Photographing Virat Kohli and Shikhar Dhawan

 

Virat Kohli — the unmistakable aura. Photography: Pravin Talan

There is one thing you learn very quickly when photographing people who are larger than life: time is a luxury you are unlikely to have.

I photographed Virat Kohli and Shikhar Dhawan on the same day for an MRF campaign. Both were already among the biggest names in Indian cricket, their schedules were extremely tight, and understandably, the agency handling the shoot was nervous.

They kept asking me exactly how I was going to light them, what I planned to shoot and how everything would work within the limited time available.

I remember telling them politely not to get too anxious about it.

Of course, a photographer has to do the homework before a shoot like this. The equipment has to be ready, the lighting tested and the requirements of the campaign absolutely clear. We would test things on assistants beforehand so that we weren't discovering our equipment or basic lighting when the cricketers walked in.

But there is only so much I want to decide before I meet the person who is going to stand in front of my camera.

Give me the first five minutes with them. Let me see how they respond, how comfortable they are and what comes naturally to them. Then I know where I can take the photographs.

First, earn their trust

Over the years, I have developed a fairly simple approach to shoots like these.

Start with the safest and easiest photograph — something you know will work.

Keep the lighting simple and let the person do what comes naturally to them, because that is usually when they are most at ease and look their best. Get a strong photograph quickly rather than spending those first few minutes fiddling with lights and compositions and making the person wonder what exactly is happening.

Once they see that you understand them, that you are not wasting their time and that the photographs are working, they begin to trust you.

Then you can start moving.

You can change the lighting, change the composition, push the photograph further and perhaps eventually attempt something neither you nor the person had planned when the shoot began.

I think photographers can sometimes fall into the trap of having a famous person in front of them and immediately thinking, Now I must create a unique photograph that establishes me as a great creative photographer.

That is not why I am there.

I am there because somebody has trusted me to deliver the best possible photographs within the limited time available. First give the client what the client needs. First make the person in front of your camera comfortable and give them photographs they are happy with.

Everything else comes later.

Virat Kohli — the person behind the aura

Virat Kohli had an unmistakable aura.

I remember senior people from the agency and MRF wanting his autograph, some for their children, but somehow hesitating to approach him. Virat Kohli's name and presence had become so formidable that people seemed almost intimidated by the thought of simply walking up and asking.

Virat Kohli — behind the aura, a warm simplicity. Photography: Pravin Talan

 At one point, I realised that a very senior gentleman particularly wanted an autograph for his daughter.

I simply walked up to Virat Kohli and said, “Please give a couple of autographs.”

Virat Kohli immediately obliged, with a warm smile. There was no fuss and none of the distance that everyone around him seemed to have imagined.

It stayed with me.

Sometimes the aura surrounding a famous person becomes far larger and more daunting than the person himself. Beneath that enormous public image can be someone remarkably simple and human, who understands what a small gesture can mean to a fan.

Let Shikhar Dhawan be Shikhar Dhawan

Shikhar Dhawan is someone I have always really liked — both on the cricket field and off it. He forever seems to be in high spirits, never appearing too stressed by anything.

Shikhar Dhawan — the unmistakable attitude. Photography: Pravin Talan 

During the shoot, however, someone from the team would repeatedly walk up to Shikhar Dhawan and suggest how the bat should be held so that the logo remained visible. I could sense that the repeated interruptions were beginning to annoy him and affect the natural flow of the shoot.

Because this was a commercial campaign, naturally there were certain requirements. The brand on the bat had to be visible in some of the photographs.

At that point, it becomes the photographer's responsibility to protect the space between the camera and the person being photographed.

I took the gentleman aside and told him, “He is a master of his craft. Let him do what comes naturally to him. You need five photographs with the branding right — I'll get them for you.”

The interruptions stopped.

Shikhar Dhawan had noticed that I had stepped away and spoken to the person. When we resumed, he asked me what he should do.

Being Shikhar Dhawan. Photography: Pravin Talan

 I told him, “Whatever you want to do.”

And that was it.

He moved naturally with the bat, I photographed him, we got what the campaign required and we finished very quickly.

Shikhar Dhawan — in his element. Photography: Pravin Talan

Something had also changed between photographer and subject. There was an immediate sense of trust.

When we had finished everything required for the campaign, I told him that I had something else in mind — a photograph that had nothing to do with the advertising brief, something more creative that I wanted to make for him.

He was excited by the idea.

We went on to create another portrait, with Shikhar Dhawan holding up his hand and a streak of light falling across his face, hand and forearm. It was completely different from the campaign photographs, and everybody loved it.

I don't think that photograph would have happened if I had begun the shoot by trying to create it.

First came the photographs we were there to make. Then came comfort. Then trust.

Creativity came afterwards.