Fawzan Husain, as a bookmaker, is in no hurry to complete his projects. Neither does he believe his story of venturing into photography is striking. But today, the 50-year-old lensman has created a significant body of work that encapsulates the city in its many hues.
Husain began documenting the streets of Mumbai with the camera his father gifted him almost 28 years ago. Once constantly under fear of being robbed of his prized Pentax camera, Husain went on to become a photojournalist who worked with Mid-Day and India Today , and whose photographs were published in the New York Times , Time and The Telegraph (London) to name a few.
The Hindu meet Husain before light of his upcoming workshop, ‘Street Photography: Framing Narratives through Your Lens’, where he will guide participants in developing a personal visual language through their pictures.
Husain’s oeuvre has a distinct story-telling flavour. A product of his drive to document his life and environment through a visual narrative, he passionately photographs the city of Mumbai.
Take his book, The Silver Screen and Beyond , for instance. The result of 12 years of detailed work, the book explores the Bollywood film industry, an integral facet of Mumbai, through the eyes of a commoner on the sets.
“There’s so much the city has to offer,” says Husain, “that I feel one lifetime isn’t enough to discover all of it.”
He goes on to explain while it’s an economically viable option to shoot closer to home, it comes naturally to portray the city in his works. “I know my city like the back of my hand.”
The narrative is such an integral aspect of his work that Husain believes pictures need to lead to a story, or give a snippet of a tale.
With his book, Between Bombay and Mumbai , Husain chronicles 25 years of the changing metropolis. Interestingly, the photographer’s technique in the book reflects the evolution of the medium: the 1980s are shot in black and white, the 1990s in transparencies, and the new millennium in digital images.
“In those days, colour prints were only done abroad, and it was too expensive. When I moved to India Today (from Mid-Day ), the requirement also shifted from black-and-white to colour slides,” he explains. “With the advent of the digital camera, I understood the change’s importance. I was Mumbai’s second photographer to get one, and bought it with all my savings. All my friends thought I was mad!” However, he never regretted that decision. His choice gave him an advantage over the many other photographers who later adopted the digital medium.
Currently, Husain is working on his third book, a project he has tentatively titled, Kaali Peeli .
Its focal point is the once ubiquitous Premier Padmini taxi, almost synonymous with Mumbai’s black-and-yellow taxis. “Earlier these were the only kind of taxis in our city. But by 2019, the RTO plans to get all of them off the road. A part of the history of Mumbai will go,” says Husain. “I started this documentation 18 years ago, and have been documenting these cars from the junkyard to being caught in Mumbai’s traffic and monsoon.”
Photography aside
While he does do a few photography projects, Husain also has two new loves: organic farming and teaching. “Spending time on the farm feeds my creative instincts, and I really enjoy teaching because these young minds come with fresh ideas and no baggage.”
This weekend’s workshop stems from Husain’s love of sharing his passion.
He believes that today, in a time where we are constantly fed images through television, hoardings and the Internet, there seems to be a lack of observation when it comes to shooting photographs. He thinks people take pictures almost mindlessly nowadays, and he hopes to inculcate a sense of purpose in the participants’ photographs through the workshop.
“I want to bring in the discipline of the art,” he explains, “and essentially want them to include the five Ws (what, why, where, when, who) in their pictures. So many narratives are often overlooked in this frenzy of shooting unnecessary, mundane things. And many times we don’t concentrate on the things we should actually be looking at.”
‘Street Photography’ is at Essar House, Mahalaxmi, on Saturday, July 16, at 10 a.m. RSVP: 9769937710/ avidlearning@essar.com to register .
The writer is an intern with The Hindu
Husain believes pictures need to
lead to a story, or give a snippet of
a tale
