Aao Baitho
PHOTO SERIES
I decided to create an open space photo studio and pick every-day people, busy
with their daily chores, to pose to camera in the middle of a busy road on a sidewalk, next
to a chai shop. My aim was to capture portraits to reveal aspects of different personalities
and how they interact with camera in this open and vulnerable space. In order to do that, I identified
my spot and the most important element of my photo shoot - the chair. I picked people who were
busy drinking chai, buying cigarettes, generally walking up and down the street, busy with work
or idling away time, women running their daily errands, walking their kids back from school -people
from different walks of life. I always enjoy interacting with my subject and for this assignment,
it was an interesting task cajoling people into agreeing to sit on the chair and pose to my camera.
I was pleasantly surprised and rather intrigued to see how they were ready to abandon their
shyness and had fun in my studio. So much so, that for 5 days in a row, my open-studio became
a busy place where people came to pose, brought their friends and it usually ended
with chai sessions and chit-chat.
