June 14, 2020
Author: Ipsita Sarkar
“I found a beautiful background of a blue wall in Rajasthan. I was waiting for a brush to paint with it. And then I found one. I picked up my camera. I began to paint.”… Suhail Mir.
At 7 PM on 14th June, 2020, it was lights, camera and action time!
No, it wasn’t the set of a film shoot. But yes, it was indeed the virtual set of a visual storytelling webinar, teaching the finer nuances of photography to the student youth of the Kashmir Educational Initiative (KEI). The teacher was Mr Suhail Mir, a qualified attorney and a veteran photographer, the founder of the Mir Academy of Photography in the United States.
The amateur youth photographers excitedly waited for the master photographer to share his sound wisdom and practical knowledge from the field. The former had come prepared with their photographs capturing the various moods and moments of Kashmir- from a lonely bike parked on the corner of the road on a rainy night to a flight of pigeons having an afternoon rendezvous on a sloping rooftop of Srinagar to two little schoolgirls crouching and mischievously conspiring under their umbrellas in a shikara (houseboat) on Dal Lake – each picture had a story worth a thousand words and a million emotions to share.
While doling out valuable feedback to the students on their photographs, Suhail spoke about experimenting with the lighting and the angles, colours and the patterns, to get the perfect shot, no matter how many takes that would require. He emphasized on blending the creativity and emotions of storytelling with the science of physics to get that picture perfect shot.
In the 2-hour session that he conducted, he smoothly divided his photography theories frame by frame. Indeed, photography was another form of storytelling, words translated into still images. His lesson too was like a written story with several grammatical elements fused- how to get the characters and plots right, spacing and punctuations in facial expressions, structuring the background and foreground and so on.
The first frame of his theory session was about observing and portraying a subject from different angles, giving the object or the person a unique perspective each time. He gave the example of the Taj Mahal and how it could be picturized in different ways- from its own reflection in the water to a sideward view from a tombstone, instead of remaining fixated on a standard frontal view.
The second frame revealed the main role played by the background and how it could make or break the story depicted in the photograph. Whether it was the clutter of items on a table behind or the colour of the flowers in the garden on a fine spring morning, each element in the background had the power to shift the storytelling narrative.
The third frame was all about the power of people- the wide-eyed wonder of a child engrossed in watching a magical show to a friendly welcoming glance of a young woman hosting a party. Suhail insisted on staying patient and observant while capturing people in their spontaneous actions, motives, body language and expressions. It added to the mystery of photographic storytelling, with the viewers guessing what each character could be up to when they saw the final photograph.
The fourth frame was mathematical in nature. It came packed with the Rule of Thirds formula, by which a photo could be spatially adjusted in a 9-square grid, presenting it in the most effective manner.
Finally, Suhail encouraged the students to make use of the lockdown time and get into action mode with their cameras, outdoors or indoors. He said that it was more important to be adventurous and experimental with the camera, make mistakes rather than worry about the final and perfect shot and not trying at all. He recalled, “There would be days when I would be out from early morning to late in the evening and return home with a thousand pictures. Yet, I would not finalize on a single one of them, as I felt that they could be better.”
The students realized the importance of being passionate about a hobby, especially when Suhail revealed how he evolved from a amateur photographer to a professional one. He recalled, “In the schools in the United States, parents are much involved in their children’s schooling and often share their skills with the children, teachers and parents. In 2015, I happily volunteered to teach photography in the school where my children were studying. It was one of my best moves ever. One thing led to the other and I started a photography academy, Mir Academy to educate youngsters on the art of photography.”
Rabiah Bashir, a KEI student, inspired by Suhail’s teachings, aims to combine her newfound love for photography with her inclination in Physics. “I am a Physics student. I’m now improving in adjusting my camera lens and focus. I wish to click the perfect sunset picture with the right hue of red and the optimum distance covered by the Sun rays. I hear that a solar eclipse is round the corner too! I hope to get some perfect astro-physics shots during this natural phenomenon!”
Much to the delight of the youth gathered at the webinar, Suhail offered to start a KEI Photography Academy with regular sessions to be conducted. The students couldn’t be happier with the announcement and have already started doing their photography ‘homework’ for the next, ie the third session in the series!