Some years ago, when he was getting started as a photographer in London, Indian-born Ram Shergill wanted to use hats by Philip Treacy for a shoot. When he called the master milliner for permission, his reception would have frozen an ocean. But when he dropped in to visit the designer, he met a lady who was wearing an Oriental silk gown and a big hat, nonchalantly smoking a cigarette, her lipstick smudged. Isabella Blow offered the young man a cookie, insisted he eat it and became a friend for life.
That encounter led to a new life. Today, he is considered one of the leading fashion photographers in Britain and beyond. At his first solo exhibition in India, Kaleidoscope (organised by Tasveer in partnership with Vacheron Constantin earlier this year), he showed off just a vignette of his life’s work.
Excerpts from an interview.
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I would like to have my own coffee table book of my lifework. I also have various things I want to do to help causes, such as using my photography to improve things. Currently I am doing a project with ZSL London Zoo to save the Asiatic Lion, as there are only 400 left in the Gir forest in India.
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I feel that Raghu Rai is an incredible photographer and has captured some of the most memorable and iconic images ever. There is so much emotion in what he has captured and such poetry in his vision.
You had a vision problem till you were seven. Are your memories of that blurry time reflected in the fantasies you create today?
Yes, this has always been my inspiration. Even today, sometimes I blur my eyes while taking a photograph and, if it looks great as a haze, it will even look better as fully focussed; sometimes I even prefer the haze of the colours melting in with each other. It gives the image a painterly feel. The dreamlike fantasies come from a haze of itinerant dreams and a longing for my imagination to become reality.
As one of the leading fashion photographers in Britain, what do you think of the craft in India today?
Photography wise, I have seen some great photographers come out of India. I feel it is growing all the time, especially with the growth in digital media and platforms. India is the birthplace of all things visual. In my opinion, with even young kids on the streets using powerful iPhones and Instagram to express their feelings, the craft will grow as the concept of art and photography is available to the masses. They will graduate to using real cameras and their passion will grow.
Contemporary style in the U.K. and the EU ranges from the classic to the cutting edge. What do you think of Indian fashion and design?
Indian design is becoming far more relevant on an international platform. After working with great designers such as Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla, I see that their art is not just about garments, but works of art that once worn not only make you feel special, but also part of a heritage and craftsmanship that is home-grown.
You speak a lot about your Leica. What is so special about it?
The Leica system enables you to get closer to your subject as there is no mirror to get in the way. So you see the image while you are taking it. It is a very simple and chic format to use, and has been used by a lot of the major documentary photographers in the past. I feel it is my ideal format. The lenses are incredible; you can put a lens from the 1950s on my Leica and it becomes another perspective, a unique eye into the world. Each lens has its own character and its own way of seeing the world, just as we do as humans.
What makes you happiest: taking pictures for magazines, catalogues, portfolios, books...?
I am happy just to take pictures. I love the creative imagery that I am able to do. I find creativity in everything I do.
“I make them smile,” you said about your subjects. Who has made you smile the widest?
I have made Dame Judi Dench smile, cry, laugh, re-enact murdering her husband, her winning an Oscar... the range of the lady’s emotions are incredible. She can switch character from second to second. But her smile was that of an angel wearing Abu Sandeep Chikan, smiling at me with a tear in her eye...
You live and work for the most part outside India. Do you still consider yourself Indian? How and why?
I am in love with India and everything Indian. We still have our family and houses in the Punjab, so it is not just my motherland, but my homeland.
Who would you really like to photograph? Why?
Leonardo DiCaprio. I feel he has a range of characters which I love; he seems really like a great actor. I feel I will do that this year… somehow!
What makes you want to take a picture?
The need to record and capture a moment in time that will last with me forever, to keep this image of a person, a place, a moment, that will never fade away, a tactile piece of paper that I can treasure forever.
What makes you happy?
To see parts of the world I have never seen before, and meet new and interesting people from all walks of life.