MEdia Coverage

Iqbal Mohamed took a huge loan to study photography in the United States, something that was not done in the 1980s. And, after he returned to India, he was “flooded with assignments from the third day”. The degree from the Brooks Institut e of Photography (California) helped, but employers were actually impressed with his work after he had graduated. For close to two years, he learnt the ropes under ‘automobile’ and ‘people’ photographers in Hollywood.

Helped by such exposure, he brought a fresh perspective to automobile photography in his homeland. At that time, it was not considered a specialisation and any ad photographer could do the job. Iqbal helped change this situation. He has taken ad photographs, at some point or the other, for almost all the automobile majors operating in the country.

Interestingly, the man woke up a bit late to the charms of photography, let alone automobile photography. He was a student of History and Political Science at Loyola College, when a Pentax K-1000 fell into his lap. He put this gift from a father’s friend to good use and learnt that a set of images can create a new world.

At Brooks, he chose scientific and industrial photography (which consisted of doing spooky things such as ‘capturing bullets mid-air”); he wanted to be thorough with the technical aspects. “I did not bother too much about the aesthetic aspect of photography. I have been interested in drawing and painting from an early age, and have always been aesthetically-oriented.”

But aesthetics is the biggest hurdle to satisfactory work. “A picture could be 100 per cent okay technically, but lacking in aesthetic appeal”. Aware that routine can restrict creativity, Iqbal is careful not to fall into a rut. “I avoid back-to-back assignments. At the least, I ensure a week separates two.” He uses such periods to travel or take Nature shots. But this is busman’s holiday, because Iqbal believes these “retreats” will spark ideas for forthcoming assignments. “Ideas come from within, but external influences are essential.”

In Iqbal’s eyes, photography is not business. The money is the bonus. “It is a way of telling a story. It is writing with light.” Automobile photography meets his need to spend time behind the camera and saves him the trouble of interacting for long periods with people. “In fashion photography, you need to develop a rapport with the models.”

Iqbal loves the outdoors, and thinks landscape photography is the most challenging and, at the same time, the most rewarding. Because you don’t shoot in a controlled environment. He relocated to Ooty because it witnesses a variety of natural lighting round the year. Besides, he considered it the ideal place to teach photography. Iqbal and his wife Anuradha run Light & Life Academy, which attracts students from around the country. Recently, the institute conducted a workshop on studio-based automobile photography at the AVM Studios, where we met up with Iqbal.

He believes automobile photography in India has come of age. “Our work can be compared with what is done in Europe and America. We work with limitations. In the West, everything is automated. For example, skimmers are moved using buttons. Here, most functions are performed manually. Abroad, digitised lights are common. Here, we use lights made with obsolete technology. But we use them with ingenuity, and get the same effect. But because of the heavy manual element, we take longer to accomplish a task.”

Despite the high-quality, the picture is far from perfect. “There is room for more people. In India, there are only about eight top-notch automobile photographers. In such a populous country, this is a non-number.”

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