| Raghu Rai | Interview |
| ANITA KAUL BASU. No
doubt the pictures you are exhibiting now were also
relegated to the dustbin of history ! You never
imagined you’d pull them out and some day,
somebody would be interested to show them in a major
exhibition? |
| RAGHU RAI.
This exhibition is all about the celebration of
the female form [shows a rare collection of his
prized pictures]. Look at them—they are erotic
without being indecent. These were done a long time
ago. I was still discovering, playing with form
and texture. The style has not changed, but I have
evolved, grown. And more importantly, I have freedom
now. |
| ANITA KAUL BASU. These
are stunning ! Not what I had imagined from a Raghu
Rai-type of picture. They are much more studied
and sculpturous. |
| RAGHU RAI.
I wanted to project shapes . . . the woman’s
body akin to the shape of smooth rocks. A life within
a life. A form that projects features at several
levels. A story that needs to be shared and told.
You know, I’d done these 30-35 prints and
Amit Judge was very keen to have them for a solo
exhibition in Mumbai. I was excited, ready to go
for it . . . then he developed cold feet. The Shiv
Sena in Mumbai would raise cannon if these were
shown, and there the case of pictures rested. The
most sensual is the one of the lotus leaf . . .
it’s absolutely brilliant! Much more sexy
than the real female form . . . dekh-ke sharam aati
hai, yaar! [It’s so embarrassing to look at
them!] |
| ANITA KAUL BASU.
I think you are a photographer of instinct rather
than of influence. I know your admiration for Cartier
Bresson. What part did he play in forming your style
? |
| RAGHU RAI.
I am a very individual photographer. I rarely let
anybody reside in my mind long enough to influence
me deeply. I take them out of my system as soon
as possible. Cartier Bresson, not just for me but
for the world, left so many directions. You can’t
deny his genius. It would be stupid to do so. But
his style, his world, was born in his context, within
himself. There are a lot of photographers now who
have been greatly influenced by the Western style
and which they have woefully inflicted on Indian
situations. It upsets me a great deal. It reveals
the shallowness of their creativity. |
| ANITA KAUL BASU. It’s
happening across the art world and Bollywood seems
to be at the helm of it. It is a celebration of
mediocrity, isn’t it? |
| RAGHU RAI. Present-day
India is all about that. Bombay’s famous photographer
[refusing to name him]—he just lifts styles
from foreign magazines and pastes them onto his
pictures. It’s shameful! Second rate! Creative
people like that are an apology. They don’t
even bother to evolve, to grow, to bring facets
of their creativity into the pictures. |
| ANITA KAUL BASU.
So who matches up to your discerning yet critical
eye in contemporary Indian photography ? Surely
there must be very talented people out there? |
| RAGHU RAI.
Yaar, sab mein the soul is missing. They’re
a few youngsters. Dayanita [Singh], Prabuddha Dasgupta.
I am amazed that in a country of one billion people,
the top photographers can be counted on your fingers!
A small drop in the ocean. |
| ANITA KAUL BASU.
Why do you think it is happening? Everything else
has evolved? Art, films, music, theatre . . .on. |
| RAGHU RAI.
Mira Nair is every expressive and very competent
but she is not the greatest filmmaker. There’s
nobody else . . . Adoor Gopalakrishnan . . . Deepa
is smart but mediocre. Ray, now he was a filmmaker
. . . he was a dadu! He did not believe in spirituality
yet he produced amazing films. Films that were in
his context, about himself. I am not too sure whether
I like his later films, I think he had lost his
touch by then—the big flashes of creativity
had ebbed |
| ANITA KAUL BASU.
You mean to say that the creative juices dried up
around that time and remained in that space—surely
you can’t be so cynical ? |
| RAGHU RAI. India
is a poor nation. Somebody does something insignificant
and we promote that person and yet again celebrate
mediocrity. We become part and parcel of that false
praise. But the media plays a huge part in drumming
support for them. Look at Aroon! He’s built
a huge empire and chooses non-creative, un-illuminated
people to head it. It shows his limitations. We
had created a fantastic magazine. What comes out
now is not a patch on what we shaped. Yes, technology
has aided in a better print output. It’s smarter
looking but the content is so stupid! |
| ANITA KAUL BASU.
Technology—an awesome word! A great many people
are hiding behind it, doing cartwheels, creating
a false sense of creativity. |
| RAGHU RAI. Anything
goes, these days. You can get away with a little
bit of intelligence and leave the rest to technology.
Yaar, technology leaves me baffled and breathless.
The other day my daughter took me to Google Earth.
Like a space traveller, I followed her from the
sky, into the earth, into India, into Delhi, into
Mehrauli (where I live) and into my house. It’s
dangerously exciting. So, really, with a little
bit of intelligence, you can reach anywhere. But
that’s the trap. You think you've reached
the top but because you don’t have basic intelligence,
your shallowness will eventually surface. |
| ANITA KAUL BASU. Yet
you are revelling in the world of technology. Your
world vision has changed. The possibilities are
expanding and that has direct bearing on your art.
|
| RAGHU RAI.
It’s been a constant high. I’ve discovered
a new frontier. Digital technology is not made for
difficult lights. You capture something in exactly
the same way as your eyes see it. And the quality
of the print is finitely close to the real thing.
Jatin Das (the painter) is a close friend of mine.
He’s been seeing my pictures and has always
been critical of my work. Now he sees my pictures
and marvels at them. I told him this was possible
because of digital photography. It’s dangerously
close to life and its colours. It affords you total
control over your art in terms of the colours you
choose, the forms and shapes and contours you choose
. . . it follows the directions of an artist’s
brushstrokes. I can create a photograph like Jatin
would a painting. I can create my own brush strokes.
I can balance my colours accurately and the subjects
with acute clarity. |
| ANITA KAUL BASU.
I am sure there are some flip sides to digital photography.
Surely what you captured on a manual camera was
so much more in your control? |
| RAGHU RAI.
The worse that can happen is that the digital files
get corrupted or disappear without a reason. But
then those risks were there earlier, too. I have
had so many instances where I would send photos
for developing and they’d all come out blank.
I’ve had dark-room fiascos, films that were
patchy, washed out. I’ve lost courier packets
in transit, packets of my negatives. Life is a game
you play. A few things you lose and a few you win.
But in digital photography it is mostly a win-win
situation. |
| ANITA KAUL BASU.
You have always criticized people who treat art
as commerce and yet you’ve recently done an
ad for Nokia. A contradiction? |
| RAGHU RAI.
It’s not for commerce alone. Yes, Nokia used
my pictures, the ones I took on the streets. It
was my pictures they used, my art and my craft.
Not me. I find Amitabh Bachchan the most obnoxious
guy—he’s selling paints and Pepsi, soap
and pens. I would never do that kind of thing. I
am not so desperate. |
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