CIRCLE-24 member: Ashvin GATHA - Switzerland
C-24 exhibitions with the work of Ashvin GATHA:
living-colour-ashvin-gatha-mns.html
for-sale-photography-finland.html
mns-photocolour-photography-for-sale.html
denmark-herning-other-way-of-seeing.html
circle-24-kodak-gallery-tokyo.html
photography-for-sale-galerie-24-den-haag.html
ashvin-gatha-living-color-galerie-24.html
denmark-herning-other-way-of-seeing.html
the-other-way-of-seeing-volkmus-rdam.html
living-colour-ashvin-gatha-mns.html
for-sale-photography-finland.html
mns-photocolour-photography-for-sale.html
denmark-herning-other-way-of-seeing.html
circle-24-kodak-gallery-tokyo.html
photography-for-sale-galerie-24-den-haag.html
ashvin-gatha-living-color-galerie-24.html
denmark-herning-other-way-of-seeing.html
the-other-way-of-seeing-volkmus-rdam.html
05-12-1941 - 17-03-2015
Some exerpts from professional photography interviews Ashvin Gatha gave to The Indian Express, The Sunday Times of India, The Afternoon Despath & Courier, The Illustrated Weekly of India, and Agfa Magazine.
The 'Living Color' exhibition reflects the spirit behind Ashvin Gatha's work. Said Henri Cartier-Bresson, the famous French black-and white Magnum photographer, visiting his show in Paris: "Thank you Ashvin, for making me like colour again."
It was Indira Gandhi who remarked to him once: "You may stay abroad, but come to India and take it a little away with you, for the world to see."
On Advertising Photography:
"I create images that explain the ultimate relationship between my client and the consumer. It is not what the client thinks of the consumer but the other way round. So it's a little bit more than an ordinairy assignment. We have to understand the product and the company in a larger sense -to the pre-shooting and shooting exercise, my client is the person who will buy the beer bottle I'm shooting and not the fellow who pays my cheque."
"I create images that explain the ultimate relationship between my client and the consumer. It is not what the client thinks of the consumer but the other way round. So it's a little bit more than an ordinairy assignment. We have to understand the product and the company in a larger sense -to the pre-shooting and shooting exercise, my client is the person who will buy the beer bottle I'm shooting and not the fellow who pays my cheque."
On Corporate photography:
"Corporate photography is not just to understand the client but to know how a consumer would react to a photographed product. Corporate photography is just between industrial and editorial photography. One has to understand three factors. Why the product? Who is the target, how, when and where is to be marketed? These are the questions the photo-artist has to answer through images. Sometimes 5-7 days of research may be essential before taking the photographs."
"Corporate photography is not just to understand the client but to know how a consumer would react to a photographed product. Corporate photography is just between industrial and editorial photography. One has to understand three factors. Why the product? Who is the target, how, when and where is to be marketed? These are the questions the photo-artist has to answer through images. Sometimes 5-7 days of research may be essential before taking the photographs."
On photo-journalism.
"I have enjoyed working for some feature magazines. I've also done war journalism as you may be aware, but I didn't like it. I felt I was not truthfull to myself and was tempted to go for more and more sensationalism. People are becoming immune to war and death. A photograph of a dead soldier or devastation caused by the war doesn't seem to effect them. For them it is breakfast reading along with a cup of tea! A photo journalist earns 2,500 US$ for the picture of a dead body. He gets fame and money for it. But what about the family of that dead man? Who needs the money more, me or them?"
"I have enjoyed working for some feature magazines. I've also done war journalism as you may be aware, but I didn't like it. I felt I was not truthfull to myself and was tempted to go for more and more sensationalism. People are becoming immune to war and death. A photograph of a dead soldier or devastation caused by the war doesn't seem to effect them. For them it is breakfast reading along with a cup of tea! A photo journalist earns 2,500 US$ for the picture of a dead body. He gets fame and money for it. But what about the family of that dead man? Who needs the money more, me or them?"
On the decisive moment photography.
"I don't indulge in shooting millions of frames of the same picture. It's probably because I grew up using rolls frugally. Also because I shoot in available light, and often it's a passing moment, and too many re-shoots and versions of the picture are not possible. Often, I shoot a photo which seems just right, without stopping to analise why it seems so. The results are usually just right."
"I don't indulge in shooting millions of frames of the same picture. It's probably because I grew up using rolls frugally. Also because I shoot in available light, and often it's a passing moment, and too many re-shoots and versions of the picture are not possible. Often, I shoot a photo which seems just right, without stopping to analise why it seems so. The results are usually just right."
On creative photography.
"The pictures I selected for my exhibition do not include those I have shot for my international clients. They are mine in every sense. Any creative person prefers to communicate at a very personal level. Photographers all over the world have a deep urge to make their images speak for them and accordingly adhere to various schools. Many of them have created their own schools and evolve unique styles.
If my image can provoke the various senses of an individual it gives me more satisfaction than earning a few thousand dollars."
"The pictures I selected for my exhibition do not include those I have shot for my international clients. They are mine in every sense. Any creative person prefers to communicate at a very personal level. Photographers all over the world have a deep urge to make their images speak for them and accordingly adhere to various schools. Many of them have created their own schools and evolve unique styles.
If my image can provoke the various senses of an individual it gives me more satisfaction than earning a few thousand dollars."
On Photographic Technology.
"Aesthetics do not depend on technology. Cameras can come and go. Today cameras are available with autofocus, computerized systems, etc. The question is whether only correct exposure is important or also that split second. Equipment can never create pictures on its own, it's merely an extension of you and your vision. The content is more important than anything else."
"Aesthetics do not depend on technology. Cameras can come and go. Today cameras are available with autofocus, computerized systems, etc. The question is whether only correct exposure is important or also that split second. Equipment can never create pictures on its own, it's merely an extension of you and your vision. The content is more important than anything else."
On Colour photography.
"I believe that colour does have an impact on our feelings and that it does also have an emotional content. Through my photographs I try to explore and devine colour and to reveal the inter-relationship between nature, human beings and colour. Each colour is indicative of a mood or feeling. The green for renewal in life, the browns for sustenance, red for warmth, pink for a happy glow, blue for tranquility and yellow for hope. We are no different from nature. The desert is bland. the cactus is bland. But the colours are beautiful. People living in desert regions have houses that are bland in colour. But their clothes are gorgeous when it comes to colour. Like the cactus flower, I have a very definite theory as regards colour. Life is bound by colours. Each mood, each feeling has a colour. People react to a life-style through colour."
"I believe that colour does have an impact on our feelings and that it does also have an emotional content. Through my photographs I try to explore and devine colour and to reveal the inter-relationship between nature, human beings and colour. Each colour is indicative of a mood or feeling. The green for renewal in life, the browns for sustenance, red for warmth, pink for a happy glow, blue for tranquility and yellow for hope. We are no different from nature. The desert is bland. the cactus is bland. But the colours are beautiful. People living in desert regions have houses that are bland in colour. But their clothes are gorgeous when it comes to colour. Like the cactus flower, I have a very definite theory as regards colour. Life is bound by colours. Each mood, each feeling has a colour. People react to a life-style through colour."
Ashvin Gatha, a short biography:
1941, born in Sasangir (Gujarat, India). After having won a prize in a photocontest in a Singapore-newspaper in 1955, Ashvin was inspired to become a photographer. He began his career in 1964 as a fashion photographer for Eve's weekly. He covered the Vietnam war for Asia magazine.
Based in Switserland, he worked for international companies and publications such as Time-Life, National Geographic, Geo, Asia Magazine etc.
1941, born in Sasangir (Gujarat, India). After having won a prize in a photocontest in a Singapore-newspaper in 1955, Ashvin was inspired to become a photographer. He began his career in 1964 as a fashion photographer for Eve's weekly. He covered the Vietnam war for Asia magazine.
Based in Switserland, he worked for international companies and publications such as Time-Life, National Geographic, Geo, Asia Magazine etc.
WIKIPEDIA:
Ashvin Gatha was an Indian-born international photojournalist, advertising and editorial photographer.
Ashvin Gatha was an Indian-born international photojournalist, advertising and editorial photographer.
Early life
Ashvin Gatha was born on May 12, 1941 in Gujarat, and spent his early childhood in an orphanage from which, at age 14, he was adopted by his uncle, a nuclear scientist. Ashvin moved with him to Singapore at age 22. There, he won a newspaper contest with a picture of the cat and some ducks in his uncle’s garden made with a Box Brownie which he borrowed from a cousin and with the reward he was able to buy a used 120 camera, then later graduated to a Mamiya 'professional' camera. He determined to become a photographer, despite the objections of his family.
Ashvin Gatha was born on May 12, 1941 in Gujarat, and spent his early childhood in an orphanage from which, at age 14, he was adopted by his uncle, a nuclear scientist. Ashvin moved with him to Singapore at age 22. There, he won a newspaper contest with a picture of the cat and some ducks in his uncle’s garden made with a Box Brownie which he borrowed from a cousin and with the reward he was able to buy a used 120 camera, then later graduated to a Mamiya 'professional' camera. He determined to become a photographer, despite the objections of his family.
Career
Ashvin returned to Mumbai. From a meagre income of 5 rupees a day, he saved 40 percent to buy a single roll of colour film a month. He assembled a portfolio and began to get small assignments. He was hired as chief photographer at Eve’s Weekly and, through her brother, recruited Shobha De to produce several features with him, including a cover for the magazine.
Air India hired him and paid his way to the U.S. and on the plane he met the art director Tony Paladino, from whom Gatha picked up further work. He lived in New York for two years, working advertising agencies and fashion houses and covered the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom and the 1969 Woodstock Music Festival. He also worked for the United Nations and for C.A.R.E. he was sent to produce a feature story on their school feeding program in South India.
As he became known in photography circles in New York, the Kodak Company invited Gatha to spend time with them in Rochester, training in colour photography. His work soon appeared in their magazines and publicity material. In 1970 had a folio of his work published in Popular Photography, then in Le Nouveau Photocinema in January 1973. At this time, he met Flora, a dancer from London. They married in 1971, had a daughter Ianthe and lived in London. Together they created multimedia shows combining dance, mime and photography; for their film 'Devdasi' the setting was the Sun Temple in Konarak, Orissa. Flora's career as a dancer and Ashvin’s as a photographer was took them apart, and they eventually separated, she taking Flora Devi as her stage name.
Ashvin returned to Mumbai. From a meagre income of 5 rupees a day, he saved 40 percent to buy a single roll of colour film a month. He assembled a portfolio and began to get small assignments. He was hired as chief photographer at Eve’s Weekly and, through her brother, recruited Shobha De to produce several features with him, including a cover for the magazine.
Air India hired him and paid his way to the U.S. and on the plane he met the art director Tony Paladino, from whom Gatha picked up further work. He lived in New York for two years, working advertising agencies and fashion houses and covered the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom and the 1969 Woodstock Music Festival. He also worked for the United Nations and for C.A.R.E. he was sent to produce a feature story on their school feeding program in South India.
As he became known in photography circles in New York, the Kodak Company invited Gatha to spend time with them in Rochester, training in colour photography. His work soon appeared in their magazines and publicity material. In 1970 had a folio of his work published in Popular Photography, then in Le Nouveau Photocinema in January 1973. At this time, he met Flora, a dancer from London. They married in 1971, had a daughter Ianthe and lived in London. Together they created multimedia shows combining dance, mime and photography; for their film 'Devdasi' the setting was the Sun Temple in Konarak, Orissa. Flora's career as a dancer and Ashvin’s as a photographer was took them apart, and they eventually separated, she taking Flora Devi as her stage name.
Exhibitions
From the 1980s, Gatha's exhibitions have been organised thematically by colour and have been exhibited in Europe, Asia, Australia, the United States. In early 1982 he was included in a group show 'Festival of India': Photography in India 1858-1980 at The Photographers' Gallery and the Barbican Art Centre. Then, in September/October 1982, he showed an exhibition and audio-visual—picture and sound backgrounds for Flora’s dances—at Galerie le Vieux Jacob in Sion, near Geneva. From the 1990s he Gatha based himself in Switzerland, returning to India on occasion, where in 1995 he presented a workshop at the Mohile Parikh Center, Mumbai.
From the 1980s, Gatha's exhibitions have been organised thematically by colour and have been exhibited in Europe, Asia, Australia, the United States. In early 1982 he was included in a group show 'Festival of India': Photography in India 1858-1980 at The Photographers' Gallery and the Barbican Art Centre. Then, in September/October 1982, he showed an exhibition and audio-visual—picture and sound backgrounds for Flora’s dances—at Galerie le Vieux Jacob in Sion, near Geneva. From the 1990s he Gatha based himself in Switzerland, returning to India on occasion, where in 1995 he presented a workshop at the Mohile Parikh Center, Mumbai.
Reception
Mukesh Parpiani, curator of the Piramal Art Gallery in assembling a 2009 exhibition that includes Gatha, has called him one of the godfathers of Indian photography amongst Praful Patel, A L Sayed, R R Bhardwaj, Jyoti Bhatt, T Kashin, Tarpada Banerjee, Pranlal Patel, and John Isaac.
Mukesh Parpiani, curator of the Piramal Art Gallery in assembling a 2009 exhibition that includes Gatha, has called him one of the godfathers of Indian photography amongst Praful Patel, A L Sayed, R R Bhardwaj, Jyoti Bhatt, T Kashin, Tarpada Banerjee, Pranlal Patel, and John Isaac.
References:
1. Kenneth Poli ‘A Journey into Colour’, Popular Photography, Jan 1983, Vol. 90, No. 1, ISSN 1542-0337, p.76-81
2. De, Shobha, (1998), ‘Selective Memory: Stories from My Life’, Penguin Books, India.
3. Sushilkumar Sindkhedkar, 'Making of an Artist: Shobha De as Model', Pragati's English Journal, ISSN 0975-4091, Vol. 10. No. 2, December 2010, 83-87
4. 'My bucket fills drop by drop' Papua New Guinea Post-courier. International, Australia. 13 September 1974. p. 22. Retrieved 18 December 2019 – via Trove.
5. NOUVEAU PHOTOCINEMA (LE) no:17 01/10/1973
6. 'Communication Photo Graphique: Art Workshop' – Mohile Parikh Center. Retrieved 2019-12-18.
7. Jun 12, Mansi; Choksi; Ist, 5:43. 'Of trains, turbans and tribals, a sepia history'. Mumbai News - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 2019-12-18.
1. Kenneth Poli ‘A Journey into Colour’, Popular Photography, Jan 1983, Vol. 90, No. 1, ISSN 1542-0337, p.76-81
2. De, Shobha, (1998), ‘Selective Memory: Stories from My Life’, Penguin Books, India.
3. Sushilkumar Sindkhedkar, 'Making of an Artist: Shobha De as Model', Pragati's English Journal, ISSN 0975-4091, Vol. 10. No. 2, December 2010, 83-87
4. 'My bucket fills drop by drop' Papua New Guinea Post-courier. International, Australia. 13 September 1974. p. 22. Retrieved 18 December 2019 – via Trove.
5. NOUVEAU PHOTOCINEMA (LE) no:17 01/10/1973
6. 'Communication Photo Graphique: Art Workshop' – Mohile Parikh Center. Retrieved 2019-12-18.
7. Jun 12, Mansi; Choksi; Ist, 5:43. 'Of trains, turbans and tribals, a sepia history'. Mumbai News - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 2019-12-18.
CIRCLE-24: about Ashvin GATHA ..
Ashvin is an international photographer-journalist working around the world on editorial, corporate-identity and industrial photography. He lives in Vevey, (Lausanne) Switzerland.
The key trademark of Ashvin Gatha’s work is colour and graphics and this has been aptly described in “The British Journal of Photography” by Ainslie Ellis: “None, I believe, can ever have risen so fast, travelled so far, or have begun from so unlikely a start, as Ashvin Gatha. His life story suits such exotic, vital and eloquent colour photography and he photographed colour better than anyone else who’s work I have ever seen”.
The work of Ashvin Gatha has been viewed at many exhibitions in America, Japan, India, Australia, Great Britain, France and Switzerland. His work can be found in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the National Library in Paris. He has worked for numerous magazines: National Geographic, Asia Magazine, L'Hebdo Magazine, Geo, Sunday magazines and many more.
Source: Cancer Press Releases
www.uicc.org/
” Probably Nirvana was never explained so meaningfully and simply...”
S Roy, New Delhi Times
"Getting acquainted with the work of Indian photographer Ashvin Gatha is an experience, which goes much further than the interest one has as a photographer and editor of a photography magazine for good photography work. It is an experience, which is equal to what we felt many years ago when we were first confronted with the work of Henri Cartier-Bresson. The feeling, that you still haven’t looked intensively enough at the world in which we live."
Peter Charpentier, Professionele Fotografie (P/F)
Ashvin is an international photographer-journalist working around the world on editorial, corporate-identity and industrial photography. He lives in Vevey, (Lausanne) Switzerland.
The key trademark of Ashvin Gatha’s work is colour and graphics and this has been aptly described in “The British Journal of Photography” by Ainslie Ellis: “None, I believe, can ever have risen so fast, travelled so far, or have begun from so unlikely a start, as Ashvin Gatha. His life story suits such exotic, vital and eloquent colour photography and he photographed colour better than anyone else who’s work I have ever seen”.
The work of Ashvin Gatha has been viewed at many exhibitions in America, Japan, India, Australia, Great Britain, France and Switzerland. His work can be found in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the National Library in Paris. He has worked for numerous magazines: National Geographic, Asia Magazine, L'Hebdo Magazine, Geo, Sunday magazines and many more.
Commissioned by Time Life Books, he has photographed München for the series 'Great Cities of the World', and commissioned by Berlitz Guide Books, the 'Guide for Nepal'.
His commercial work clients include everything from multinationals to charity organizations and international airlines to Swiss cheese producers. He works with renowned designers such as Allan Flatcher in London, Toni Palladino en Shin Tora in New York, Subarshan Deer in Bombay, Igarashi in Tokyo and Gerard Lebet in Switzerland. Ashvin Gatha is just 59 years old - even if you have only seen a small part of his work - you get the impression that he has used his time exceptionally well.
Famous tobacco photographer changes sides
Indian-born photographer Ashvin Gatha, who attained fame as a result of his work for the tobacco industry, looks back with tears in his eyes on those days. "I thought I was selling a simple cigarette, little did I know that I was helping to sell a product that kills people. I want to be able to fight alongside those who are exposing the tobacco industry for what it really does - marketing to children, selling a drug that is addictive and fooling people into believing they can quit when they want," says Gatha.
Gatha has worked for international companies such as R.J. Reynolds, Philip Morris and British American Tobacco. One of his campaigns resulted in cigarette sales for a firm increasing by 28% in six months. In his new rule as campaigner in the battle against smoking and the power of the tobacco industry, he designed the image the World Health Organization will use for World No Tobacco Day, 1999. It consists of a white marble ashtray on which is poised a bright red orchid. Life and flower, says Gatha, instead of ash and death. The choice of a red flower is no accident. Reminiscent of a famous tobacco brand, the photographer wants to turn the power of colours and images on those very people in the tobacco industry whose mission it is to sell poisoned dreams. If he could pour profits of up to 28% into their coffers, he can also do the reverse. Gatha's eyes twinkle.
Indian-born photographer Ashvin Gatha, who attained fame as a result of his work for the tobacco industry, looks back with tears in his eyes on those days. "I thought I was selling a simple cigarette, little did I know that I was helping to sell a product that kills people. I want to be able to fight alongside those who are exposing the tobacco industry for what it really does - marketing to children, selling a drug that is addictive and fooling people into believing they can quit when they want," says Gatha.
Gatha has worked for international companies such as R.J. Reynolds, Philip Morris and British American Tobacco. One of his campaigns resulted in cigarette sales for a firm increasing by 28% in six months. In his new rule as campaigner in the battle against smoking and the power of the tobacco industry, he designed the image the World Health Organization will use for World No Tobacco Day, 1999. It consists of a white marble ashtray on which is poised a bright red orchid. Life and flower, says Gatha, instead of ash and death. The choice of a red flower is no accident. Reminiscent of a famous tobacco brand, the photographer wants to turn the power of colours and images on those very people in the tobacco industry whose mission it is to sell poisoned dreams. If he could pour profits of up to 28% into their coffers, he can also do the reverse. Gatha's eyes twinkle.
Source: Cancer Press Releases
www.uicc.org/
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