Fresh after winning six photo awards at an American competition held by the Photo Imaging Education Association, Girish Mistry, dean of Shari Academy, gives us some verbal snapshots
Fresh after winning six photo awards at an American competition held by the Photo Imaging Education Association, Girish Mistry, dean of Shari Academy, gives us some verbal snapshots
ADVERTISEMENT
There's some speculation, some murmuring, finally it's decided which way the photographer was actually holding his camera. Then I'm off to Girish's office as class is dismissed and the students potter off for lunch. The dean of the academy eats his while going into the history of "the only institute in India to offer a two-year course; there is one in Ooty, but that offers a one-year course," in his words.
Fashion, advertisements and industrial Mistry has done it al he isn't too keen on the present compartmentalisation of photography; there isn't much room to learn that way "But then in July, 1990, out of the blue, without any reason, I became handicap. Before that I was a hardcore money-making workaholic," he says.
Girish lost the use of his legs, but was determined to not succumb. Shari Academy began with a photography workshop for 10 students and over the years, as word spread, blossomed into the academy in a lane in Chinchpokli. Now it has students not only from the country, but also Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, the Gulf and Pakistan. One of India's leading photographer's Vikram Bawa also took part in a workshop at Shari. A book called Beyond Bawa now resides in Girish's office.
As for his teaching methods, they go something like this, "I send them to a place to take photos and they come back with the results. Then I send them back to the same place and ask them to take photos of something besides what they shot the first time.
Then when they come back, I send them for the third time, asking them to not shoot what they shot the first and second time and also not what the others have shot," he says, "that is when they f*rt," he adds. Maybe it's this perseverance that led Shari Academy, representing India, to win nine times (since 2009) at the Photo Imaging Education Association's (PIEA) competition for students and teachers, where over 6,000 entries from all over the world are sent.
Due to his marketing skills, Girish was known in the States and called for the competition. "When you're pitching school vs school, it's not amongst amateurs, it's trained photographers vs trained photographers," says Girish, which makes it all the more difficult. The students won six prizesu00a0 five under the 'College/University Single Image' category: 'grand prize', 'first prize', 'second prize' and two for 'honorable mention' and the sixth: third prize under the category 'Digitally constructed single image'.
Always one to push his students, Girish sends them to take photos during Muharram when the Shia Muslims take part in Matam. "But it's always respectful, the photographers wear black as a sign of it," he says. It's not about getting an image standing in one place, you've got to get down on your knees, lay flat on the floor, climb a tree if you have to, "If you're not doing these things, you're seeing things at your level, not at the level of the worlds," says Girish, sage-like almost. His students have a library of more than 700 books from the dean's personal collection to seek inspiration from.
So what makes for a good photograph? "See, the way I look at it, I don't like the clichu00e9d pictures, you have to put your ass on the line. It should be out of the box and must show that the photographer has thought a lot before the picture. But sometimes it can be spontaneous, breaking every rule in the book and still end up looking fantastic," says Girish.
He sums it all, the ups, downs, the growing, the winning, and the going-through-streets-trying-to-find-something-spellbinding in just one word: 'Learn'.
"Exciting news! Mid-day is now on WhatsApp Channels 
Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!
Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!
