Ideas that Kindle Dabboo Ratnani

Other than being Bollywood’s celebrity photographer, who is Dabboo Ratnani?

I’m a father, a husband, a biker, a DJ and a gizmo freak.

How would you describe your signature style?

To capture people candidly rather than in a staged way. I love shooting outdoors using natural light. I think I create great pictures out of candid moments.

Do you think the industry is biased towards male photographers?

Not at all, if you’re good you’ll make it irrespective of any gender.

The most striking face in the industry according to you is?

In Bollywood, it’s definitely Aishwarya Rai Bachchan. In Hollywood I really like Mila Kunis currently, she’s got a nice face.

The difference in shooting models v/s Bollywood celebrities?

With actors it becomes a little easier because they add a lot of value with their persona, with their expressions, with their whole aura so that when you explain an actor what the photographer is asking for, they respond much quicker and also add a lot of value to the image in terms of promptness making it more alive. With models, they give you exactly what you ask for, but again, shooting models has its own charm, they give you a lot of fashion pictures, with actors you do more portraits keeping their personalities in mind.

Your take on the following:

Celebrity folios and commercial photography

With commercial photography, it’s all about selling a product. First, we have to figure out a concept and visualize a shoot as per client requirement. Celebrity portraits are more about creativity where you do exactly what you want, create concepts and costumes, and find locations. They’re completely different. Then again, I shoot a lot of celebrities for different ad campaigns, where I mix both concepts.

Photo editing softwares

I think these are essential in terms of where photography is concerned. They don’t intend to tarnish the natural form of image capturing at all. What may appeal to one may not appeal to the other, so at the end of the day it’s all about what you like. The way I use photoshop is completely different from how other use the software. I think it’s a great tool and doesn’t manipulate the moment at all and that’s what matters.

Instagram culture

I think it’s very cool. I myself am on Instagram. I feel photography has gone through a tremendous boost with the rise of social networking and I think it’s very interesting to see so many photo apps today. I think it’s more of photography growing as a culture than Instagram in particular. When you go to a mall or a restaurant and when a great looking dish comes on the table, first thing you think of doing is clicking a picture of it, which I find very interesting. People want to remember everything, want to cherish everything, want to share everything on social network. So I love the culture.

A book you currently can’t lay your hands off.

Honestly, I read more technology magazines, about gizmos and related to electronics. Since I’m on the go most of the time, rather than buying actual physical copies, I download e-books on photography, and other articles that help in my work.

A celebrity you would love to capture in your lens.

Definitely Madonna 

What’s your source of inspiration?

I think life in general. I think every person goes through phases where one studies life differently. I may believe at one point that black and white is inspiring me, so I start looking at everything in black and white and start capturing everything in black and white and sometimes I’m big on colour. So every person goes through phases and gets inspired with different things, it could be movies, it could be light, it could be looking at interesting locations, it could be travelling. As a photographer I observe characters, expressions and everything around me.

How do you avoid getting stereotyped?

People usually associate me with my calendar and that is exactly how I avoid getting stereotyped. My calendar is something that inspires me to evolve year after year. When I did the calendar last year, I was really happy with it, so much so that I pushed myself more to outdo myself for the next one. You become your own competitor and that in a way avoids getting stereotyped in terms of work because there are 24 pictures in the calendar that depicts 24 different moods, 24 different kinds of styles of photography. So I don’t keep to one theme in the calendar. I try and diversify as much as possible so that I get a great kick from looking at my own pictures. I feel an adrenaline rush inside me every time I create my calendar so that keeps me fired up all the time.

Would you prefer being the director of photography in films or freelancing with glossy magazines?

I’d be happy to be known as a complete photographer who can take up any kind of assignments. I don’t want to be typecast in a genre. I want to be known as a people’s photographer because that’s what I do best, whether I’m shooting portraits, campaigns or celebrities, models. I don’t like shooting for just products like table tops alone. I like to create moments.

Does commercialization of photography fade creativity in the art form?

I think photography is growing and not fading. Today if you own a camera and you click pictures and put it up on the net, I would call you a photographer as well. Obviously photography is not only about owning a good camera, it’s like saying that anybody owning a good video camera can make a good film. I mean it’s not possible. It’s your essence of composition, your essence of creating moments, it’s the essence of being consistent with your work. So I would say, new photographers coming in, people enjoying photography, it’s only helping the photography culture to get more popular. Earlier you would not interview a photographer as a celebrity, today they are given us celeb status because of that growing culture and it is only because people talk about it.  Earlier when you used to say “I’m a photographer” people would consider it a hobby, look down upon it as a profession and would only regard you as a “function photographer” or a “birthday party photographer”. I’ve been in the profession for the last 20 years and I’ve seen the status of photography grow.

Your upcoming projects…

I’ve done a lot of new ad campaigns. There’s Nerolac with Shahrukh, Maggie with Mr. Bachchan, Magic moments and Hero Honda with Hrithik, Lenovo computers with Ranbir Kapoor, there’s Alpenliebe with Kareena and Panasonic and Berger Paints with Katrina.

I’m not looking at anything beyond photography.