Photographer Ketaki Sheth’s latest exhibition is currently on display at the PHOTOINK gallery.
Sheth goes to back to her initial days of accompanying film critic Khalid Mohamed to the studios.
While photographing them Sheth observed that each actor was unique, as all individuals are.
Interview With Ketaki Sheth: The Discreet Charm Of The Glitterati
In conversation with Outlook, photographer Ketaki Sheth talks about her approach with the camera, the irresistible allure of the black-and-white medium and more
Summary
As a thick mist envelops an abandoned ‘haveli’, a single lightman stands shining a light on an ethereal subject, who appears to be emerging from thin air. One can barely see a silhouette in this photograph, but it is a telling one nevertheless. Even as her face hauntingly slips from focus, it is undoubtedly Sridevi, in her ever-so-famous ‘Ichchadhari Naagin’ avatar from Nagina (1986). On another wall, a pensive Rekha sits curled up on a sofa, lost in thought. There are glimpses of big names like Amitabh Bachchan and Anil Kapoor, caught on camera touching up their makeup in between shots. Elsewhere, Bhanupriya sets her tresses right, while Shatrughan Sinha appears immersed in practising lines of a dialogue he is about to deliver. These are interspersed with moments where the more obscure background dancers and junior artists are exchanging giggles and waiting in awe for the star before them to learn the hook steps.
A touch of old-world charm permeates the air at the PHOTOINK gallery, where photographer Ketaki Sheth’s latest exhibition is on display. Rightly titled Flashback, this series captures vignettes from two film industries—Bombay and Madras—from 1985 to 1993 of a vast array of subjects that build up the glamour brick by brick. The images don’t always feature people; sometimes, the sets or homes of film personalities themselves become the centre of intrigue. The series is an intimate study of the inner lives of figures, who inhabit an otherwise hermetically sealed universe, visible only through a carefully manicured lens to people outside it.
Sheth, who lives and works in Mumbai, has been a photographer for over 40 years. After graduating in English Literature from Elphinstone College, she moved to the United States to complete her Master’s and study photography. A lot of her work reflects the preservation of fast-disappearing artefacts and spaces, like her exhibition titled Photo Studio (2018), or rarely-documented cultures such as A Certain Grace: The Sidi, Indians of African Descent (2013). Most of it has been shot in the analogue medium, which speaks to her persisting taste for evocative nostalgia.
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Sheth spoke to Apeksha Priyadarshini about how she set out on this journey, the approach she took with her camera, the irresistible allure of the black-and-white medium and more.
Can you tell us how you decided to embark on this project?
I had just returned from New York University in 1985 after a year of studying photography. I reunited with the film critic Khalid Mohamed, whom I had first met as an intern at The Times of India in the early ‘80s. He asked me if I would like to accompany him to the studios. This was not an assignment, but more an opportunity for me to hone my craft with fresh eyes.
Telling Silhouette: Sridevi on the set of Nagina, Film City, Bombay, 1986. | Photo Courtesy: Ketaki Sheth & PHOTOINK
Movement seems really integral to your style in this series. What was the guiding principle in your selection of these images?
I think when you are a fly on the wall, as I was most of the time, you seize the moment. I was not really thinking about movement or static.
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Superstar Amitabh Bachchan and actress Amrita Singh on the set of Akayla, Andheri, Bombay, 1991 | Photo Courtesy: Ketaki Sheth & PHOTOINK
There is an intimate vulnerability to the pictures of the stars, as opposed to the lens of grandeur through which they are usually framed. How did you manage to unlock this comfort within them before the camera?
I was newly out of photography school, where I had seen a variety of work. Going in for the grandeur alone would not, I think, have taught me how to make photographs I find personally compelling. It is unlikely to have given me the body of work I now possess. Stars were easy with my presence because of Khalid, whom they knew well, and also because of my style, which is unobtrusive.
In the green room with junior artists on the set of Parampara, Famous Studios, Bombay, 1991 | Photo Courtesy: Ketaki Sheth & PHOTOINK
You have significantly foregrounded the junior and background artists in this series—their playfulness, their conversations, their daily routines. What did this journey through the two industries reveal to you about their lives?
In any environment where there are different people doing different tasks in order to complete a major one, I think your eye naturally moves around, considering all the faces that make up the whole. The days were long and, so, I was able to photograph stars, crew and technicians both at work and at rest.
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Photographer Ketaki Sheth Farrokh Chothia
Beyond the human subjects, the spaces that they inhabit form a pivotal part of your exploration. Some images highlight the space even more than the celebrities who are part of the picture...
Well, the spaces were as interesting as the people. For example, I had many images of the producer Yash Chopra in his office. The one I picked from my contact sheet had a huge chair in the foreground, suggesting a certain grandeur or immensity. And in the background, the producer in silhouette, raising his hand in a manner that mirrored the curl of the trophies in the foreground. I knew, then, that I had a good image.
Movie mogul Yash Chopra in his office, Juhu, Bombay, 1985 | Photo Courtesy: Ketaki Sheth & PHOTOINK
How did your relationship with the film industry and its many stakeholders transform during this journey? Was there ever any awe in your encounter with this world?
I was always in awe. I had never encountered sets and studios and stars before. I was new both as a photographer and to the world of moviemaking.
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Actress Bhanupriya on the set of Pangali, Mohan Studios, Madras, 1992 | Photo Courtesy: Ketaki Sheth & PHOTOINK
You look at women subjects through a very gentle lens, almost as if you have caught them in a moment of reckoning. It’s quite refreshing in contrast to contemporary images that subject their bodies to immense scrutiny.
Women are generally more sensitive to this, don’t you think?
What did this venture reveal to you about how women navigate the relentless weight of being in the limelight?
I don’t think we can generalise. Rekha was a complete natural, Jaya Prada was a bit self-conscious, the young Dipanti was somewhat diffident, as it was her first day on set. Each actor was unique, as all individuals are.
What does black-and-white film offer you in your artistic endeavour that colour cannot?
In those days, most people shot B&W. I didn’t explore colour as an option. I did what best I could in the world of B&W photography, using film and chemistry. Back home, I had my own darkroom and it was pure magic.
In an increasingly digitalised world, is it still feasible to pursue this passion as an analogue artist?
I think so. Old is still rare and unique. And capturing a period and time that is lost in many ways.
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