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The viewfinder

Photo: K. Ananthan

Into the light Iqbal feels technique is only 50 per cent of the job

Iqbal is clearly uncomfortable facing the camera. And, his students are clearly amused. They have not seen the calm and collected ‘Iqbal Sir’ like this before. Obviously, photographers, even those of Iqbal’s reputation, make awkward models! But, he grins and endures it. Once the photo-session winds up, a relieved Iqbal escorts us to a slide show. His Light and Life Academy (LLA) at Lovedale in the Nilgiris is one-of-a-kind in the country where photographers are being trained to be world class. While ad campaigns are his “bread and butter”, this is where his heart is. Predictably, it was the gift of a camera in his college days that set Iqbal off on his path to fame. That it could be something more than a hobby, dawned on him when K.T Kumar of the iconic G.K Vale studio in Chennai appreciated his work and loaned him foreign photography magazines to go through. Iqbal says he will forever be indebted to K.T Kumar, G.D. Gopal and A.C. Muthaiah. They were the ones who persuaded his horrified dad into sending him abroad to pursue photography. And, Iqbal became an alumnus of the famous Brook’s Institute of Photography in California. Ever since, he dreamt of establishing a similar institute in India where world class photography could be taught. And LLA was born. One watches in awe as Iqbal begins his slideshow. Every slide is startlingly lifelike. There are spectacular shots taken at the Big Temple in Tanjore. Stunning pictures of the Nilgiris follow, and then the action moves to an oil rig. Somehow, Iqbal has made even that look like poetry. “Technique is only 50 per cent of the job,” he says. “Composition and creativity make up the other half — the one that separates a good picture from a brilliant one”. He should know. He has huge numbers of ad campaigns under his belt, and as many awards. Friends in the ad world like Prahalad Kakkar, Sharad Haksar and Atul Kasbekar think and speak highly of him.

But, to Iqbal, LLA apart, his real sense of achievement comes from other things. He recollects an encounter with a local photographer during a shoot in a fishing village in Maharashtra. The man requested he may be allowed to watch Iqbal work. When Iqbal got talking to him, he realised how the lack of basic knowledge and tips prevented photographers from smaller towns from improving their skills. The unavailability of books on photographic techniques in local languages, and the prohibitively expensive English ones, were other reasons. This moved Iqbal to bring out a book for entry-level photographers called Portrait and Function Photography in eight Indian languages.

Now, he also dreams of teaching photography to the tribal folk in the Nilgiris. “If only they knew to take photographs. It would make them money and boost responsible tourism. This is their environment, their world and they know the area inside out. How wonderful it would be if they could photograph, prepare slide shows and bring out post cards and so on for tourists. It is a feasible income-generating option, and a hitherto untapped livelihood, and I am hoping to get started on that project soon,” he says.

Iqbal firmly believes that photographs could be made to count for something. He speaks of how his pictures of garbage dumped in and around the Nilgiris, moved the people to adopt the ‘no plastic’ measure and a government order was passed banning plastic.

Through photographs, he has also campaigned for anti-AIDS movements, and several environment and welfare issues.

He wants his protégés who have passed out of LLA to carry on the good work. In order to show case the works of his students to the ad industry, Iqbal has organised exhibitions of their photographs in Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai and New Delhi.

His students have earned high praise from the gurus in the industry who believe that at LLA, the students get an education that is comparable to the best in the world.

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