With Love From Taj (2012) – The First-Ever Fashion Shoot Inside the Taj Mahal | Pravin Talan
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| Rohit Bal’s couture photographed by Pravin Talan inside the Taj Mahal for With Love From Taj in 2012 — the first Indian fashion designer whose creation was photographed inside the monument. |
In 2012, photographer and filmmaker Pravin Talan created With Love From Taj, the first-ever fashion shoot inside the Taj Mahal—an ambitious fashion tribute that brought together some of India's leading designers to create original couture inspired by the monument.
Rohit Bal, Sabyasachi Mukherjee, Tarun Tahiliani, Anamika Khanna, Anand Kabra and Falguni & Shane Peacock interpreted the Taj Mahal through fashion. The tribute was presented through photography, an exclusive calendar, editorial photo spreads and a fashion film, with a coffee-table book forming part of the larger vision for With Love From Taj.
Fashion remained at the heart of With Love From Taj, while the visual exploration extended into the Taj Mahal's architecture, craftsmanship and artistic traditions—giving the fashion story its larger cultural and visual context.
With Love From Taj — The Fashion Film
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| Behind the scenes of With Love From Taj, 2012 — Pravin Talan photographing the first-ever fashion shoot inside the Taj Mahal. |
Fashion, Couture and the Taj Mahal
Each designer's creation suggested a different way of photographing the Taj Mahal, with locations and compositions chosen for the visual relationship they could create between the couture and the monument. Rohit Bal's grand, richly detailed and unmistakably Indian creation opened the fashion story, its almost regal presence naturally suited to the magnificence of the Taj Mahal.
Rohit Bal became the first Indian fashion designer whose couture was photographed inside the monument as part of With Love From Taj in 2012. Sabyasachi Mukherjee's creation was also photographed inside the Taj Mahal, bringing his distinctive Indian design vocabulary into conversation with its architecture and craftsmanship. For Anamika Khanna, the intricate detailing of her creation suggested a natural relationship with the exquisite marble jali work, allowing the intricacy of fashion and architecture to speak to each other within the same frame. Anand Kabra inspired a quieter, more poetic composition beside the central water channel, where the model gazes towards her own reflection with the Taj Mahal beyond her—a photograph built around symmetry, reflection and stillness.
Tarun Tahiliani's vibrant creation called for an entirely different mood. Photographed on the white sands across the Yamuna, the rich pink and gold couture stood dramatically against the pale Taj Mahal; with a traditional musician seated alongside her, the composition carried a distinctly Indian vibrancy and an almost regal quality. The Falguni & Shane Peacock chapter explored the landscape behind the Taj Mahal from across the Yamuna River, allowing their dramatic couture to interact with the monument from a different perspective. Together, the photographs were never intended to make every designer look the same or place every creation in the same setting. The idea was to find a distinct visual expression for each creation while allowing the Taj Mahal to retain its own identity, dignity and extraordinary presence.
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| Anand Kabra's elegant drapes reflect the romance and symmetry of the Taj Mahal. |
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| One of the most widely published photographs from With Love From Taj — Rohit Bal’s couture photographed by Pravin Talan against the Taj Mahal, 2012. |
India's Leading Fashion Designers on the Taj Mahal
The designers who came together for With Love From Taj in 2012 each created an original interpretation inspired by the Taj Mahal. In their own words, they spoke of the monument's love, luxury, craftsmanship, symmetry, intricacy and grandeur—the very inspirations that came together in this landmark fashion tribute.
Rohit Bal
"A confluence of love, art and craftsmanship, the ivory monument has been my inspiration for a long time, subtly visible to a keen eye for couture."
Sabyasachi Mukherjee
"For me the Taj Mahal is an epitome of love and luxury—the two main ingredients that drive any design house towards perfection."
Tarun Tahiliani
"What fascinates me is the intricacy of the inlay work inside the Taj. I think it's one of the finest in the world."
Anand Kabra
"A constant reminder of the beauty, talent and expertise that we have to offer. A declaration of love. How can one not be inspired by the Taj?"
Falguni & Shane Peacock
“Taj Mahal is unparalleled in its exquisite form and grandeur, in its intricate fine inlay work and extraordinary detailing. To be at Taj Mahal is a humbling and inspiring experience for any artist in the world.”
Anamika Khanna
"The cutwork, the mosaic patterning, the symmetry and the sheer magnitude are to be revered."
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| Sabyasachi Mukherjee draws inspiration from India's greatest monument of love. |
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| Tarun Tahiliani's vibrant couture photographed across the Yamuna, bringing Indian colour and a regal quality to the landscape of the Taj Mahal. |
A Fashion Tribute to the World's Most Beautiful Monument
Photographer and filmmaker Pravin Talan conceived With Love From Taj in 2012 as an ambitious fashion tribute to one of the world's most photographed monuments. The project brought together some of India's leading fashion designers and included the first-ever fashion shoot inside the Taj Mahal.
Rohit Bal, Tarun Tahiliani, Sabyasachi Mukherjee, Falguni & Shane Peacock, Anamika Khanna and Anand Kabra created original interpretations inspired by the Taj Mahal. The project was presented through photography, an exclusive calendar, editorial photo spreads and a fashion film, with a coffee-table book forming part of the larger vision for With Love From Taj.
More than simply placing couture against a famous backdrop, the project explored the Taj Mahal itself as a source of inspiration. Its symmetry, intricate marble craftsmanship, changing moods of light, reflections and architectural details became part of the visual language of the fashion story.
Months of research and repeated visits went into studying the monument—its light at different hours, its architecture and craftsmanship, the movement of visitors and the possibilities of perspectives rarely associated with fashion photography. Using a wide range of lenses, carefully planned compositions and predominantly available natural light, Pravin Talan sought to create a different relationship between the monument, the couture and the people within each frame.
Throughout the shoot, great care was taken to preserve the aesthetics and dignity of the Taj Mahal itself. The monument was never treated merely as a backdrop; every composition was carefully considered to maintain a visual balance between the architecture, the couture and the models, allowing each to complement the other without overwhelming the character of the monument.
Each photograph tells a different story. In one frame, a woman draped in an Anand Kabra creation gazes into the reflection of the Taj Mahal at the central water channel. In another, a model wearing an Anamika Khanna creation walks alongside the monument's intricate marble jali. Elsewhere, couture is photographed across the Yamuna, allowing the Taj Mahal to emerge from the landscape that surrounds it. Every image reveals a different mood, composition and interpretation of the monument.
Over the years, With Love From Taj received widespread appreciation and was featured in leading publications across India and abroad.
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| Anamika Khanna's contemporary vision finds harmony with Mughal architecture. |
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| Falguni & Shane Peacock couture photographed by Pravin Talan behind the Taj Mahal, across the Yamuna River, for With Love From Taj, 2012. |
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| Fashion and heritage come together in one of the most ambitious shoots ever undertaken at the Taj Mahal. |
Photographing the World's Most Photographed Monument
The greatest challenge in creating With Love From Taj was finding a way to photograph the world's most photographed monument in a manner that felt original.
Every day, thousands of visitors photograph the Taj Mahal. The objective was not simply to photograph the monument again, but to discover perspectives, compositions and visual relationships that could offer a different way of seeing something already familiar to the world.
Pravin Talan studied thousands of photographs of the Taj Mahal, explored lesser-seen viewpoints and made nearly ten visits to the monument before the final visual plan took shape. Eventually, around fifteen carefully considered compositions were identified—each distinct from the other and each designed to work within the realities of a monument visited by thousands of people every day.
One of the greatest technical challenges was working almost entirely with available natural light. Photographing brilliant white marble while simultaneously retaining the texture, colour and intricate detail of elaborate designer garments required precise exposure, careful timing and meticulous planning.
The challenge was also one of scale. At times the Taj Mahal had to dominate the frame; elsewhere, its architectural details, reflections or distant silhouette became part of the composition. The intention was never to compete with the monument, but to allow fashion and architecture to exist naturally within the same visual language.
The guidance and support extended by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) and Uttar Pradesh Tourism proved invaluable throughout the project. As the understanding of the monument deepened, so did the responsibility of doing justice to one of the world's greatest architectural masterpieces.
With Love From Taj ultimately became more than a collection of individual photographs. It was a soulful fashion inspiration story. Created in 2012, it brought together fashion, photography, film, architecture and Indian craftsmanship in a single visual narrative—and created a lasting record of the first-ever fashion shoot inside the Taj Mahal.
A tribute to India's finest designers and one of the world's greatest architectural wonders.
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| A tribute to India's finest designers and one of the world's greatest architectural wonders. |
Why He Never Returned for Another Fashion Shoot Inside the Taj Mahal
Over the years, Pravin Talan has often been asked why, after With Love From Taj, he never returned to photograph another fashion project inside the Taj Mahal. Despite subsequent opportunities, including proposals from international brands, designers and magazines, he chose not to turn the extraordinary access of 2012 into a recurring commercial opportunity.
For Talan, the reason was deeply personal:
“I grew up in the shadow of the Taj Mahal in Agra. I watched it across seasons and across years. I learned from it. I loved it. For me, it was never just a monument. It was poetry. It was love. It was grandeur. It was engineering and architecture. At different stages of my life, it meant different things to me.
Perhaps that is also why I never wanted to turn the access we received into a recurring commercial opportunity. After With Love From Taj, there were opportunities to return, including proposals involving considerable budgets. I chose not to.
I did not want to repeatedly use the Taj Mahal as a commercial backdrop for different brands simply because I had once found a way to make such an extraordinary project possible.
With Love From Taj came from the heart. It was conceived with a certain innocence and created with a certain soul. Once it was done, I wanted to leave it with the dignity with which it had been created.
Some things become more meaningful because you don't keep repeating them.”
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| The Taj Mahal has a different story to tell every time. Photography: Pravin Talan. |
Media Coverage & Recognition
The historic nature of With Love From Taj and the first-ever fashion shoot inside the Taj Mahal received widespread media attention in 2012. The project was featured across leading newspapers, magazines, fashion and photography publications in India and abroad, documenting both the unprecedented access to the monument and the creative collaboration with some of India's leading fashion designers.
Contemporary Coverage from 2012
Published reports from 2012 provide an independent contemporary record of With Love From Taj and its creation at the Taj Mahal.
India Today — “A Tribute to the Taj” — June 27, 2012
https://www.indiatoday.in/lifestyle/photo/a-tribute-taj-367823-2012-06-27/7
Hindustan Times — “Now see the Taj Mahal in calendar format” — May 14, 2012
https://www.hindustantimes.com/art-and-culture/now-see-the-taj-mahal-in-calendar-format/story-2ebSpnqTokGRUuqNEqOJUJ.html
The Asian Fashion Journal — “With Love From Taj by Pravin Talan” — July 10, 2012
https://theasianfashionjournal.com/2012/07/10/with-love-from-taj-by-pravin-talan/
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| The Asian Age highlighted the making of With Love From Taj. |
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Mail Today featured the project as a landmark artistic tribute to the Taj Mahal.
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India Today featured the project across multiple pages.
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Hindustan Times covered the historic permissions granted for the project.
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Hindustan Times highlighted the national launch of With Love From Taj.
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Regional media widely celebrated the project's artistic vision.
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| The Asian Fashion Journal featured With Love From Taj as a unique fusion of fashion, heritage and photography. |
The project also received coverage across numerous newspapers, magazines, photography journals, television features and digital platforms, helping establish With Love From Taj as one of the most widely published visual tributes to the Taj Mahal.
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