Unseen clicks: Visually-impaired photographer wins gold for portrait of Katrina
It is hard to believe that Katrina Kaif’s photos for a famous soap ad were shot by a visually-impaired photographer.
Mumbai-based visually-impaired photographer Bhavesh Patel was the star at the shoot last year and this month, the Lux perfume portrait of Katrina by Bhavesh won Gold at the Goafest ABBY Awards.
Asked how he managed the amazing feat, he says, “I’ve been taught by Partho Bhowmick, founder of Beyond Sight Foundation (BSF). He is the man who introduced me to the company.”
He adds, “For the first time in the world a visually-impaired photographer was engaged in a commercial shoot. The director of the ad, Sunil Sippy, was very inspiring. Being a photographer himself, he was very encouraging. I could only finish my shoot because of him.”
Bhavesh photographs without being able to see what he is taking. “The process of shooting the ad was very challenging for me. There was this sound of a machine, which was generating air to flow on Katrina’s gown. I also had to hear her voice to capture her. So I had to listen to her voice and simultaneously filter the sound of the machine, and concentrate only on her. I was scared — this was my first big assignment, what if I failed? Also, I had to shoot her from different angles, listen to the sound of her fabric and click.”
How does it feel to be able to do certain things better than those with vision? He says, “While I was shooting the director told me that there were other professional photographers who were also capturing Katrina as they didn’t want the ad to go wrong. If my photos did not work, they would use photos from others. But after the final shoot, the director came to me and said my photos were brilliant, better than the sighted professionals. That was an amazing compliment. To be able to obtain something that everybody praises… it’s very satisfying.”
Bhavesh, who works as a software tester at an IT company, a social enterprise that develops technology for the disabled, in Mumbai first attended Bhowmick’s workshop in 2010, while studying at St Xavier’s College. He says, “That was the first time I heard that a visually impaired person could take up photography.”
