 The
advertising photography scenario in Bangalore is dominated by the
likes of WASEEM KHAN who began his career in photography with his
first camera, a Ricoh KR5, a gift from his father during his
schooldays. "I used to take pictures of flowers, lizards, blades
of grass and the occasional pretty girl I always seemed to be able
to con into shooting portraits! [smiles]. I have still kept
the camera for sentimental reasons", says Waseem. His first job
was with Brooke Bond as assistant sales and marketing manager.
This gave him the opportunity to shoot their products and factory.
A self-taught photographer, he has the "ability to vary my style
according to the shoot, the concept ,
and the situation, and I feel for whatever I'm shooting at that particular
moment, because I try and reflect on film that which I feel within
me for the person or object I am shooting."
His two most passionate subjects are 'women' and 'food'.
He is comfortable with people who he shoots and this is his strong
point. He uses the natural pose of models to their best advantage
and bonds with every single person he shoots.
Waseem was influenced by Sudhir Ramachandran another famous
fashion photographer. Waseem says, "At a time when photographers
were very secretive, Sudhir did not see me as competition, but as
someone who loved photography and wanted to learn.
He invited me to watch his fashion shoots, taught me the meaning of
openness and to share my knowledge with
others. Most of all, he gave me encouragement." 
He likes the Kodak E100 VS and Ektachrome EPP for his
colour transparency. And for his B&W work he uses
Kodak T-Max 100 and 400. For all his professional work, his favourite
camera is the Mamiya 6 x 7 Pro SD with the 180mm lens.
His choice of lens is the 200mm f/4 for the odd model portfolio
that he shoots.
His shoots… Every year I do a calendar for Spice Telecom
- a mobile phone operator from Bangalore. They give me a chance to
shoot with the best names in the country, people like Lis a
Ray, Ananya Dutt, Malavika Singh, Zahira Lakdawala, and many others.
For this year's calendar, the models I chose were Bipasha Basu,
Sheetal Mallar, Madhu Sapre, Ujwalla Raut, Nina Manuel all from
Mumbai and Shonali Rosario from Bangalore, all of whom are
the super models in this country. Recently I did a shoot for 'Planet
Kids' and I enjoyed it. I love kids and it was easy communicating
with them.
His favourite model…
Jackie Besterwitch - there is a special rapport, we can understand
each other's communication. I don't have to make her understand too
many things while shooting. Apart from her I like Ujwala Rao
and Lisa Ray.
 His
favourite make-up artists…
I like Vipul Bhagat from Mumbai, Anil Chinappa,
R Raghunath, Asha Lata and Leila Sharma, who is excellent
at wild and wacky looks.
His favourite location…
Manchinbelle Dam is my favourite outdoor spot. I discovered it
sometime in 1995.
Apart from photography, Waseem loves to cook and do a little bit of
work out. He enjoys meeting new people, " My main kick is to play
mental games with people," says Waseem, tongue-in-cheek.
Kamini
M.V
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