The fear of being shot

People have got a new kind of fear-fear of SLRs!!! One can understand the anger of anyone when he/she falls inside the field of view of an imposingly big camera. But that does not mean that he/she has to become hostile towards the photographer without finding out whether the photographer has covered her/him in the frame. It is really good to see people aware of intrusion into privacy. But the sad part of it is, they are not aware of where the threat really comes from.

I would like to mention an incident where I was prohibited from using my camera. I went to a shopping mall with my friend, who wanted to shoot his pictures. The people at the entrance

checked my bag with a metal detector, asked me to open the bag. They said I should not use the camera anywhere inside the mall, whatever my intention is. I thought they have banned the use of cameras inside the mall. But when I went in, I was shocked to see that virtually everyone was shooting the open space. Some of them were focusing on people behind their subjects, as usual.

Another incident took place as I was travelling back to my room after the office got over. I was trying to shoot the handles dangling from above with a shallow Depth Of the Field. Initially there were taunts from behind. Two guys assumed I was from the north; they obviously thought I was a tourist shooting pictures of the people in the bus. I wonder how they treat people, especially the construction workers-(even the most bigheaded IT guys will survive devoid of such incidents, even without learning the language), who are from the north. When it became

unbearable, I turned around and asked them what the hell they wanted, in Madurai dialect (It is considered as the purest Tamil dialect, though it is nowhere good as the Jaffna dialect-and Chennaiites can’t take pride in their dialect, of course). Their faces fell down and said, “nothing”.

I continued shooting and suddenly, the conductor came running at me as if I had set off a bomb in the bus. He started to shout at me and tried madly to grab the camera. I never expected this and tried to protect my gear. He asked me what my intention was and how I would use the images.

Stung by what he was doing, I asked him with controlled rage to see the pictures I had shot first. There was not one picture with identifiable subjects in the frame. Even after knowing what I had shot, he went away with suspicious looks, though keeping an eye on me, thereafter. He never apologized to me for his rude behaviour. The worse part of the commotion was the

people were looking at me as if I am a psychopath who had to be locked away.

So, what should you do if you think someone is focusing the camera at you? Go and grab the camera? Definitely not, professional photographic equipments cost a fortune. You don’t want to end up breaking a Nikon D3x + 24-70mm f/2.8 Af-S worth more than 5.5 lakhs, don’t you? It is imperative to ask the suspect photographer with an SLR to show what he/she shot in such situations. If you have a prejudice against those who use SLR’s, read the following

1. SLRs are huge and those who shoot pictures with them in the open can be spotted even by those who have the worst eyesight. And candid photography is being done with the smallest of compact cameras or even worse, mobile phone cameras for that particular reason.
2. Lenses with wide apertures, such as my 50mm f/1.8 normal lens + a bigger sensor/film have a very shallow depth of the field at wide apertures and out-of-focus subjects cannot be identified (I shot a picture of my colleague for a visual aid for an ayurvedic anti-diabetic medicine. His face was barely 3 feet away from the lens. I focused on his protruding hand taking a sweet from a dish; I could fulfill his condition that his identity should not be revealed). On the other hand, compact cameras and fixed focal length cameras (read as mobile phone cams) have smaller sensors and their aperture are restricted/fixed so as to produce optimal depth of the field. Even if the person using them has no vile intentions, subjects in the background will be captured unintentionally
3. There is an argument that someone with anti-social/’terrorist’ intentions may shoot pictures of a crowded place for setting up bombs. Forget the fact that Google maps and GPS enabled mobile can help them reach the target directly with ease. Even if they wish to shoot pictures of the place, they would not want to draw attention, won’t they? (unless the person is a spy in the robes of a diplomat, like Headley. Will anyone stop such a person?) It is possible for him/her to capture details with any 6+megapixel camera. He/she does not need an SLR for that purpose.

So, please do remember that those who carry mobile phones and compact cameras threaten your privacy more than those who carry SLR’s. If you have doubts, request them politely to show the pictures the photographer has shot recently.

PS. I will update this article with pictures to substantiate my argument.

Love at first sound.....

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Nivedan looks back into the past and shares his journey through the light along with the interesting events in life. He also shares his memories on various cameras he has handled.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I was a photographer, even before I started to handle the camera, would you believe it? But I was not a born photographer. I had the desire to shoot pictures when I was a child; I just wanted to see myself in the photographs that I would take at the same time; Unfortunately, that is impossible at that time as there were no digital cameras with LCD displays that can be seen in the mirror while taking self-portraits. I would imagine how I would look through the viewfinder. I believe that I became an amateur photographer at that point of time itself.

Pictures taken with the Konica Minolta(It was a manual focus camera. Unfortunately, everyone including me clicked without focusing)

The first camera I ever handled was my uncle’s. I was five or six years old, then! It was a Konica Minolta. I don’t remember the model name. But it was red in colour, well-built and was completely made of metal wrapped with plastic. It was a premium compact camera with good optics. I remember that there was a slider switch at the side of the lens; i guess it is meant for aperture adjustment. When I pressed the shutter-release button for the first time, I heard the proper mechanical “clunk” sound rather than the more silent ‘click’ sound of the compact cameras of today. Instantly I fell in love with the sound and since then I was too obstinate to be obliged for a picture; I loved to take the picture myself rather than giving a toothy smile in the frame. Hence I was absent mostly absent in a lot of family albums. It is something like ‘Love at first sight’, the only difference being sound in place of sight. Strangely, I started loving a visual medium because of the sound it generated!

For some years, I did not get an opportunity to shoot with that camera, though I had a chance to explore a dysfunctional classic Rolleiflex large format camera from the attic. During my college days, I opted for photography as an elective paper, which helped me to know the history of photography and the basics of photography and camera. I had a quarrel with my brother to get his newly bought canon auto-rewind compact camera to shoot for my internal exams. Though I got it successfully, I lost marks as I dropped the film after taking it out of the cartridge inside the dark room. In total darkness, I was crawling, only to push my class-mate down. Mindful of what he was doing, one guy, who occasionally visited classrooms, took his newly-launched ‘torch-light mobile phone’- Nokia 1100 and lit it up to show me where the film was. Within a second, he busted my hopes of getting good pictures and marks. However, for the sake of completing it, I dipped it in the solution and made wrong time-count for developing it. I got one nice picture out of 36 shots; Others were full of white patches throughout.

The new era of digital photography in my life started when one of my friends bought a digital camera. I clicked very few pictures, but they were not technically good. However, I desired to buy a digital camera as I observed that one does not need to spend a single penny on the long run. Camera was the first thing to be bought after I started to work. I learnt the technical aspects of photography through different sources, starting from the user manual. Now, after clicking the shutter-release button for the 9670th time in exactly two years, I am willing to continue this journey through the light with a much more sophisticated camera, a digital SLR.

One of my friends, who does travel photography and writes in travel magazines, has a Nikon D80. I had the chance to shoot with it for sometime. It was a different kind of photographic equipment altogether. When I viewed through the viewfinder for the first time, it was difficult for me to see and shoot, since I am used to shoot using the large LCD screen in my camera. But in a few minutes I got used to it. Autofocus was blazing fast with a slow lens, a fast prime lens with silent wave motor will be mind-blowing. The shutter opened without lag with a mechanical 'clunk' sound and no other camera that I have handled comes close. I have also handled Nikon D200, canon EOS350D and 400D. Canon EOS350 was awful to use, since the copy I handled was malfunctioning and very improper, with fungi on the lens elements. Moreover, the ergonomics of the camera gave me wriist pain for a week. EOS400D was a lot better in ergonomics and image quality, but D80 was better; perhaps I am used to Nikon's controls and terminologies. D200 is D80's elder brother. I did not explore it much to comment on it.

Though my camera is a gem among compacts, it has a lot of limitations and I need better image quality, high ISO performance, dynamic range, depth of the field, speed, flexibility, customisation, controls and the mechanical ‘Clunk’ sound which made me fall in love with photography. I am not demanding a medium-format hasselblad, but longing to lay my hands on an APS-C size sensor camera, a Nikon D300 or atleast a D90 to take me through the light rays for the light-years of eternity.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
About the Author: Nivedan is an intern at National Centre for Advocacy Studies (NCAS), Pune. With self-nurtured knowledge of photography, he experiments with photography and other forms like posters so as to use them as tools for sensitization, advocacy and social transformation.

Contact Nivedan at nivedanmangalesh@yahoo.com
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The photographer’’s block

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Nivedan shares his experiences of the photographer's block, when he had to stop taking pictures and how he came out of it as a better photographer.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Similar to the ‘writer’s block’, there is photographer’s block. Photographer’s block and inability to shoot are different.  I have had photographer’s block thrice. Photographer’s block is not a very bad phenomenon. When a photographer comes out of it, he/she will come out with pictures of better quality. But inability to shoot arises out of the state of nothingness or existential vacuum. It is very dangerous and sips the confidence. It is hard to come out of it. In this article I will share my experiences of the photographer’s block.

When I bought the camera, I was a novice and learnt the technicalities by learning. Within 3 months the number of photos taken was around 3500. I realised that in 1000 pictures, only 100 were good. At that point I stopped a bit because of the dilemma of whether I should continue with this pattern or not. Bracketing will let the camera shoot multiple images with different parameters. The best one can be selected. But doing this all the time will not help learning. So I paused for sometime to learn angles, composition and technicalities. I analysed the images and found out optimum parameters for different situations and started to practice them after a month. The number of photographs taken, decreased drastically. But the quality of output and also the number of good photos in any given set of photos increased. So the block helped for good.

When I came to NCAS it was new for me and initially, we were in house-hunt and also trying to know each other. At that time I could not see anything that can be shot. It took some time to get accustomed to the new environment and I could hardly notice anything photogenic, though there were a lot of subjects and objects around. Slowly, I started noticing these. I removed this block by deliberately carrying the camera in the hand, though I had a bag. I gave me the energy to click instantly.  When I went to Narmada Bachao Andolan at Barwani, I clicked some pictures that came out very well. Later I used them in my designs on many occasions. Afterwards, I was inseparable with the camera. It became an integral part of me; an organ; a third eye.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

When I carried the camera with me in the hand, I eventually saw a hawker selling mango juice. This object in the picture was chiseled ice floating on it.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Photos that I took when I went to the Narmada Valley

.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I had the last block, when I started to design book covers and posters for NCAS. I was concentrating on that and my camera again went into the bag, mainly because of sleepless nights. I would sit there after office hours to design. Atleast four nights in a week were spent on that. With drooping drowsy eyes I could not concentrate on photography. But I realised something at that time. Whenever I was asked to document field visits I took pictures of meetings and discussions. I realised that it was not my interest and I should concentrate on more productive things. I openly declared that I won’t take pictures of meetings and discussions anymore as i am more interested in issues and people related to that. I also realised that I required backgrounds for designing. So I started to click grass, leaves and other objects up-close. All my colleagues gave a foul cry that I am taking pictures of unnecessary things (at times, deliberately out of focus), and adamant that I am not taking pictures of the meetings and discussions. With sheer clarity of thought I replied that I depend on my brain and not the eyes to take pictures. In a few days I gave a surprise by designing a few good posters using the “useless photographs” as backgrounds.

A few of the "Useless" Pictures

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So in all three instances I have come out as a better photographer. But the state of nothingness has hit me to some extent. I will write on it when I come out of it. 

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

About the Author: Nivedan is an intern at National Centre for Advocacy Studies (NCAS), Pune. With self-nurtured knowledge of photography, he experiments with photography and other forms like posters so as to use them as tools for sensitization, advocacy and social transformation.

Contact Nivedan at nivedanmangalesh@yahoo.com

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

PITCHING ON THE TRACK

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Nivedan writes on how to take development photography to a particular target audience in a socially and politically useful way.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
There are many ways to take the photographs of social and political significance to the public. I am certainly not for hanging it in an art gallery. It is nothing but selling poverty and powerlessness for a high price. Even though if the pictures are intended to evoke consciousness in the public, the impact depends upon the time, place, the audience to which it is presented and also the way it is presented.

Art galleries interest the creamy layer as they find something to decorate the walls. They prefer colourful wallpapers or glittering framed wall hangings; they do not care for the implied messages. So when photography on poverty and powerlessness goes to an art gallery, it is nothing but mere art. Whenever we read “Robinson Crusoe”, we romanticize solitude and living with nature, as we usually do with Adivasis. But is there anyone to live like a cast-away? Why not if solitude is blissful and romantic? One puncture in the motorcycle, 10 Km away from a hill station, will make a vacation into an intensive military training; we certainly won’t be romanticizing that. So when it occurs to us, we are not ready to tolerate it. Similarly, the artful photo of poverty certainly does not convey the emotions, the desperate voices and the powerlessness of the subjects. Think of the same from the subject’s point of view. Someone taking my state of despair to decorate a wall is tampering with my dignity and making money out of it. It is totally unethical and uncouth; enough is said. As I have told, the photography magazines are doing the same thing.

So how should I use it in an ethical way? If one wants to reach people through the press, he/she should choose the right newspaper/magazine first. It is better to write photo essays on the own, otherwise, the media may manipulate with stories that are not at all related. Secondly, one has to check for the photo essays. Giving credit to the photographer is also an ethical practice. One need not send the essays or photographs for the media that does not give credits to photographers. Tehelka carries good photo essays. Then one has to trace the ideology of the particular newspaper/magazine. Pro-real estate newspapers that carry out separate sheets for ads for new apartments will not publish something on the problems faced by the construction workers in the construction sites. For example, “The Hindu” covered the issue of farmer’s suicide very well. Photos on this issue may be used very well by them.

If one wants to take the other route, they can contribute their photos to non-profits who are genuinely working to address the issues the photographers who have covered it. It may be useful for the purpose of lobbying or research on the issue. It can also be used to mobilize the people. For example, I have used the photographs to design posters, book covers and documentary film CD covers for NCAS, so that it reaches the right people, who understand or need to understand the issues, like film makers, policy makers, researchers, activists or the people of the affected community. As with writing photo essays, here also, it is better to design the posters as the photographer himself can substantiate with words or slogans in them. So words and visuals will have cohesiveness in a better way. Third parties may distort the picture with their design language with lesser understanding of issues and the target audience.

Some of my designs for NCAS

Another way of doing it is making photo-documentaries that tell stories or issues with a sequence of pictures. They are substantiated with captions and brief comments. They can be made available in the internet. There are numerous commercial photo stocks. There is no difference between the art galleries and these stocks, except the fact that photo stocks supply photos to the corporate world. It is even worse. There is one stock called ‘Photoshare’ that supplies photos for non-profit use only. They don’t charge the non-profits for the photos and they insist on the ethics of photography. One has to request for a particular photo by a particular photographer. They would ask for the purpose and on agreeing to certain terms and conditions they send high resolution photos and the user has to ensure that proper credits are given to the photographer. The copyrights are reserved only with the photographer and he/she can use it anywhere.

Click here to visit www.photoshare.org

So there are innumerable ways to make photographs useful socially and politically. One has to find out the right way to reach to the particular target group. There are ways, all that is required is will.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

About the Author: Nivedan is an intern at National Centre for Advocacy Studies (NCAS), Pune. With self-nurtured knowledge of photography, he experiments with photography and other forms like posters so as to use them as tools for sensitization, advocacy and social transformation.

Contact Nivedan at nivedanmangalesh@yahoo.com

SLAVES OF THE CUBICLES

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Nivedan writes on the role of photography magazines in supplying photographers for the mainstream genres, especially fashion photography. He also writes about Mr. John Isaac, who was able to break this paradox of mainstream, yet winning the recognition he deserves.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Any creation should have a purpose behind it, according to me. I am not for ‘art for art’s sake’. Taking photographs to showcase that I’m a photographer will get me recognition. But, to break the cubicle named ‘mainstream’ we are captivated in, social usefulness by reaching to the people and influencing them through the photograph is really important. This cubicle has kept everyone, including the doctors, advocates, teachers, photographers, journalists, engineers and all others, for serving the creamy layer of the society named urban middle and upper classes, while a sizeable majority of the rural and urban poor suffer with the denial of access to these cubicles.

There are vast resources for the photographers in these cubicles. If one reads the photography magazines these days, he/she can easily understand that they are in full swing to reinforce these cubicles. If one reads without seeing the cover, the content may confuse the reader if it is a magazine on lifestyle or fashion. Yes, these magazines publish interviews of mainly the fashion photographers, at times about the photographers of other commercial genres. These interviews take around 20% of the space; 20% of the space is for the advertisements; 15% of the space is for the reviews of new products (as I have stressed earlier, gadgets are not more important than the human for photography); 5% of space is for studio lighting and post processing techniques; 10% of space is for announcement of new products and competitions; 15% of space is for useless questions and useless answers. Most of those who ask questions, introduce himself/herself as an aspirant to become a fashion photographer! Their questions will only be on the gadgets (Without knowing their one requirement, I don’t know what photography they would do). 15% is for the pictures from the readers and a few critiques on the technicalities of the photograph (Damn! who needs perspectives or ethics?). It is the same with any magazine.

Very rarely, they glorify the late photographers of the past, who had contributed extra-ordinarily for the society with photographs. Last month, ironically, I found an interview of Mr. John Isaac. He is an ex-UN photographer. He had been to different countries and documented the cultures, colours and sorrows of the different communities. His perspectives were really impressive. He had said that he places humans before photography. He said if a human being is suffering, he would help the human first rather than taking photographs. I liked this particular statement. In these days, there are umpteen photographers capturing the poverty artfully to sell them for a high price in the galleries; some photojournalists, in this process of capturing “Sensational”, damage the dignity of the subjects in a few seconds. In this era, Mr. Isaac has denied a Pulitzer prize to protect the dignity of his subjects! The magazine publishing his interview is a greater surprise.

I am happy that it has happened at least once. It would be great if interviews of such humane photographers get published every month. It gives energy to us that there are photographers who have broken these cubicles, yet getting the recognition they deserve. Highlighting these photographers and their works continuously can trigger a chain reaction to break all these cubicles. For example, if a group of photographers get inspired and concentrate on rural health issues and the holes in the horrible health care system in India and take it to the government-run medical college students and policy makers, the doctors of the futures can be inspired to break the cubicles and the policy makers would be forced to plug the holes in the system respectively. Similarly, if every cubicle is broken, on the long run, sustainable and equitable development is possible. If the mainstream media takes up this role, transparent and accountable governance can be achieved in the far future.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
About the Author: Nivedan is an intern at National Centre for Advocacy Studies (NCAS), Pune. With self-nurtured knowledge of photography, he experiments with photography and other forms like posters so as to use them as tools for sensitization, advocacy and social transformation.
Contact Nivedan at nivedanmangalesh@yahoo.com

ON CASTING LIGHT OVER THE DARK

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Nivedan shares some perspectives on investigative journalism and writes on the importance of maintaining contacts with the activists who work with the people who are exploited, with reference to his rare visit to a quarry.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Very rarely does one get chances for capturing an exploitative situation. The exploiters never permit outsiders, especially photographers, documentary film makers or the media. There are investigative journalists who do muckraking in such situations. I met one Ms, Madhumita Dutta in Orissa. She was from The Other Media, Madras branch. We were there in the inauguration of an agitation.

The POSCO SEZ was coming up in the Jagatsinghpur district. So the activists and the people to be displaced were raising slogans in front of the collector’s office. Finally they stormed into it. However, the collector had left earlier. The protest ended up in giving the demands to the Assistant Collector. However the agitation continued in the villages. The villagers had put up check posts of their own to prohibit the outsiders, especially POSCO and government officials from entering the village. The situation was tense, as they had already kept a few Korean nationals working for POSCO as hostages. The government from its side had engaged the armed police force in the area to keep watch over the area. Going into the villages would be dangerous, as neither the guards nor the villagers would recognize the intruders. So we decided not to go that night to the villages.

But Madhu spoke to an activist who goes to the village regularly and got on to the vehicle and without any hesitation she entered the village that night. Then she collected stories and took photos also. She came back in the morning to inform us that the tension had reduced as the hostages were released. We went there to find out that it was a very tricky situation. There were more than five hundred pairs of suspicious eyes watching us and we were let in only when they were able to confirm that we were not foes. I wonder at the investigative journalists and their courage. More than that, their ability to get news and photos at such situations is amazing.

I got a lifetime opportunity of taking pictures in a quarry. We went to an organization by name Santulan. They were working with quarry workers. They conduct a school for the quarry children. After interacting with the children, we went to the quarry to see the environment in which they were working. The vision was obstructed by the dust there. We went closer to find a giant crater that was made by quarrying. There were hundreds of people working in inhuman working conditions. Some of them were breaking stones ten hours a day! Some had to cut the stones from above so that it can be collected 150 feet below. They were in the edges without any safety helmets or gloves or safety ropes. There was moving gravel under their feet. One slip would bring a sad end to their life.

They were bonded labourers who have been working for generations. They had been given accommodation in houses built with stones. One may be carried away by the thought that stone houses means something like the buildings of Ferguson College or that of Madurai Medical College. But imagine igloos that are made of stone. The houses are like that. The roof was made of tin. It was literally a den without ventilation. Air does not come in, but rain water certainly does. One has to crawl in and ovoid getting up, because it will crash open the roof. I went in to take a few pictures. There are no words to describe it. One can just look at the pictures and find out. It is fortunate that I am able to bring out this injustice to the attention of a broader audience.

Quarry

But I got it clear both from Madhu and my own experience that one has to establish contact with the activists who are fighting with the people who face injustice. It is the best way to capture injustice without facing some serious risk as the activists have access to them. One has to go casually as a visitor who came for a field visit through that organization and get the pictures in due course of the visit. Presenting oneself as a person who came to collect stories and photographs will rise suspicion ultimately making it fruitless. People's trust on us is more important than anything else while going for the shoot.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

About the Author: Nivedan is an intern at National Centre for Advocacy Studies (NCAS), Pune. With self-nurtured knowledge of photography, he experiments with photography and other forms like posters so as to use them as tools for sensitization, advocacy and social transformation.

Contact Nivedan at nivedanmangalesh@yahoo.com

On Gloss and Clichés

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Nivedan writes on the Clichés and the gloss that one comes across in photography these days and points out how one should avoid them in development photography.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Familiarity breeds contempt. It is true and applicable to photography. Conventional angles, conventional subjects/objects, conventional time and conventional parameters make clichéd shots. That is what most of us do. People in sunrise and sunsets in the beaches and Toothy smiles in front of Taj Mahal or other heritage sites are a few examples of clichéd shots. One can find innumerable photos looking similar in the image-sharing sites. Maybe they feel themselves to be documenting their own life: a literal understanding of ‘making history’.

Even in the family albums one can observe the bright colours and clichéd shots. It implies that we like to preserve only the gloss of the history in a very stereotypical way. We never like to preserve the bad memories. Leaving the family histories aside, the history album of a city, a community, a marginalized section of the society is never full of colours of joy and celebration. It is always drenched red with wars, disputes, disasters and sorrows. So, willing suspension of artful gloss and clichés is required while taking the pictures of the people who have never seen the gloss of life.

This is why classic black and white pictures (Again, for example, that of Raghu Rai) touch the hearts and convey more than the glossy artful portrayal. The very form itself conveys both happiness and sorrow just through white and black respectively. Can anyone imagine the black comedies of Charlie Chaplin in colour? Don’t even think of it.

Natural light only can work wonders for this type of photography. Uniform lighting spoils the sense of the picture, the mood and the emotion prevailing in that situation. Even if the pictures are taken in colour, the tungsten lighting would be the best choice to convey everything. I would never use any form of artificial lighting in a photograph, including the built-in flash of the camera. Even if a few portions of the environment is covered with shadow, it conveys a meaning, say something forbidden, something that would affect the dignity of the person photographed (Say, while capturing manual scavenging). The latter was used in the Elizabethan Theatre. ‘Horror or something shocking (say a murder or war) should not be shown on the stage’, was an ethic in it. The Indian Express, during the time of emergency, left the censored spaces blank to let the readers interpret that there was a column that was written against the government forbidden for the print. Similarly, shadows in the absence of artificial lighting convey strong messages.

So when it comes to development photography, one has to avoid the gloss and clichés and put the expression of sense and emotion in the photos first. It is better to capture in black and white. But it comes only with practice and experimentation. For example, I need to increase the exposure compensation by two stops to balance the highlights and shadows in my cameras. Otherwise it is too dark. If one chooses colour, he/she should try to avoid too much of fanciful and artful portrayal, going for natural lighting.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
About the Author: Nivedan is an intern at National Centre for Advocacy Studies (NCAS), Pune. With self-nurtured knowledge of photography, he experiments with photography and other forms like posters so as to use them as tools for sensitization, advocacy and social transformation.
Contact Nivedan at nivedanmangalesh@yahoo.com