As an engineering student, years ago, it wasn’t the intricacies of Mechanical Engineering that interested G Venket Ram, but the bylanes and faces of Solapur in Maharashtra, where his college was based. With many colourful dreams, he quit his engineering course and made his way to Chennai. He enroled for a course in Visual Communication at Loyola College in the city. “Soon after the course, I assisted renowned photographer Sharad Haksar for close to two years. During this time, I was trying to get the hang of photography while doing small jobs and creating a portfolio for myself,” begins Venket.
It was a time when ad agencies and advertisements were booming and Ram found himself riding the wave. The first major project he bagged was the ad photography for a Ponds Dreamflower talc advertisement in 1996-97. “Ad perceptions changed from becoming people specific to product specific. This was also a time when film stars were roped in for big advertisements in order to increase brand value. From painted hoardings, we moved to digital ad works, which resulted in a big turnaround for photographers,” he says, going down memory lane.
Like Dabboo Ratnani, the renowned fashion photographer or Atul Kasbekar (Kingfisher Calendar) who are well known for calendar photography, Venket too began shooting calendars with film stars from 2011 to bring out his own line.
Where does he find inspiration? “It could be anything. Observing a painter’s work or even learning a lot from my young assistants.” In due course, Venket also started conducting workshops and talks in schools and colleges. In fact, he recently conducted a workshop for students of Swarnabhoomi International Film Academy, Chennai.
“The theme was to understand light and it wasn’t your regular workshop where students are just given gyaan about equipment or camera lenses. Light is the most important ingredient when it comes to churning out magical photographs. Light travels at such a speed that budding photographers need to learn how to capture it. I also spoke about how to restrain light. That is how to throw light in such a way that your photos have the desired effects,” explains Venket, adding that whatever knowledge he passes on is from years of practice and observation.
Tips for budding photographers
1. Understanding light is what makes a good photographer
2. When shooting faces, the other person should be confident of your abilities and trust you to portray them convincingly. In order to achieve this, one must talk to them or find ways to engage with them and make them comfortable
3. It is wrong to assume that only the photographer has a hand in creating good pictures. It is a combination of things that make for good fashion photography like photography accessories, model, makeup and setting
Where to study Photography
National Institute of Photography, Mumbai:
It offers foundation, basic, advanced and crash courses in Photography. Diploma courses in Fashion, Tabletop and Wedding and Events Photography are also offered. Established in 1983, it is one of the oldest photography institutes in India.
VISIT: www.focusnip.com
Bharati Vidyapeeth School of Photography, Pune
The School offers a Diploma in Photography and Cinematography, Photo Journalism and certificate courses in Wedding and Events photography, Wildlife Photography, Fashion and People Photography. Weekend courses in Introduction to Digital Photography, Art in Photography, Understanding light: Natural light, Portrait and People Photography are also offered.
VISIT: www.photography.bharatividyapeeth.edu/default.aspx
Osmania University, Hyderabad
It offers a Bachelor’s course in Fine Arts, specialising in Photography. You can apply after Class XII. Candidates will be shortlisted based on an entrance test, personal interview and group discussion.
VISIT: www.osmania.ac.in
Center for Research in Art of Film and Television, Delhi
The institute offers a one-year PG Diploma in Mass Communication with specialisation in Fashion Photography. You need a bachelor’s in any discipline to apply for this course.
VISIT: www.log2craft.org
shilpa.vasudevan@newindianexpress.com
