Identities hold endless intrigue for city-based freelance photographer Anjali Gopan. It shadows her works, underlying every conversation that comes her way.
Just back from a month-long residency programme in Berlin, the jet lag is yet to wear off as Anjali recalls the many immigrant faces and stories they shared with her. “It started with the different nationalities trying to build a life there. I wondered what it must be like, trying to fit in.”
Anjali Gopan
Closer home, Anjali has been shooting the migrant population, albeit in a different context – as fashion models. When Mumbai-based khadi clothing label DesiTude’s founder Siddharth Mohan Nair approached her to shoot the brand’s range of clothing, the entrepreneur’s brief reflected her credo — real people from all walks of life modelling products intended for them, shot in their natural environment, sans make-up.
“It was something I always wanted to do as I had heard how models for Indian brands are hired from Brazil for their skin tone and height, and how they are more professional. I never found those reasons convincing enough. The pressure to look a certain way in order to be accepted is immense among the youth. Increasingly, every face looks the same with no individuality whatsoever. All the while, I would come across strikingly different people around me,” says Anjali, a National Institute of Design graduate.
And so, there has been Arjun from Jharkhand, who readily agreed to pose in a khadi denim waistcoat and tie-dyed khadi shirt, Avinas from Manipur, Tonpha from Nagaland and Akash from Nepal. “They work for six months and then leave for their homes,” she explains. Shoots are often conducted in the backyard of her ancestral home in Sasthamangalam. “I know the way the light falls there and the setting of a home is always comforting to the models. It might need continuous clicking and they may be a little shy initially, but soon they know exactly how to relax. A shoot can happen only when the worker is done with his shift. Sometimes, his contractor may not agree, other times, he has to be free during that time of day when the light is correct for a shoot.”
Tonpha, a migrant labourer from Nagaland and now working in Kerala, is wearing DesiTude’s tie-dyed Khadi denim jacket.
The idea to include migrant workers occurred during a brainstorming session between Anjali and Siddharth. “She wanted different kinds of people. That’s when I casually mentioned the migrant population, since they are the only different faces apart from Malayalis in the state. Sometimes, they are ostracised by society, suspected the minute there is a crime in the neighbourhood and treated as dispensable once a job is done. Of course, Anjali chose them based on her sense of aesthetics,” says Siddharth.
Anjali’s models for DesiTude have also included students, domestic helpers, laundrymen and the like whom she has met while commuting in the city. While approaching each person, Anjali knows fully well that the offer may be rejected. “They always ask first, why we want them as models but they are more than happy to participate. But isn’t it nice to see them in a different light? One girl I met on a bus brought her sister along when their mother, a nurse abroad, expressed her inhibitions. Their father, an auto rickshaw driver was comfortable with the entire idea. Soon, both the sisters were modelling the clothes. They were that comfortable in front of the camera.” Another ‘model’ who has posed for the brand is a lady who runs a Horticorp stall in the neighbourhood.
Age is no bar for the brand either with 84-year-old Sarah George wearing a block printed khadi dress and smiling into the distance for Anjali’s lens. “She is so stunning! Beautiful!” the photographer exclaims.
Theatre artist Ramya Valsala is wearing DesiTude’s pistachio green Khadi denim shorts.
Photography was never a part of Anjali’s career plans. It was while toying around with a point-and-shoot camera during her years in college as a student of psychology that photography caught her interest. “I got positive feedback from family and friends for some random shots. When I heard from a friend that a course in photography existed I decided nothing else would do for me." The course was followed by an internship with Vogue where she learnt many pointers from fashion greats including late photographer Prabuddha Dasgupta. Scanning through Anjali’s works, one sees a strong influence of surrealism, something that she insists is only a phase. But the abstract still holds sway over her. "Right now, it is the works of Viviane Sassen that I am influenced by."
She is considering a post-graduate degree abroad, maybe Berlin again, since she is familiar with the city. That also defines Anjali, always looking to explore her surroundings, ready to be surprised by what the road might reveal around the corner, all the while within larger familiar territory, like Thiruvananthapuram. A project last year involved shooting in the alleys of Chalai bazaar. "Gigantic warehouses that are years old, families in houses that exist peacefully in the heart of the market, oblivious to the bustle around. To think I had been to Chalai numerous times before to buy groceries and yet, never saw this."
In a world that is largely two-dimensional, Anjali makes sure that her photographs are more than just ‘pretty’. “It is something a faculty member told us in college and has stuck with me since. I always try to make sure there is some thought behind each picture.” Anjali prefers to shoot on roll film for personal projects. "I love that you have to really think about the frames before shooting as there are only so many exposures, that the end result is so unpredictable.” Coming from Anjali, now that shouldn’t be too surprising.
