When we see the black and white photographs, they certainly give us a kick, and take us to back to some particular period and unfold some beautiful memories, which have been treasured for the present. Through these photographs we come to know the material culture of the particular period and this material culture speaks about the economical and social conditions, fashions, gender equations and so on. These are documentation which communicate about family history. When I visited our village, in the big old mud house, I found a row of black and white photographs hung on the wall in each room. The photographs were in odd sizes, some big and some very small, framed in coffee colour frames. The photographs have turned yellow with the passage of time but they seemed very interesting. Some of the senior family members were photographed in their youth with their wives and husbands. Time waits for no one. When I shifted my focus from photograph to the elderly faces there was pain because of inexplicable loss. Some of the kids in the photographs have flowered into young beautiful girls, and some into handsome boys. The interesting and revealing thing is the small girls in the photographs are all boys dressed up as girls. The small boys in the photo are wearing long skirts and small tops revealing their bellies. Their hair has been woven into plaits and lots of flowers in it. One of the boys has long plait almost touching to the ankle which is woven with jasmine flower garland. The boy is made to stand in front of a big mirror and the mirror placed behind the boy reflects and shows how beautifully the plait is made with flower. In those days, especially in 50s and 60s, people were interested in dressing up boys in girls’ costumes and decorate their plaits with flowers and getting them photographed. That was a prevalent fashion in those days and every house used to flaunt some photographs in such fashion.
In 60s and 70s, when we were studying in the colleges, after graduation every graduate used to get himself or herself photographed in black convocation gown and with a rolled paper in hand which was supposed to be the graduation certificate. The graduation photographs in rows decorated the walls of the house till the late1980s and one could count how many graduates were in a house. During those times, studios used to swell with the graduates and studio owners used to keep a couple of convocation gowns and couple of rolled papers as handy. Colour photographs were very rare then.
A few years back, I met a famous black and white portrait photographer. He had photographed all most all the famous personalities in India through his magic camera. I wanted to get myself photographed by him. I want to share this beautiful experience of mine with you. One day my husband invited him to our house for this particular session and he agreed to come next morning. No doubt, he was man of great experience. On his arrival, we all sat together for breakfast. Sitting on a couch, he was observing the light effects on my face, of which I was totally unaware. Sometime later, he asked me to apply a little bit of coconut oil to my face. Applying the oil, I came back and sat in the same place,and continued sipping my tea. Half an hour passed in chatting, suddenly he asked me to be quiet and asked me to turn my face slightly and took couple of photographs. That was all. After that he photographed my husband and my son in the same manner effortlessly. A fortnight later, we received the photographs, I looked glamorous and stunning like an actress with beautiful light effects in the background, in the photograph, so my husband and son. What I liked most was his casual approach. He did not make us to strain ourselves as other photographs do by asking one to pose repeatedly; his method was very unusual and casual and we were never given chance to become conscious while being photographed. My salutes to him!! He is none other than K.G.Somshekar, known for black and white portraits.
K.G.Somashekar was a painter in the beginning and for a brief period he painted on sandalwood sheets but due some eye problem he had to give up painting and take up photography. He was very simple and talkative person. When it came to photography, he was a natural photographer with an eye for light and shade and emotions. As eyes always communicate volumes silently, he always gave prominence and focused on eyes in the portraits and captured them at their best. He always preferred to capture famous writers, artists, and musicians rather to politicians. His lenses captured more than thousand famous personalities in various moods. Some of the known personalities are MotherTheresa,Salman Rushdie, Satyjit ray,J.R.D.Tata ,Ali Akbar Khan, Vijay Tendulkar, Pandit Mallikarjun Mansur, Pandit Bimsen Joshi, Vidushi Gangubai Hangal, Kamaladevei Chattophadyaya, Amrita Pritam,B.V.Karant, Kuvempu, Da.Ra. Bendre, Girish Karnad and so on. In Banglaore, Pune, Mumbai, and Dehli, he used to have his shows.
I cannot forget this famous photographer, whom I used to meet very often.
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