Photographer: Sourabh Gate
Indulging into new life, black signifies the darkness of my past and white depicts the change into a new life .
EDITOR’S NOTE
Photography, if someone loves with all their heart and passion, can suck you in. It could make you its slave and keep you wanting for more. It’s like that one girlfriend who always made you feel like you are not good enough. No matter how much you learn, you will always be made to feel like you have barely scratched the surface. There will always be something new to learn and if you feel you have learnt everything about photography, you are probably delusional!
Ts h u l t h r i m N . W a n g d i
The Team Sub - Editor
Sub - Editor
Nikhil Chivte
Durgesh Kumar
Photo Editor
Ankur Karkar
Creative Director
Creative Director
Rajiv prabhu
Naveen Kadam
Co pyw r i ter
Shwena keni
CHIEF EDITOR - T. N. WANGDI SUB - EDITORS - NIKHIL, DURGESH PHOTO EDITOR - ANKUR CREATIVE DIRECTORS - RAJIV, NAVEEN
PUBLISHER - BHARAT BHIRANGI SUPPORTING FACULTY - CHANDRAKANT KUMAR MAYURESH MOGHE SHILPA SUCHAK MADHUSUDAN TAWDE SUPPORTING STAFF - APARNA PAWAR SURESH GORAD DIPAK PATIL
COPYWRITER - SHWENA EQUIPMENT TEAM - DILIP GHAG SHIRISH ZINGADE SAMBHAJI MOHITE
SPECIAL THANKS TO DIRECTOR RAJAN CHAUGhULE AND SCHOOL OF PHOTOGRAPHY, BHARATI VIDYAPEETH - puNE
Editor’s Choice Street Artist- Banksy One of the most elusive street artists till date no one knows what this man looks like in the age of such huge social media. His work mostly is a very satirical street art and subversive epigrams combine dark humor with spray paint.
Jimmychin - Photographer A Natgeo photographer. A professional climber, mountaineer, skier and a director. Jimmy chin is one of the biggest names at the moment for adventure photography. He has climbed numerous mountains climbed a lot of rocks, and amazingly has also skied the south face of Mount Everest. His introduction to photography was completely by chance. When a friend of his was shooting he took one shot from his friend’s camera and when his friend went to sell his images the buyer just took one image and that was jimmy chins. And so this is how the Natgeo photographer was born.
Climber –Alex honnold Worlds best free soloist (a rock climber who climbs without any ropes) a really young calm composed guy. Who lives in his van right outside Yosemite valley just to pursue his love for climbing. The most seen landscape photo by Ansel Adams of the half dome in Yosemite valley which people take 2 to 3 days to climb, Alex does it in a mere 3 hours. Its just amazing how this guy works and is so calm climbing a vertical wall which is thousands of feet high.
TROLL PAGE 1. Your work looks pretty easy. How come you make a living from it? Read: I bet your parents give you pocket money, you douchebag! Answer: I sometimes wonder about this, too. I work two hours a week and ride a Jaguar. Funny thing, eh? 2. Why don’t you invite girls to a shoot to make a move on them? Read: As silly as it is, the question is usually direct. Answer: I do, but they always run away and call the police. 3. Why don’t you watermark your photos? Read: Unlike you, I always watermark my photos, because they, unlike yours, cost a fortune! Answer: No need to worry, no one wants my crap even for free. 4. Can you add some makeup in Photoshop and make me thinner? Read: Maybe I should finally start eating less and…ah, screw it. It’s not my problem anyway. Answer: Sure, I will also make your face look like you’re as smart as having read 50 books last year. 5. Why don’t you have a BIG lens? Read: I strongly doubt that you’re a pro. Answer: I actually had one, but the FBI confiscated it because I was making headshots of Martians. 6. What are the correct settings for night shooting? Read: Don’t give me all that exposure theory nonsense. Just tell which button I should press. Answer: Just use the settings for daylight, only with a minus. 7. How many megapixels does you camera have? Read: Is your camera modern and expensive? Answer: You know, what matters more is the size of the matrix, not the megapixels because… ah, whatever! It has 1 trillion megapixels. 8. How do I zoom in on your camera? Read: Stupid, big camera!! :( Answer: With your legs, it is a prime lens. 9. Why do you tell me to turn off the flash? This landscape is totally dark! Read: You must be really, really stupid to tell me to turn off the flash at night! Answer: Just turn it off–it will scare the Yeti! 10. I am starting to pursue nude photography. What would you recommend? Read: Yep, I am that sophisticated. Answer: Exposed nipples make a photo a work of art automatically. There’s nothing to master anymore.
Source - www.photodoto.com
Book Review
Conversations in the nude - Mihir Srivastava
This is by far the most unique book that I have ever read. The artist Mihir srivastava draws nude freely in the art form. The title of the book “Conversations in the nude” is a reflection of what goes on in his mind when he draws nudes. As an artist he encounters very unique personalities ranging from a wrestler to a technology enthusiast. This book has the power to make the reader quit reading after the first few chapters or make him or her think deeper than any other book can do. Sketching is an integral part of the book, which is so uniquely represented that it visually fights a battle to win against the text. This book is unlike the usual books having titles such as “train our mind to see world differently” and so on. If the reader has a touch of emotion he or she will get trained., The author will take you to an unknown place as your guide; exploring a world never explored in a way that he has. “Sketching is just an excuse to open the book. It`s a form of reading I find meaningful, that I enjoy”, says Mihir and I too agree with it. The book contains beautiful nude illustration so that the author doesn’t need to stretch that effort in his writing. As a photographer the book contradicted to my beliefs; the text made me visualize more stunning Images over the sketches were doing. Overall I recommend this book for those who have patience to think and want to see things in a very different perspective of emotions. Mihir will train your mind without using the word training.
Reviewed by Durgesh Kumar
Photographer: Athul Krishnan
Photographer: Yadnyesh Joshi
Photographer: Durgesh Kumar
Photographer: Yeri Yash sanjeev
Photographer: Sudhanshu Singh
Photographer: Durgesh Kumar Kiran Chaudhari
Photographer: Durgesh Kumar
Photographer: Yadnyesh Joshi
Photographer: Kavan Chaudhari
Photographer: Nikhil Chivte
Namita Hasija Photographer Batch - 2013
1. What are you doing at the very moment,After you have graduated from bvsp? Learning. Photography is so wide and deep that everyday I have something new to learn. After BVSP, I am still exploring new stuff, trying to get better, understanding the commercial aspects. 2. How is what you are doing right now different from what you were doing in college? Aesthetics, technicalities and basics will always act as a strong foundation. What’s new outside college is the commerce involved.. managing clients, making contacts, updating knowledge about whats new, in trend. 3. What does your image represent for you personally. We Also see your images are very low key. Why that choice? It is a reflection of me, my taste, and personality. It comes from movies that I watch, stories that I read. Every thing that I observe. Talking about darkness, I find it very mysterious. I like to keep certain elements hidden in the frame. 4. Exactly what is it you want to say through your images? And how do you get your photos to do that? It depends on what the concept demands. 5. Any few words for the college you would like to share. I owe who I am as a photographer to every member of BVSP family for their unconditional support. There was a time when I packed my bags and left photography. I will always hold special respect for Bharat sir who pulled me back and made me realize my dream.
- Interview by Tshulthrim Wangdi
Photographer: Namita Hasija
Photographer: Namita Hasija
Photographer: Yadnyesh Joshi
Photographer: Athul Krishnan
Photographer: Sourabh Gate
Photographer: Tshulthrim .N. Wangdi
Photographer: Naveen Kadam
Photographer: Kavan Chaudhari
Company School of Painting Company School painting was a style of painting that developed in India during the British Empire in India. When the fascination of the British who were visiting or living in India during the regime crossed ways with the traditional Indian practice of miniature painting, it gave rise to a hybrid style of painting, which was influenced as much by the British approach to the landscape painting during the 18th century as by the historical Indian tradition of miniature painting. The school received its strange name from the British East India Company. The patrons of these paintings were mostly British people who were employees of the British East India Company also know widely as the ‘the company’. As the patrons working for “the company” often commissioned the paintings from local Indian artists, the school got the name of Company School. The company school was highly popular from the late 18th century till after the mid 19th century, before it went on a decline with the advent of photography in India. The company style paintings were characterized by the use of watercolor, a distinctly European color palette and by the appearance of linear perspective and shading. This style simultaneously arose in different cities and was influenced by the earlier local traditions in those places. Company school was directly a derivation of the miniature tradition of painting, which existed in India more than 200 years before the company style came in to existence. The Indian artists worked within a patronage system of courtly schools and ateliers and on most occasions the paintings were not done for those outside of the court. The Indian court painting was divided into four major traditions defined by religion, polity and geography. The Mughal tradition centered around Delhi, the Deccani tradition on the central plateau, the Rajput tradition in the plains of Rajasthan and the hills of Punjab. With the spread of the Mughal Empire during the 16th century the other court traditions merged in to the Mughal tradition.
Bibliography 1. G.H.R. Tillotson, The Indian Picturesque: Images of India in British Landscape Painting, The Raj: India and the British, ed. C.A. Bayly, National Portrait Gallery Publication, 142-151 2. Geoff Quilley, William Hodges, Greenwich: National Maritime Museum, 2004 3. Mildred Archer, Company Drawings in the India Office Library, London 1972. 4. Mildred Archer and Graham Parlett, Company Paintings: India Paintings of the British Period, London: Victoria and Albert Museum, in association with Mapin Publishing, 1992. 5. Mildred Archer, Early Views of India: The Picturesque Journeys of Thomas and William Daniell, 1786-1794: the Complete Aquatints, London: Thames and Hudson, 1980. 6. Mildred Archer, Natural History Drawings in the India Office Library, London 1972. 7. Richard H. Davies, Lives of Indian Images, Princeton, 1997 8. Robert L. Hardgrave, Portrait of the Hindus: Balthazar Solvyns and The European Image of India, 1760-1824, Oxford University Press, London, 2004
Article submitted by: Mayuresh Moghe Sr. Faculty
Photographer: Tshulthrim .N. Wangdi
Photographer: Durgesh Kumar
THE MASTER CLASS - Ashok Dilwali
Interview of the landscape Master Mr. Ashok Dilwali.He has published 23 books in a span of 32 years of his work which shows the volume of work he has done. He has done extensive trekking in the Himalayas i feel he knows more about Sikkim then i know my own state. When i spoke to him for the first time he was in Goa, he spoke very gently and was very kind and promised to do the interview, and also sent us his latest body of work that he did in Goa. I am in awe of his work and the way he sees landscape. He was kind enough to take some time off his busy schedule to answer these few questions. We are honored to have him in the first issue of the Piquant.
1. What i noticed was i saw you did your graduation from SRCC and also you are a C.A. this huge radical change in profession how did you decided after all the degrees you got to move over to photography? I changed for two reasons. First CA was a challenge that I wanted to be capable of meeting as I was good in school and college. It was a challenge that I wished to accomplish. Second, my late father was an ace photographer with two studios. I took charge of Kinsey Bros in 1971. I have been taking pictures since 1954, as a child of ten since I saw this profession very, very closely. 2. Your photos seem to be very pure, clean and eliminates post processing. What do you feel about the new age of such high amount of photo manipulation on landscapes? You are right, I take simple pictures and do hardly any photoshop, though I understand it better than many. Being a purist I believe that a picture should be as the photographer saw it. No false manipulations for me. Also I dislike manipulated images, which is so apparent in millions of shots. I just take what Almighty gives, keeping my interference to zero. Being an ardent fan of Ansel Adams, this came naturally to me that truth, beauty and goodness lie in simplicity. 3. What motivates you to continue taking pictures economically , politically , intellectually or emotionally? Good question. As somebody said, your first 10,000 images are the worst. Landscape looks overwhelming because we see it in three dimensions and utter disappointment comes when we see it in just two! Depth goes away, which is what excites us the most. It has taken me over forty years to make out if the image would be good or not. I too took all kinds of images thinking they would be liked but I got lots of disappointments. Good judgement comes from experience and experience comes from bad judgement! One has to keep on honing skill, there being no limit to it. Now I take extremely few shots, knowing well that this is not it! 4. What is it that you look for in a landscape image how do you decide what looks good and what does not, because at time the landscape tends to over whelm the photographer? Frankly I have no answer to this question! Solitude, ever changing light and new compositions keep coming to me all the time which I love about Himala-
yas. Once you fall in love, there can be no second love. It could be see or even desert;everyone has the choice of his own poison! Mine is Himalayas. 5. The Himalayas seem to be your second home what magic does it have that it beckons you every time? and So for the students or generally anyone what would you tell them if they want to walk towards a career in landscape photography any knowledge you would want to share? Landscapes, as Ansel Adams has said remarkably well is the most rewarding as well as the most frustrating field in photography. It is 1 % inspiration and 99% perspiration. I know it better than many. After completion of every trek in the evening I used to drive all night and reach home at 5am or 6 am, depending from where I started. This I did for 25 years and trekked like a mad man. Unfortunately landscape photography is not a paying proposition in our country. There is much job satisfaction, not enough to run the kitchen in style. Name one landscape photographer in this country who can make two ends meet with this subject! What pays is silly weddings and fashion. This is the ground reality. I could fill up my dreams because I had a good studio to back up my crazy desires. I would suggest that if possible one should keep it as a hobby only. Times are very tough and there is no appreciation turning into cash in this work. 6. Why is it that you do not want to publicize your work like the other photographers do? Does it help you concentrate on your work more? I dislike publicity, reason being that when I was trained as a CA in Bombay, self promotion, canvassing etc were bad words in that profession. I got wedded to this and hate self promotion, beating ones drums etc. Besides taking you away from your “SADHNA”, it pushes you into wrong by lanes of chasing fame. I do not go with that. I love what I am doing. One writer has put it so well “Sing your song like a bird, not caring who is listening!” I would be much like that bird, shoot to please your self.
- Interview by Tshulthrim Wangdi
Photographer: Ashok Dilwali
Photographer: Ashok Dilwali
Photographer: Ashok Dilwali
Photographer: Ashok Dilwali
Photographer: Ashok Dilwali
Narrative “My purpose is to make my narrative as truthful as possible� – George Armstrong Custer.
Narrative art is like story telling. Narrative uses the power of visuals to ignite or illuminate imaginations, evoke emotions. That is why it gets distinguished from other genre of art. It is self-explanatory and draws reference from events from daily life, current affairs, text, well known folk tale or myth.
Photographer: Brijesh Chiranjeevi
Team Members: Ankur Karkar Sourabh Gate Yayati Ha jare Nikhil Chivte Savni Chaughule
After ages there was a time when the widowed women of vrundavan were allowed to play holi. We just tried to create a moment of what could have been on that day.
Kaafal pako-fight for highest state human can attain “nirvana�.
Team Members: Durgesh Kumar Sourabh Gate Gautam Dua Kiran Chaudhari
With these simple objects the cobbler manages to earn a living for the family and was also successful to make his son an engineer, who is interning with a big company at this very moment.
Team Members: Tshulthrim .N. Wangdi Naveen Kadam
Team Members: Kirthi Kumar Sulove Khaitan Deepi Das
TITLE: Hooked much. Our concept behind the image is “Addiction to Alcohol” which often results in death. We showed a Hook inside the bottle approaching the man’s throat while he is drinking, symbolizing “Addiction to Alcohol”. Once hooked, consumption becomes compulsive and uncontrolled. This effects negatively on a man’s health, personal relationships and social life.
Team Members: Brijesh Chiranjivi Tshulthrim N. Wangdi Athul Krishnan Tanisha Chaube
MIDAS TOUCH
Photographer: Athul Krishnan
Photographer: Vira j Korgaonkar
Photographer: Kavan Chaudhari
Photographer: Kirthi Kumar
Photographer: Naveen Kadam
Photographer: Brijesh Chiranjeevi
Photographer: Kunal Gawas
Photographer: Kunal Gawas
Photographer: Kiran Chaudhari
Photographer: Kirthi Kumar
Photographer: Gautam Dua
Photographer: Ankur Karkar
Photographer: Tshulthrim .N. Wangdi
Photographer: Brijesh Chiranjeevi
Photographer: Brijesh Chiranjeevi
Photographer: Shubhangi Kumbhar
In the Hunt for GEOMETRY -A Series by Yadnyesh Joshi Minimalism has been in photography for a very long time now, and it consists of composing the concept with the basic elements of design like, shapes, forms, lines, texture, colour etc It has a very simplistic approach, inspired from the works of Andre Kertesz, Uta Barth, Michael Kenna, my ongoing series is on the same approach, it is exciting to see things in a very different way. It becomes a very good visual exercise while wandering on the streets looking at the buildings and colours in the markets, how light defines the the shape , forms, texture of different things and how shadows compliment it . Minimalist form of photography excite me a lot, and challenges me to push my boundaries in every aspect of my work.
Manish Mamtani Landscape Photographer
Manish Mamtani is an avid nature photographer who has travelled widely across exotic destinations in the United States. He focuses on landscapes that reflect the beauty of America’s majestic national parks. Born and brought up in Nagpur, India, he came to the U.S. to work as an IT/finance consultant where he discovered his love for photography. He travels during the weekends to the national parks and takes pictures. His work includes landscapes, night/astro and infrared and has been published in various magazines and books including National Geographic, Better Photography, Vanity Fair, Digital Photo and Arches National Park Newspaper. His work has been featured on various social media pages including National Geographic, Whosay, the Department of the Interior, EarthSky, Space.com, Milky way scientists and International Dark Sky Association. His work can be seen at www.manishmamtani.com https://www.facebook.com/ManishMamtaniPhotography Manish Says – I do Landscapes and Astro Landscapes for my love of Nature and infrared is something that brings out the artistic side in me. I take Landscape and Astro Landscape pictures to show how beautiful the Nature is and Infrared photos to show how I imagine this world to be.
Photographer: Manish Mamtani
Photographer: Manish Mamtani
Photographer: Manish Mamtani
Photographer: Tanisha Chaube
Such lights being used to protrude shapes and curves of the human face. Also I tried to portray “Discipline� in this image by using extremely controlled light
Photographer: Sudhanshu Singh
I do not cluster my head with the thoughts. I persue and make productive use of them so new thoughts can take their place.
Photographer: Durgesh Kumar
There are moments when its good to be lost, only to find yourself again. Photographer: Tshulthrim .N. Wangdi
I am perceived as a person who always surrounds himself by the things I love to do and my eyes tell my story. Photographer: Nikhil Chivte
STORY BEHIND THE IMAGE - André Kertész
Hungarian-born André Kertész had been living in Paris for less than a year when he visited the studio of the Dutch painter Piet Mondrian. Mondrian’s Eyeglasses and Pipe is one of a group of beautiful still lifes that the photographer took that day. Within the austere clarity of these simple geometric forms-common manufactured items that Mondrian used daily-Kertész captured the essence of this master of abstraction, both his aspirations to order and his slight and human divergences from it. The insistent angularity of the stark white table is offset by the sculptural curves of the glasses, bowl, and pipe, curves that were rigorously excluded from Mondrian’s art. Throughout Kertész’s long career, he sought the revelation of the found still life, of an abstract or resonating image discovered in an elliptical view. His signature practice of snaring and fixing these lyrical perceptions was facilitated by his later use of light, portable handheld cameras that enabled him to remain mobile and agile even when making still lifes. Kertész’s work significantly influenced that of his contemporaries Brassaï and Henri Cartier-Bresson.
Source - Entry, Essential Guide, 2009, p. 277. http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/artwork/50157