When he is not one of Delhi’s most extravagant fashion designers, JJ Valaya is busy working on opulent jewellery, interiors and weddings. His themes range from the Ottoman, Safavid and Mughal empires to the Russian court. But a few years ago, he began making time for fine art photography, recreating Delhi’s rich past in black-and-white images for a book, Decoded Paradox (2011). This February, he showcased the architectural project, The Soul in the Space, shot in Jodhpur, Chandigarh and Dufftown in Scotland. At India Design, the photographs were stark, with a reductive palette, and yet the large prints conveyed a delicious sense of grandeur. He is, as he often admits, a study in contrasts. “I worship elegance and an evolved sense of style… Sure, I’m a maximalist. Or maybe simply a Renaissance man?” he wonders aloud.
Valaya, who turns 50 and celebrates the 25th anniversary of his fashion label this year, is a regular at most of the capital’s glamorous events. Famously referring to himself as ‘a Royal Nomad’, he enjoys sampling a seven-course meal by Michelin-star chef Mario Paecke, and is just as enthusiastic about lunch at Old Delhi’s Paranthe Wali Gali. Of late, he has taken to sharing these experiences on his online journal, JJ Aleph. “I am too private a person and don’t like anyone invading my space. But I want to share my photos, thus the journal,” he explains. As for the name, Aleph, the first letter of the Semitic abjads , including Phoenician, it “symbolically represents the link between infinite God and finite man”, he notes on his website.
Besides posts on fashion, art, people, travel and architecture, it is Valaya’s photos, taken on his camera phone, that are creating a buzz in both design and photography circles. A post on a recent trip to Dubai, possibly his 40th visit (not surprising, for he has the distinction of being the first Indian designer to showcase his collection there), is teamed with pictures of the City Walk mall.
He talks about the “controlled, almost monochromatic palette which essentially revolves around shades of grey and ivory…” and the visual surprise of the city’s many architectural structures. “I’ve always hated Dubai, but architecture excites me. There has to be some form of contradiction. I remember how it used to be, standing in my room at The InterContinental Hotel and looking over the Dubai Creek, where, except for the Dubai World Trade Centre, everything was barren. Now it is just the opposite. I expect Abu Dhabi and Dubai to touch base someday!” he laughs.
Valaya has recorded his experiments with phoneagraphy in The Little Book of Memories: Istanbul , and Goa is next. “They reflect my parallel existences as a photographer, with both fine art and the camera phone, and the angst of wanting to keep taking pictures,” he says. With seven passports glued together and many stories to share, the designer-photographer insists that travel photography cannot have any rules. Not having any formal education in photography helps – barring a week-long photography residency in the Glenfiddich Distillery – as he says the untrained eye throws up many surprises. “My photography happens during my solo jaunts, which are inevitably linked to work trips. The first thing I do is start walking. Then I get hold of a local cabbie and ask him to take me to the places he would never take a tourist to.” He has had no dodgy experiences so far. “In Goa, that’s what I did, and I got to Fort Tiracol. It is an hour’s drive from North Goa, and includes a barge. It had the bluest water I have seen in Goa, and a beautiful little eatery. My photos there look like they were shot in Greece.”
Preferring small boutique hotels to luxury chains, he is also not a fan of roughing it. “I am not a backpacker. I’d rather not travel than shack up somewhere. And thanks to the business I am in, at the risk of sounding pretentious, I have the luxury to take off on a whim.” Seven to10 days is all he needs to discover a city, and he prefers his iPhone 7 Plus to lugging the trusty Canon Mark 3 on such trips. “I am following a beautiful policy called simplify. Where there are no maps, apps or Instagram to get around, just a friendly cabbie and a spirit of discovery.”
Summer in Istanbul
“One must always try an authentic Turkish breakfast and Kale Cafe is a good choice for a long and delicious Sunday morning meal. Overlooking the Bosphorus, it offers incredible views and is a favourite with the locals, always a good sign. And don’t miss the side show that accompanies the sale of Dondurma (Turkish ice cream) in the markets, where the ice cream is scraped into a cone in leaf-like layers and it is offered to the customer, who suddenly finds his cone is empty. The vendor repeats the performance several times before the cone is surrendered and finally enjoyed. The ice cream, made from milk, mastic resin and salep , is dense with amazing elastic powers. Istanbul is a museum city, with many boutique hotels adjoining them.
Dubai diary
“The view alone, from the trademark pyramid at the Raffles Hotel, is worth splashing out on – with the length of the bustling Sheikh Rashid Road, its lights twinkling and the skyline. Thankfully, Noble House here has some of the best Chinese food in the city. Theatrics abound when it comes to presentation. Order their coconut ice, with glutinous rice, strawberry and mango.”
