Veteran lenseye Avinash Pasricha tells Karan Bhardwaj that beautiful moments keep him going. But he is unhappy that his vast archive of photographs is being neglected
For over 50 years, the celebrated lensman Avinash Pasricha has engaged himself in capturing the most intricate, yet beautiful swirls of pioneering dance and music artists. Owing to his contribution to the world of photography many have followed suit. But the septuagenarian maestro, who continues to click hundreds of images from a single assignment even today, is perplexed about archiving his own work. Asked the whereabouts of his vast body of images, the photographer said heavily, “I don’t know!’ And after a brief pause, “You know those who want the best photographs of our times, for any purpose, come to me, rather than going to Sangeet Natak Akademi. They know where quality lies. Somehow the Akademi is unable to fulfill the specific demands of people. The institution stores most works, pictures or paintings of the artists who do not exist anymore. For unusual or interesting rare pics, they approach me.”
And documentation of his own workIJ “I do it alone. They are lying unorganised everywhere at home. I maintain registers to index them, but it takes time. Digital technology has made it easier. But how much can I do! Most of it (negatives) are resting. I am afraid of what might happen later. There’s also my negligence. I started documenting my own work chronologically later. By the time I realised that, I had done much of my work,” he lamented. Has he digitalised most of his workIJ “No! That’s my biggest worry! Ab jo hoga vo hoga, mai kya kar sakta hun (What is bound to happen will definitely happen. What can I doIJ)”
Pasricha was born in a family of photographers in 1936. He worked as photo editor of Span magazine. He dedicated his life to capture the motions of dance and music pioneers of his time.
During the conversation, although he avoided to talk about the government and its apathy towards photography, he stated that the contribution of photographers has always been undervalued. “We are taken for granted. Forget about recognition and awards, even newspapers and magazines don’t give us credit. I fought big fights with many publications over this issue. I won during several occasions and they started giving us recognition. But overall things haven’t changed,” he regretted.
However, he went on, “Earlier, they would say, ‘Oye! photo kheech de!’ (Hey! Click the damn photograph) But now, this sick mentality is shifting. Photographers and their works are respected. They charge big money for a single assignment. It feels good,” he smiled. What drives himIJ “A dancer feels great to perform. An artist wants to paint all his life. Similarly, it is my passion to capture the essence of beautiful moments that keep me going. In dance, photographs depict motion. I often tell people dance comes from eyes. The expression is the most important aspect that makes or breaks the performance as well as the photograph,” he commented.