he says. And true to his words, viewers at the recentlly held Chennai Weekend Clickers exhibition were smiling at his panel of photographs.
An ongoing project, Suyambu has 65 portraits. Naveen hopes to photograph at least a 1,000, in his lifetime. Talking about the most important woman in his life, he shares, “My amma, of course. She has struggled so much and has lived for me. All the women in my life have pushed me and made me who I am today. I dedicate this series to womanhood of the world.”
Tips for taking people pictures
Approaching people: I start a conversation about a general topic, make them comfortable, and try to understand their state of mind (mood). If they are not ready to interact, I won’t disturb them. Often, looking at their eyes and smiling at them is an icebreaker.
Get them comfortable: Let them be themselves. Show them the photos after taking it, telling them how lovely they were.
Travel more: Always travel and interact more, observe other photographers’ work, and take lots of pictures.
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