With a queer

Creative Shots

“It was then that I turned into a cultural activist as I documented the onset of sexual cult politics.”

Anne Fox, a documentary photographer, was also part of the discussion held at the British Library last week, where the duo also talked about their latest photo documentary work named Tasveer.

Gupta has more than four decades of experience in photography, with varied geographical influences of growing up in New York, Delhi and London. Romance with images became second nature to him.

Both photographers, having graduated from the same college in England, had many common experiences to relate. Anna Fox particularly missed the advantages of analogue photography in the digital age. “There was this waiting period till the negatives were ready, and that time would be used for reflection. This creative gap has been completely destroyed with digital photography. Also we, immediately, are able to reject the inferior shots but I feel it’s those shots, which are viewed as mistakes, that later go on to become some of the best shots,” she said.

Gupta also spoke about coming a full circle in his photography career with his ironic declaration. “Being gay, everyone expected me to go into fashion and make pretty pictures, but for 20 years, I resisted but then I realised that people like pretty pictures, so I though I might as well make them.”

Anna spoke about her work in India where she was photo documenting middle-class working women, and the stereotypes they have to work with, and made comparisons with working middle class women in Europe.

The discussion ended with Anna and Sunil talking about the acceptance of photography as art, and how even the smallest countries in the world photo-document their history and have a well maintained museum for it.

“It would be brilliant if something like that could be started in Bangalore, as the City has great cultural depth,” added Gupta.