when the wild world was a perfect picture

I remember  hearing an exchange  of viewpoints on what photography should be, in Delhi's National Gallery of Modern Art.   T. Kashinath, the doyen of Pictorialism in India and then the big boss of the Government's Photo Division  insisted that "a photograph that was not posed and not composed  should not be exposed"  The younger Raghu Rai shot back with  "the pretty pictures we have seen should all be put into a cold srorage and the electricity  shut off".  He was then the cheif photogrpaher with The Statesman in Delhi and the recipient of India's first Padma Shri awarded to a photographer.  

Perumal is a part of  the 'Pictorialist' tradition of Indian Photography. Luckily his pictures were not dumped into a cold storage without electricity. 


“Some of the photographs I saw were the kind we could not even dream of taking. Technology has given young photographers a great advantage.” Perumal recalls the pre-digital days and the laborious rituals of taking a photograph. “It cost a lot, and procuring a roll of film was as difficult as it was expensive. So, I would always put a lot of thought behind each photograph I took. Old habits die hard; even now, that thrift comes in the way. Maybe, that is why I am not such a prolific photographer,” he smiles.


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