The Madhu-Milind Soman image made headlines for the wrong reasons. Was it after this assignment that you began work on 'Women'?
The Madhu-Milind issue was not a moral one but a political one. For me it was just one more outtake from the work that I was doing personally with nudity—to clear, in my small way, the fog that surrounds us about our naked bodies and the confused sense of shame that we associate with it. My work with women had started years ago and the book went into publication in the same year as the controversial advertisement.
Was there an apprehension of being accused of having picked up a winning theme to showcase your personal work?
The 'Women' book didn't start out as a book, it was just work that I was doing. There was never really a conscious choice of a subject for a book. When the publisher saw the body of work that I already had, they suggested the idea of a book. So there was no question of apprehension of picking a winning theme. And if it did come across like that to others, it is their problem and not mine.
The book seems to have more than one dominant thought process. Some images celebrate form, some make bold statements. What was the thought process during the project? And did you actually achieve what you had in mind?
The making of the book was wrought with angst—it is one thing for a woman to be photographed in the nude and quite another to have it published in a book. So morally and ethically, I was bound to hand over the editing to the subjects. The result was what you got. Most times, persons were turned into formal sculptures—headless and anonymous. Not how I would have wanted to show them, but the way circumstances dictated that they be shown.
In the end, I'm proud as it is a path breaking book and, at the same time, disappointed that the project did not allow me full creative expression.
Your love for black and white printing comes through in that body of work.
Black and white printing is a very personal tool. I like the tactile sensual quality of the print and all the work that I do is an attempt to make the viewer not just look at it, but to touch it as you would a piece of sculpture. I print straight without manipulation and now of course I have replaced the wet darkroom with the one on my desktop.
How do you choose your subjects?
I try not to photograph things or people that I have no relationship with. It could be love, hate, fear, loathing—anything so long as it is something. That sparks the photographic inspiration and then the relationship evolves as it will, like the photographic work.
Is there anyone whose body of work you follow and like to see evolve?
There are many photographers whose work I like, and follow, and who I think are doing great work, some known, some unknown. Bharat Sikka, Dayanita Singh, Anay Mann, Anita Khemka, Anoop Thomas, are some names that come to mind and I'm sure there are many others whose names elude me at the moment.
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