Celebrity photographer Munna Thaakur, who came to Mumbai with just Rs 24 in his pocket and started his career as a newspaper hawker, went on to work with several A-list celebs in Bollywood. ETimes sat down with the ace lensman for a freewheeling chat where he spoke about sharing a room with Sonu Sood during his struggling days, Arjun Rampal being his first client, and Salman Khan being his support system throughout. Excerpts…

Tell us something about your initial days in the industry…
Mumbai didn’t open arms for me that easily, this city has tested me hard too. Without much education, I could only find small jobs. In 1993, in Lokhandwala, Andheri, Mumbai – I started working as a paperboy and distributed newspapers in the houses of Lokhandwala. Back then in Lokhandwala, there was a photo studio where the celebrities used to come for their portfolio shoots, and I used to deliver newspapers in the photo studio as well, so I requested them to let me work there. While I worked there in the studio, I went to Mayuri Kango’s house to deliver her passport photo. That’s where I asked her secretary to let me shoot with her. She had done ‘Papa Kehte Hain’ movie and was travelling. After she returned, she shot with me, and I gave her that picture to Stardust Magazine. It was the first time my work got published in a known magazine back then. Then I bumped into Mukul Dev at a petrol pump, and I requested that he let me shoot with him, He let me come to his house and shoot with him. He was shooting for ‘Kohram’ at that time. That photo, which I shot, was published in G Magazine in 1999. Then I called John Abraham. He was shooting in Pune. Celebrities used to answer calls as they were also trying to establish themselves in the industry, and in those days, there were no blocking and disconnecting calls. People used to answer and humbly help each other grow. John was shooting for ‘Moksha’ that didn’t release, but his body shots, which I clicked, were used on the hoardings. That’s how my work started getting recognition, and those were my initial breaks in the industry.

You have worked with a lot of Bollywood celebrities before and after you took up photography as a profession. Who has been the most supportive in your journey so far?
Not to name one, but everyone from Salman Khan to Suniel Shetty to Bipasha Basu has been very supportive. I got in touch with Bipasha Basu through her makeup artist. She was the first female actor I worked with and she has been very supportive. After her photo shoot, I got to shoot with many female models and actresses.

You shared a room with Sonu Sood during your struggling days. What are your fond memories of those times?
After I shifted to Lokhandwala, Andheri, in 1997, I had no place to live, and in those days, Sonu Sood was also new. He was also looking to establish himself in the industry. I had become friends with him and did shoot for him as my practising model. When Sonu shifted to Oshiwara to an independent house with his other three friends. I requested him to let me stay in his house as I had no place to live, and as humble, kind, and helpful as he is, he let me live in his house. As an actor, he had a very basic lifestyle. We used to collect our monthly earnings, give our shares of rent, food, and go to the movies. It was fun living with him. We have shared the same bond of relationship to date.

Today, Sonu Sood has grown leaps and bounds as an actor. He has also become a messiah for many after his noble works during the pandemic. Has he changed over the years?
Nothing has changed. In fact, I shot with him during the pandemic as well, it was his way of helping and keeping my sanity during the difficult times. I have known Sonu since my struggling days. I call him ‘struggle ka saathi’. The world got to know him as a helping Messiah only after the pandemic, but I have been witness to his kindness since I have known him. He was always helpful and kind to many people like me. I believe nothing can change a person’s character, that’s the upbringing of Sonu Sood, and that will remain forever.

Arjun Rampal was your first client when you turned photographer. Tell us about the story of how you pulled it off?

I used to deliver newspapers at Arjun Rampal’s house as well as in Lokhandwala. Back then I requested his maid to help me talk to Arjun. I somehow got to speak to him, and he asked me to show him my previous work. I told him I didn’t have any professional work to show and requested that he give me an opportunity. He gave me that opportunity, I was called to the film city where he was shooting at the time. I went there, and that was the first professional project of my life as a photographer.

Like many others, do you also consider Salman Khan to be one of your Godfathers in the industry?

When I first met Salman Khan, I had already done a few photo shoots with known celebrities. I was doing work, but Salman Khan added the icing to my career’s cake. He added value to my work. His appreciation and recommendations added value to my career. People started recognising me as a photographer and I gained more respect through him. Salman Khan has promoted me more than I could expect, he has always appreciated my work in front of many and through that I got more work. I did many ads and film shoots through his recommendations. Salman Khan has a tremendous aura, working with him is like a mix of all feelings. I am a fan, he’s like my brother, there’s a lot of love and a lot of compassion between us. It’s a mixed feeling to have him around and work with him. Like me, he has helped and still helps many in uplifting their careers and lives. If that’s what is defined as a Godfather, I would love to call him that.

You have captured many celebrity faces in your lens. Who, according to you, has the most photogenic face in the industry?

I believe, divine creations are not to be judged, they should be admired and captured.

There has to be a certain level of comfort between a photographer and his subject which sort of shows in the pictures. How do you do that?

When I shoot, they are mostly known celebrities and have worked with me more than once so that unsaid comfort zone is always there. If I am not shooting with any known personality, I still make them feel like celebrities, and they automatically feel that comfort with me. The comfort will not come, if I make them feel like I am a celebrity photographer and they are still not established.

Name one celebrity you just can’t wait to capture in your camera.

Shah Rukh Khan – I desperately await to capture him and I know my manifestations will come true soon. Even before I was a paperboy, I once got to see SRK on the sets of the Baadshah movie in 1999, I was a walkie-boy on the shoot.

You have been in the industry for a long time now. Is there any interesting story or incident that you will never forget?

My journey itself is an anecdote, from where I began as a paperboy to becoming Munna Thaakur Singh, the photographer – every person and shoot has been like a chapter in my life’s book. Each experience is an interesting anecdote and turning point.
Each person I shot with and everyone who came in my professional and personal life have lifted me one step upward. Everyone has contributed their bit in my life that has lifted me. There is not one experience, not one story, it’s a milestone achieved every time.
Who is that one celebrity who you share a close bond with?

Though I share a great bond with Taapsee Pannu, that one person will be Suniel Shetty (Anna). He has been a great guidance, helping me with any and every thing. I can share anything with him without hesitation.

While drawings provide evidence of architectural thinking, and publications disseminate architectural theory and criticism, photographs offer another fundamental means to investigate the built environment and understand architecture. Collecting photography at the CCA predates the formation of the institution, beginning in 1974 and now comprising around 65 000 images that date from the invention of the medium in 1839 to the present. The CCA photography collection offers a research tool and a body of ideas against which the institution invites new readings and contexts to be tested. 

With the launch of The Lives of Documents—Photography as Project, the CCA embarks on a long-term, institution-wide research program to prompt self-reflection on collecting practices and to produce a lasting discursive, cultural, and institutional impact. The project, conceived by CCA Director Giovanna Borasi as a trilogy (2023–2026–2029) leading up to the CCA’s 50th anniversary, centres the study of the institution’s current photography collection and solicits new perspectives on its continuing development as a relevant resource for researchers and practitioners. Each episode of the trilogy is conceived by a team of guest curators, invited to expand the conversation around the collection with new viewpoints, new authors, new acquisitions, and new commissions.   

This first chapter is curated by Bas Princen and Stefano Graziani, two photographers trained as architects who have collaborated with the CCA over the past decade through research (Mellon Multidisciplinary Research Program: Architecture and/for Photography, 2016-2017); publishing (from the CCA Singles series: Stefano Graziani: Documents from Gordon Matta-Clark’s personal library, 2020; and Bas Princen: The Copies, 2023); and exhibition projects (17 Volcanoes, 2016; Besides, History, 2018).  

“Photographic projects in the CCA Collection aren’t single exhibition prints or samples but include several if not all prints in a series, photo books, and albums, and often additional material. In this way, the photography collection follows the general method pursued by the CCA to acquire complete archives from architecture offices. Everything that enters the CCA becomes a research tool.” —Stefano Graziani 

Conceived as a site for discussion and reflection, the project challenges the concept of the documentary in photography while incorporating the distinct personal positions of each author on reality and the built environment. As practitioners, Graziani and Princen are interested in the production and thought processes behind photographic projects, exploring the distinct methodological approaches that transform photographic works into visual arguments.  

“Rather than by using words or by making a design proposal, as with architecture projects, photographers make their visual arguments by organizing images. How do they choose and combine images for a project? How does the form of display—in a book, album, printed as zines or postcards, on a wall—change the way an argument is understood by a viewer?” —Bas Princen 

To offer insight into the lives of documents, the exhibition presents a display of open research, where works of selected authors from the 1960s until today—in the CCA Collection and beyond—are exhibited alongside unpublished projects, books, publication mock-ups, interviews, and research documents. Since the selected authors often understand their work as an ongoing, open process, the curators chose to conduct studio visits and film conversations with artists in different parts of the world, investigating the complexity of artistic approaches, research methodologies, and understandings of the lives of photography projects. This series of oral histories directed by Jonas Spriestersbach will be part of the exhibition and transcribed in parts in the accompanying book.

The Lives of Documents—Photography as Project takes shape of an exhibition (May 3, 2023–March 3, 2024); a publication (Koenig Books/CCA, available this summer); an oral history with participating authors in cinematographic form; a series of commissioned projects; a web issue; and public initiatives.  

With works by Lara Almarcegui; Lewis Baltz; Gabriele Basilico, Stefano Boeri; Bernd and Hilla Becher; Lynne Cohen; Luigi Ghirri; Dan Graham; Jan Groover; Guido Guidi; Naoya Hatakeyama; Takashi Homma; Roni Horn; Douglas Huebler; Annette Kelm; Gert Jan Kocken; Aglaia Konrad; Susanne Kriemann; Sol LeWitt; Armin Linke; Ari Marcopoulos; Gordon Matta-Clark; Richard Misrach; Marianne Mueller; Bruce Nauman; Michael Schmidt; Thomas Struth; Tokuko Ushioda; Jeff Wall; Marianne Wex.

To find out more about our long-term project to examine the contemporary role of photography in the study and practice of architecture, read our special newsletter this week.

At the Sony World Photography Awards (SWPA) on April 13, Boris Eldagsen refused to accept his first-place win on the basis that his image was AI-generated. 

Despite the photographer claiming that he had made an effort to inform the World Photography Organization that he had used AI in the creation of Pseudomnesia, in an attempt to open up a discussion around AI photography, he commented that, “AI images and photography should not compete with each other in an award like this.”

• Check out the best Sony cameras, from high-resolution powerhouses to vlogging machines

Since the news broke, a Peruvian photographer coined the term “prompt-ography” to describe realistic images that have been generated by AI. Some of the biggest news outlets across the world, including the BBC, shared the story – and in some ways, this stunt overshadowed the honest work of winning photographer Edgar Martins. 

Isabelle Doran, CEO of The Association of Photographers (opens in new tab), has issued a statement in response to the turn of events, in which she noted that an AI image winning the SWPA “raises some crucial questions about our ability to discern whether as human beings we can trust what we see online”. 

The SWPA is judged by a panel of leading photographers, curators and industry experts who have years of experience – and yet they were still fooled by the apparent realism of Eldagsen’s submission. 

She continues to point out that there is merit in Eldagsen admitting he submitted an AI image but refusing to take the prize, while also recognizing the importance of authentic and original art made by real people. 

Many photographers may use AI to assist in the photo editing process, such as the latest neural AI filters in Photoshop to replace the sky, software like Aftershoot to help with culling photos, or object selection tools in Lightroom to mask particular areas. However, Doran points out that there is a difference between assistive AI tools and AI image generators.

“What will be increasingly difficult for both industry experts selected as judges for image-based competitions, and for the public at large, will be whether we they can discern what’s real and what’s AI-generated,” she continued. 

Her suggestion is that AI-generated images should be labeled as such, and that governments should create policies that “balanced AI innovation with responsibility and accountability for creative human endeavors so that we don’t end u in a world where professional photographers and image makers and competing with free AI-generated images.”

In an Instagram post (opens in new tab), Edgar Martins, the SWPA’s overall winner said that: “AI is a tool. Like so many other tools. It’s not as though photography hasn’t already reached a singularity with technocapitalist culture… AI generated work is inevitable and a natural evolution from where we are today.”

Two photography competitions have now been fooled by AI-generated images, but the fact that the SWPA is renowned as one of the most prestigious annual awards is seriously concerning. 

For those photographers who have worked for months and years on photography projects, highlighting personal issues and global affairs, the question is will photography competitions start creating categories for AI images or will AI images have competitions of their own? 

Have a go at making your own AI image with one of the best AI image generators (opens in new tab)

DUNE PART ONE – THE PHOTOGRAPHY Takes Us Behind the Scenes of Arrakis – Nerdist

TwitterCreated with Sketch.

facebookCreated with Sketch.

RedditCreated with Sketch.

EmailCreated with Sketch.

FlipboardCreated with Sketch.

Apr 24 2023 • 2:09 PM

No knock to any other big franchises, but Dune: Part One was easily one of the most gorgeous science-fiction films of the 21st century. And the visual splendor was captured in several behind-the-scenes photographs, many of which will soon be available to fans of Frank Herbert’s saga in a new book from Insight Editions. Coming this summer is Dune: Part One – The Photography, by Chiabella James. You can see a preview of several images from the book, as well as read the official synopsis, below.

From the cliffs of Norway to the deserts of Jordan, unit photographer Chiabella James was on set to capture every moment of Dune, director Denis Villeneuve’s Oscar-nominated sci-fi epic based on Frank Herbert’s classic novel. Dune Part One: The Photography is curated from thousands of stills shot throughout the filming of Dune. This deluxe volume compiles the most compelling photos to form a remarkable visual journey that fully captures the unique spirit of the production.

Encompassing the epic vistas witnessed on location shoots, through to candid moments between Villeneuve and key cast members including Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac, Josh Brolin, Zendaya, Sharon Duncan-Brewster, and Jason Momoa, this book also features a foreword by executive producer Tanya Lapointe (The Art and Soul of Dune), a preface by Ferguson, and an afterword by Brian Herbert.

Click To View Gallery

Dune: Part Two hits theaters everywhere around the world later this year on November 3. This book is the perfect way to immerse yourself ahead of time into the world of Arrakis once more. Not only does this book offer you a detailed look at director Denis Villeneuve’s epic world-building, but it also offers candid photos of the cast and crew just trying to relax in the desert heat. Dune: Part One – The Photography by Chiabella James arrives on July 25. You can pre-order the book now.

Editor’s Note: Nerdist is a subsidiary of Legendary Digital Networks.

{{/unavailable}}
{{#hasFreeShipping}}

{{/hasFreeShipping}}

Tim Tadder is widely revered as a bold and visionary photography icon. With numerous accolades to his name and a client list ranging from Amazon to Nike, he is recognized as a leader in advertising photography and beyond. Since late January, though, he has turned into a highly controversial artist in the industry with his work in AI. I sat down to chat with him about the polarizing pieces he has been creating.

I was ready and excited with a list of questions. I had a cozy introduction planned and some softball questions to start the conversation. But it was not more than a few sentences in that Tadder jumped into what he really wanted to say: he is completely fed up of being attacked for his explorations in AI. So, I went with it and jumped right into the flames. 

Attacks From the Art Community

January 23rd, Tadder began posting work created with Midjourney, an AI image generator. Tadder described himself in this way:

 [ I am an] established artist who has been a paid creator for 25 years at the top level. I am sharing my experience using this new tool. I am […] exploring the most powerful creation tool ever made.

For him, it’s a way to exercise his creative mind and explore self-expression. Over the decades, he has transitioned from film to digital, to CGI, to Photoshop composites. With the development of a new creative medium, is it any surprise that a photographer heralded for his boundary-pushing work is exploring it? Though many photographers are praising his other-worldly visual explorations, the backlash from the photography community has been merciless, according to Tadder.

Because I’m doing any AI, I’m being labeled, boxed, and attacked because I am being an artist and I am exploring creativity. Just because I am exploring a powerful tool, sharing my knowledge, and sharing my insight from having lived through many mediums, if that is justifiable to hate, to discount, and to completely characterize me as a monster, then I don’t want to be a part of that community.”

He continues: “Being attacked is exhausting, and it happens every single day.” He later adds: “Why are you hating on an artist who is creating?”

The truth is, although I didn’t write any of my thoughts on his posted images, my initial reaction to the AI pieces was the same guttural response as many: “What? That’s cheating!” I was vexed. 

The Image-making Process

I first came across his work when we were both featured photographers in the 2021 Sports issue of Lens Magazine. His work was completely unique and jumped off the pages. I loved it instantly, and I have followed his thought-provoking photography since. 

After the New Year, though he maintained a recognizable cohesion, his work changed somewhat. I started reading the comments below more carefully. He was posting AI-generated images. As one more beautiful and imaginative piece rolled out after the other, I got increasingly irked: “That’s cheating! How can he do that?” One night, irritated and curious, I sat down and tried Midjourney. I was painstakingly shooting a campaign that week, and after seeing one of his pieces, I thought: “Well, maybe I’ll cheat, just to see what happens.” I suddenly understood his perspective. I must have sat there for two hours. It was not giving me what I wanted. Each AI-generated image gave me parts of what I wanted, but it never got it quite right. I had expected to sit down, type what I wanted, and get it. I had thought similarly to a follower who attacked him on an Instagram post: “It takes absolutely 0 skill to type words into a machine until it spits out what you’ve typed… you’ve run out of talent.” 

After my failed trial, I went back and looked at his AI pieces. They were cohesive. The palette, the look of the “models,” the backgrounds, and the airiness. How did he do that? My mind shifted at that moment about his AI work, which led me to pursue this interview. 

He described the specificity and laboriousness of his process:

It’s a cohesive choice that I’m directing this tool with my vision and my sensibility. AI didn’t sit down and spit out images for me. I sat down and labored over the images for hours and hours and hours, and then I curated it, and then I fed it back into AI, and then I pushed it further, and then I mixed this image and this image in Photosho and put it back into AI and had it regenerate it. I went through a process.

The concept that making intentional cohesive pieces is as simple as stringing a few letters together on a keyboard and pressing enter is not how the process works in Tadder’s pieces. The pieces require direction, re-direction, and compositing. It is a very intentional and time-consuming creation process.

Looking back, my own outrage came from a combination of being uneducated about the process and, if I was honest, a fear of being obsolete after investing so many years of honing my craft. It seemed that all my learning, practicing, and years of experience were being threatened by a computer that needed nothing more than a few words strung together to out-create me. When confessing this, Tadder replied:

People are worried about being obsolete like you said, so am I! So am I.  

A follower on his Instagram added a similar sentiment:

The real reason we people are reacting in such a negative way to AI is because we are scared. People are simply afraid of anything new, especially if they see it as a threat.

Yet another commented: “Resenting a new technology will not halt its progress. – Marshall McLuhan”

AI Is Fundamentally Bad for Commercial Photography and for Humanity

My biggest surprise from our talk was Tadder’s straightforward moral characterization of AI:

AI is fundamentally not a good thing for humanity. It is fundamentally a bad thing for humanity.

He even continued by adding:

“It can replace photography, and it will replace photography in advertising campaigns, in commercial campaigns, in magazine articles.”

I never got to ask the obvious follow-up question, “if it’s fundamentally bad for humanity, why are you using it,” as he quickly followed up:

Me not using it is not going to stop it.

Pandora’s box has been opened, and the technology, he reasons, is now part of our ecosystem. It’s out, regardless of how we feel about it. His general sentiment seemed to be that we might as well get used to it and get on board.

AI images are generated from learned information, not collages. 

He also addressed some of the misconceptions about how images are created. Tadder explains that the platform has scanned images and created mathematical representations of them. They turn images into numbers. The technology then generates mathematical algorithms for different characteristics. For the “in the style of” for example, Tadder explains that the software attributes mathematical representation for an artist’s use of color, of lighting, of model choices, casting, and location. It then generates images from scratch in that style. It makes its images from learned information, not from collages. That’s a big misunderstanding. 

AI Suits and Copyright

Another point of contention that he touched on is copyright: “If we are going to sue people over style emulation, then every single photographer who ever created is guilty.” Art was built on emulation and expansion. Would there be a Picasso, were there not a Braque? A Monet without a Pissarro? He also pointed out that copyrights are only as practical as their enforceability, recounting many stories of people around the world using and profiting from his work. Tadder believes that, over time, artists will be able to have the copyright to their AI pieces, and artists will be paid to create AI works:

After the anger fades and the hate fades, people are going to be like, ‘There’s actually something to this.’

Closing Thoughts

In closing, I think some questions are worth being asked. 

• Why is the art community responding so aggressively towards an artist exploring a new medium and sharing his experience? 
• What is it about AI that makes artists so upset? Is it really the copyright, the perceived easiness of the medium, or is it something deeper? 
• If we disagree with the concept of AI, are we then morally bound to boycott its use? Or, should we accept it and adapt, as so many other mediums introduced throughout the history of art? 

I want to thank Tim for agreeing to take the interview. Initially, he declined the interview due to being burnt out by incessant attacks and criticism. I pointed out that novelty in art has never been accepted. Van Gogh only sold one painting before his permanent abandonment into despair at age 37. Monet’s paintings were so snubbed by the art community during his first two decades that his poverty often led him to starvation, even resorting to eating the fruit in his still-life setups. Digital photography was snubbed by film photographers, then Photoshop was vilified as cheating. Artists historically don’t respond well to change. I suppose something in there made him come back around, and I’m grateful. I applaud him for continuing to make art despite the pushback. Despite the many pundits, there are even more of us who continue to appreciate his bold pioneering. I’ll close with a quote I have on my desk, paraphrased from Warhol:

Make art, and while everyone is deciding whether they like it or not, make more art.

My conversation with Tadder was recorded, with permission, mostly as a reference for the quotes in the article. I am far from adept at video and YouTube, but if you would like to watch the full conversation, you can do so above.

Fujifilm’s X100 series of cameras is now in its fifth generation, and it remains one of the most beloved cameras on the market, all but guaranteeing that we will see a sixth version at some point. What would photographers like to see in the next iteration? This interesting video features a photographer discussing his thoughts on the topic. 

Coming to you from Joe Allam, this fun video discusses what photographers would like to see in the next iteration of the Fujifilm X100 series. I have never been a fan of fixed prime lens cameras, but the exception for me has always been the X100 series. I owned an X100S for several years and had the pleasure of using the X100V for a while, and they are simply a pure joy to use. As much love as the X-T series gets for providing a pure experience of the craft, the X100 series seems to take it to another level. And in the last two iterations, the company has significantly increased its capabilities, particularly its autofocus, taking it from a quirky and fun camera with great image quality to a serious powerhouse device. Hopefully, in the sixth iteration, we’ll see the new 40-megapixel sensor found in the X-T5.

Check out the video above for the full rundown from Allam.

… Spring is construction time for those feathered friends whose nest did not survive the year and these nests are either constructed or repaired twig by twig … and the great egret above is carrying one such small branch back to the construction site. Nothing good comes easy in this life and all we need to do is look around us at the enormous effort creatures everywhere put into their lives.

Below the daily search for food is on display as the paths of a great egret and a snowy egret cross in the very shallow waters of a bay on the north end of Lake Pleasant … no work, no food.

A beautiful weekend … time spent with friends and a special treat with lunch at T Cook’s in the Royal Palms Resort this afternoon … five star dining and ambiance. If you make a reservation request either Megan or Kim to be your server!

Into a new week and time for a little rest before I continue the day. Keep breathing and smile … what a privilege to be here and share the beauty that is life!

Cheers,

Ted