A Month 6 Artists and a Book

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This book is dedicated to Jyoti and Mannat - the two loves of my life.

My sincere thanks to Jamal, Juise, Rokeya, Smita, Ujwala & Zeba for making thispossible.

Special thanks to Ujwala for all the support she has given me on this SoFoBoMo project right from day-oneto day-last. The back-cover photograph and book cover design are by Ujwala.


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4Its been a bit like a roller-coaster ride, this SoFoBoMo [Solo Photo Book Month] project, fast, exciting and enjoyable! The ideaof selecting a specific subject, determining a photographic approach, creating a schedule that would fit exactly a month or less[and sticking to it!] and then going out and doing it was appealing to me. Announcing my intent to participate in SoFoBoMo tothe others in the group, meant there was no turning back. Intent to participate was tantamount to intention to complete. I likedthe challenge it offered. Not to prove anything to anyone else, but to participate in a project and process that would give meinsights into an area of photography I'd never attempted before - to make images specifically for producing a book.

I considered several themes. The ones based on subjects in nature were "easy". I then considered doing a series of photographsbased on reflections and silhouettes, interesting but not enough! Street photography crossed my mind, soon dispelled becausecandid photography does not interest me much. Faces: that is what I wanted to do - but who and how many, and what wouldbe the common thread between a series of faces? I like the intimacy and direct engagement of portrait photography - not theset-up studio style portrait photography - but direct one-to-one. So here was my opportunity - I'd always wanted to photographartists, or craftsmen, or sculptors or weavers at work. I called up my artist friends and explained what SoFoBoMo was all aboutand what I was planning to do. Each one of them was happy to participate, and all I had to do next was setup schedules for thephoto sessions. Cake walk!

The idea was to photograph these artists at work, with the least amount of "set-up", and to create a sort of working portfoliosection of each. Some people are less conscious of the camera than others, so I had to use a different approach for each. I triedto capture the persona and the essence of the personality rather than make pretty photos. I hope that I was able to convey this,and some of the intimacy, that develops between the photographer and the "photographee!".

A bit of technical background -All images were made with a Nikon D2Hs DSLR and 3 lenses: mainly a Nikkor 17-55mm DX, Nikkor 50mm f/1.8 and aNikkor 85mm f/1.8. Some shots were done with the Nikkor 18-200 VR, Sigma 10-20mm and a LensBaby - but just a few. Myinitial plan was to try use just one prime lens - either the 50mm or the 85mm - or at most to use just these two primes. A nicethought, and very noble, but very limiting! I used artificial light for many shots: two and on occasion three Nikon SB800

strobes off-camera. All images were shot in RAW format and processed in Adobe Photoshop CS3 to convert them toTIFF/TIF files. Minimal adjustments were made during the processing stage, which also meant that I scrapped and culledmany [good!] images that might have required any extensive post-processing beyond 10 minutes per image. I am not adverse toextensive post-processing for images that I know will make a nice end-product, but there were time constraints involved hereand I wanted to keep a level of similarity between all images in this book.

I do hope you enjoy this book.

Anil Advani


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5WHAT is SoFoBoMo all about anyway?

I quote from Paul Butzi, the person who started it all:

I t' s call ed SoFoBoM o because i t' s fun to say, and because i t' s easier t o type than N aSoPhoBoM o. I dropped the N a part because i t' s clear at t he outset t hat i t' sinvolving photographers fr om around the worl d, and thus it really ought to be I nSoFoBoM o, but again that' s just too much. SoFoBoM o is just r ight.

W hen is Solo Photo Book M onth?

Because we'r e just gett ing started, we're doing a fuz zy month. You should pick a 31 day peri od that start s no earl ier than A pri l 1, 2008 , and ends no later thanM ay 31, 20 08. I n other words, i f you start on A pril 1, your month ends on M ay 1. I f you start on A pril 15, your month ends on M ay 15. H aving everyone doit ex actl y at the same ti me would be nice, because i t would al low for max imum sense of camaraderie, but everyone has dif ferent schedules and thi s fuzzy monthstart / fini sh plan buys some of that without the inflex ibi li ty.

H ow many photos do I need for t he book ?

35 - l arge enough that i t can' t be flung together fr om a single afternoon's photography, short enough to be doable. I understand that for some folk s 35 i s big number.For the folk s who have been runni ng photo-a-day photoblogs, i t' s chi ld' s play. 35 i s a reasonable compromise. I t' s the number of photos in the book T he G ift ofthe Commonplace, a book of photographs by Rut h Bernhard. I f it 's long enough for R uth B ernhard, i t' s long enough for us. U PD A T E : You can have more that35 photos if you li k e.


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SAIDUL HAQUE JUISEpainter ~ puppet maker ~ paper-folding mask maker.

Juise has a special and unique technique of folding paper to create three dimentional masks.

This tecnique was developed by Juise after studying old traditional mask making methodsfrom the region. He completed his post-graduate studies in Fine Arts from DhakaUniversity and went on to assist a famous Bangladeshi pupet maker. His puppets and maskshave delighted children and adults alike. One sees many Stage-sets, TV and Theatre setsproduced by Juise, and each one of these is a unique piece. The Bangldeshi version ofSesame Street, called "Sisimpur", and Juise was the creator of the sets for this TV series. Hisrepertoire includes mask making, paper folding, painting, puppets, muppets and stage-sets.His work often reflects his strong political and social statements.


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SaidulHaque

Juise


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8 I wanted to get a portrait ofJuise against one of his paperand sand sculptures whichwere hanging in that room.Juise could not keep astraight face and we had a lotof laughs trying to set-up the

lights and get him intoposition. He kept lookingskyward and joked abouthow artists are supposed tohave a vacant far-away lookin their eyes for portraits.LOL! I gave up for the day.


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Juise was making the propsfor a play byD hak a Stagecalled "Little Shop OfHorrors". Some were smalland this one was massive.

The separate articulated arms

with each finger jointmovable separately was lyingin the shed. Amazingcreativity!


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Detail from one of Juise's massive paper-folded masks.


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Layers of fabric, partly painted, cut-out and ripped to create the bird.


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Work in progress.


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SaidulHaque

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Juise's workbench. We had a power outage [one of several that we have every day], and I had just stepped into hissmall office to setup 2 SB800s to take some photos of the workspace. It went completely dark in there when the

power went out, I was able to focus on something, cant remember what, and took 4 frames in quick succession.This one was fairly in-focus.


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Juise working on a set of birds - these sculptures are made from paper mostly. He has a unique and specialtechnique that he has developed. All his paper masks are folded-paper even though these might appear to bepapier-mch to the uninitiated.


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SaidulHaque

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FAREHA ZEBA.Painter and Art-teacher.

Zeba, as she is fondly called by all friends, has a quiet demenour but paints with great

authority and her works convey powerful social messages. The paintings shown in this bookare painted on ply-wood, which is layered to create a 3 dimentional surface - the paintingextends from layer to layer and this adds to the uniquness of her work. Zeba and herhusband Juise run a art school at their home studio for children from the age of 3 as well asfor adults. Their sprawling garden also reflects their creativity, with plant holders logs of

wood carved and planted with exotic plants... their studio extends into all living spaces intheir home.


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eba


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Srivastava


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The paining in progress - turned straight side up now and I begin to see what Smita was getting at.


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Ujwala Prabhu.Painter.

Ujwala devotes most of her time to painting. A prolific artist. Painter of portraits and

"people going about their lives". Creates portraits that convey more that what meets the eye.She paints with a wide variety of media and paints on almost any surface that is paintable oravailable to her the moment a creative urge come on! One of the most active bloggers Iknow. She has several art blogs and I've lost count of how many! Ujwala is one of theeasiest persons to trace on the internet, just search "Ujwala + Art" and you'd get 100's oflistings.


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Evening on the balcony or her lovely home facing Baridhara Lake, Dhaka.

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"Ekla Cholo Re"

W hen there is a heavy load to bear, someti mes you need to walk alone.I nspir ed and named after T agores beauti ful, nationali sti c poem, E k la cholo re . I t i s an ex hortati on tofoll ow your heart, alone if necessary.

- Ujwala

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"Paan khaye" from her Ashulia series.

"Nothing comes from Nothing"


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Nothing comes from NothingN othing ever could . or so I fir mlybeli eved. A ctual ly, that i s a bit of anex aggerat ion. I felt that I needed tolearn a l ot more before I could just sitin fr ont of a blank canvas and start t opaint. I was given two chall enges by myfriend Sangeeta during my recent visit.

One was to mak e an abstr act piece andthe second was to paint somethingwithout a reference. This star ted out asmy attempt at mak ing an abstr act pieceand then before I k new it it had tur nedin to a face or at l east what I thoughtresembled a face . A cryl ic on canvas.M ade the back ground fi rst wi th alargish bristle brush and the face with a

palette kni fe.Ujwala.

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"Stop! or else" from her Dhaka street series.


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Rokeya Sultana.Painter.

Another very well known painter from Bangladesh, both here and internationally. She paintswith various mediums, acrylic and tempra figure high on the list. Her work is Bold andBrilliant. Her colors are unique because she creates her own by mixing various naturalpigments and commercially prepared paints. Rokeya's unique colors and hues and theblending of abstract design with reality are what makes her work so striking and special.


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Rokeya showing me her


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Rokeya showing me hersketches. Most of these aredone while she travels.Portraits done of interestingfaces, and then she gets theperson to write their nameon the sketch.

Rokeya working on a large


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Rokeya working on a largecanvas, using her very uniquetechniquies. The pool ofwater on the painting is howshe creates those wonderfultextures and details in herwork. Pigments, tempra,acrylic color are added topools of water and then shewill use various methods tomake the pool dry up eitherslowly or quite fastdepending on what effectshe wants. Absolutlyamazing. She can create anyshape and texture she wantsand has complete control

over the outcome. Nothing is"by chance".

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Showing me how and why.

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Jamal Ahmed.Painter. And Professor of Art at the College of Art, Dhaka University.

Jamal Ahmed is a well known Bangladeshi painter, both in his home country andinternationally. Jamal is also a Professor at the College of Fine Arts at Dhaka University. He

is easy-going and soft-spoken, which belies his high-energy style of working and the powerof his work.

I was amazed at the speed at which he sketches, and most of all that he hardly looks at thepaper or canvas while sketching. His eyes are on his subject and his hand is working on thepaper..like a stylus being fed information from a sensor or lens Eye - Brain - Hand.


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An absolutely fantastic day! I


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had thought we'd do a fastpaced one or an hour andhalf session at his studio. Itturned out that Jamal sets hisown pace and it will take itscourse. Not that he is slowpaced - he is a highly

energetic person. So westarted out by talking aboutvarious stuff... several of hisfriends drop-by..... We thenhead out to the University ofFine Arts. Jamal is a ArtProfessor there. Met hisstudents. Photographedthem at work. We go back to

Jamal's studio and then we sitdown to a home-cookedlavish Bengali meal.Delicious! Jamal tells me hehas a special treat for me.One of Jamal's regular modelwho was at the Art College isgoing to be coming back tohis studio - Jamal is going tosketch him while I

photograph the proceedings.Wow!


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Pagla Baba is seated on the floor and is asked to place his head in the crook of his arms. And then Jamal goes towork - full of energy, it looks like a movie being run at double speed!

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COPYRIGHT NOTICE:All i i d i hi b k i h A il Ad i All i l i d h i h b i d


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All images contained in this book are copyright Anil Advani. All material contained herewith may not be copied,altered or distributed in anyway without the written permission of Anil Advani.

Published by Anil Advani15th May 2008Dhaka, Bangladesh

All Rights Reserved

COPYRIGHT 2008

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CONTENTS


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Dedication and thanks 2Introduction 4

What is SoFoBoMo? 5Saidul Haque Juise 6Fareha Zeba 24

Smita Srivastava 32Ujwala Prabhu 42Rokeya Sultana 52

Jamal Ahmed 64


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This book is the result of stumbling upon Paul Butzi's idea for SoFoBoMo in January this year - orSolo Photo Book Month - amateur and professional photographers would choose a one monthperiod starting no earlier than 1st April 2008 and ending no later than 31st May 2008, photographno less than 35 images, and create a book. The choice of subject matter and medium was left opento the photographer. The first part was relatively easy taking photographs. The second part oforganizing these and putting them in a sequence so that you, the viewer, would get a sense of what Iintend to convey took a while but I got there. I say, viewer and not reader because this book isto be published online and a printed copy is unlikely. At least not for this project. Having finishedthis exciting project, I'd now like to make a few more . Subject matter for a photo books areabundant in Bangladesh. Rivers; Boats; Boat-gypsies, Tribal communities, Traditional weavers;Historical buildings, temples, mosques and havalis; this list goes onComing back to the thirdpart of producing this book: Writing the text. Now, this turned out to be the hardest part of all !And, finally the technical issues involved in making of such a book a learning experience with asteep but quick curve.

I've always wanted to photograph my art ist friends, especially while they are at work doing whatthey do. For this SoFoBoMo project I called on four Bangladeshi artists and two Indian art istswho are currently living in Dhaka, and was able to sweet-talk them in participating: Fareha Zeba -Saidul Haque Juise - Smita Srivastava - Ujwala Prabhu - Rokeya Sultana - Jamal Ahmed.

Hope you enjoy this book as much as I did the process of making it!

A Month 6 Artists and a Book

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