Here’s a recent tearsheet – a cover and two stories – from the Independent on Sunday Magazine. Firstly, a piece on Fergus Drennan, (also known a s Fergus the Forager who I’ve written about and photographed before) and a piece on Karims restaurant in Old Delhi.
This month marks the centenary of Bollywood – the garish, larger-than-life dream factory that enraptures Indian audiences worldwide. Five years ago I was commissioned by the Sunday Times Magazine to photograph Ronnie Screwvalla, the millionaire film producer and founder of the UTV group over a couple of days in Mumbai. Screwvalla proved charming if extraordinarily busy. I photographed him at home and at his studios but realising that he would make a good potential cover, pursuaded his nervous PR staff (they’re always nervous aren’t they?) to let me have twenty minutes with him at a Mumbai beach near where he grew up. Originally, I’d wanted him walking along the beach but it soon became clear that that wasn’t going to happen. I arrived early and had my star-struck driver hold a single strobe as Screwvalla emerged from his limo. The picture lasted no more than five minutes before he had to leave. It never made the cover but I’ve always liked it.
India – Mumbai – Ronnie Screwvala, CEO of UTV photographed at Sea Face Bay. As a producer and businessman over the past five years Screwvala has led the transformation of India’s prolific but chaotic film industry to become a crossover figure in Hollywood and Bollywood.
Following yesterday’s entry with the tearsheet from the Monocle assignment, I thought I’d show some images that I was pleased with but didn’t make the final edit.
Funnily enough, I’d just shot and written another piece about French involvement in India… hundreds of miles away – a strange coïncidence. More on that when it’s published later in the year…
India – Pondicherry – Children play on the Gandhi statue along the Promenade
India – Pondicherry – A woman and her two daughters in school uniform cross a Colonial street
India – Pondicherry – A couple in the Botanical Gardens
India – Pondicherry – A building worker asleep on a break inside the derelict Hotel du Ville that has been saved from demolition by INTACH (Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage)
India – Pondicherry – A French expatriate limbers up just after dawn along the Promenade
India – Pondicherry – Sister Marie Stella at the Embroidery Private House, a Catholic mission that looks after underprivileged women by have them sew exquisite linens
India – Pondicherry – Mr Thrukumaran, a researcher studies ancient palm leaf manuscripts in the library of the Department of Indology at the French Institute
India – Pondicherry – Geraldine Humeaun, manager at the Cafe Maison Rose
Here’s a spread from this month’s Monocle Magazine of a story I shot for them a few weeks ago in Pondicherry, the former French territory in southern India. I’ll post a couple of my favourite images from the set in a day or two.
Glanced out of my window this afternoon and saw this chap…
India – New Delhi – A hawk sits in a tree
India – Kolkata – Crows on the banks of the Hooghly sit by a washing line
Last week I was on assignment for a magazine in Pondicherry, Tamil Nadu photographing the French influence on the place.
As you can see, my presence didn’t go unnoticed… The local newspaper decided that me laying on the floor to get a better angle on a military band was front page news… as was the arrest of the poor chap who, slightly worse for wear on the local hooch, chose that moment to have a little dance in front of me and then squared up to the band leader – presumably for not playing his favourite tune…
In any case, I made a frame and clearly gave the local newsroom a laugh.
Working in Bengal. Nice monkeys…
India – Chandanagore – A Langur mother and child on a wall by the river Hooghly
Appropriately on Valentine’s Day, the New York Times carries a piece today about the changing landscape of romance and especially kissing in Indian society. During my project about documenting Delhi’s green spaces, I photographed many couples seeking intimacy in public places unable to do so at home. Here are a couple of images from the series Public Spaces, Private Lives. A fuller set ran on the Camera Obscura blog in 2009 with a little interview about the work.
Happy Valentine’s Day.
India – New Delhi – A couple hold hands in the park at India Gate. Public displays of affection are rare in a conservative city like Delhi. The parks and open spaces however are often full of romantic couples away from the prying eyes of traditional families
India – New Delhi – A couple in the grounds of the Purana Qila share an intimate moment
Many thanks to Wonderful Machine for featuring my interview about the Wazwan story on the blog today.
