Photography session: ‘Respect for your craft key to excellence’

Umair Ghani urged the amateur photographers to focus on stories they could tell through their photographs

LAHORE:

Artists should not let appreciation received on social media forums be their only motivation for work, regardless of the art form they’re associated with, veteran photographer Umair Ghani said on Saturday.

He was discussing his booklet Tasweer ka Dusra Rukh (Other Side of the Picture) with an audience comprising professional photographers.

It was third in a series of sessions, titled Nashist (gathering), on the art of photography. Gillani said that artists could not strive for excellence without inculcating in themselves respect for their craft. “In photography, there are certain rules that need to be adhered to. All photographers need to learn the basic concepts of the craft,” he says. Recalling how he rose to prominence among the photography enthusiasts, Ghani said he used to regularly post photoshopped and composite images on online photography forums. “The images were received well by visitors to these sites,” he said. He said later on he realised that there was much more to photography than producing beautiful [composite] images.  “My only motivation is editing images was that it helped me receive a lot of attention,” he said.

This realisation led him to move out of his comfort zone. He said he decided to focus on taking photographs only and stopped editing them through computer softwares.

Asking for advice for budding photographers, Ghani said knowledge of technical terms like ‘shutter speed’ or ‘aperture’ and an expensive camera were not enough to become a good photographer. He urged the amateur photographers to focus on stories they could tell through their photographs.

Regarding his booklet, he said it was a collection of articles on his experiences as a photographer and his views on the art of photography.

He said it was published under a Camera for People project and included selected essays written by world renowned photographers translated in Urdu. Speaking to The Express Tribune, Gillani said he had started the project with an intention to produce affordable self help books on photography. “Such books are not widely available in Urdu language. Amateur photographers stand to benefit from the availability of such books,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 1^st, 2016.