THE MAX VADUKAL INTERVIEW - StingUs - News on The Police, Sting, Steward Copeland and Andy Summers

Sun Mar 06 2005 | THE MAX VADUKAL INTERVIEW

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Pan India - The Economic Times published an interesting article on Max Vadukal who photographed among others Sting during the Dream of the Blue Turtles period on Barbados.
His work with leading magazines across the world like Italian Vogues, L’U’omo Vogue, V Magazine, Harper’s Bazaar, Vanity Fare, Rolling Stone and Inter-view besides New Yorker has seen many a superstar become his friend.
His images are recognised for their distinctive signature and creative originality. Max hates digital cameras. He is scared that a decade from now the pace of technology will overtake and all we will have left is digital.
He told his class of students at the New School 2005, that shooting with digital was like having sex with two condoms on. How was it shooting Sting in a bathtub with rubber duckies?

It was such a long time ago! I know Sting very well and that helped. He was actually practising his yoga in the bathtub and we came up with this idea, I saw some rubber duckies around, Sting was game so we put them in and the rest was like shooting a kid in a bathtub!

What was it like shooting and travelling with Sting during the “Bring on the Night” period?

It was a great assignment, probably one of the most wonderful assignments I’ve done. Two weeks in Barbados, shooting two pictures a day. Have fun, hang out with the superstars and someone is actually paying you for it! The pictures that came off that tour were very memorable ones. In fact in the documentary of the album directed by Michael Apted, you can see me running around having fun.

A lot of your shoots have revolved around superstars? What is it like being with them all the time?

When you shoot with superstars they no longer remain stars for you. Besides, they are easy to shoot, after all they are just like us, with two arms and two legs!

Have you been on similar tours with other bands?

Yes, for Le L’Uomo Vogue. I have done a rock & roll portfolio, the new wave of modern rock music. The fascinating thing about those musicians was that they were ordinary people who were writing music for ordinary people. Among my music portfolios, these were one of the most incredible bands.

Your first trip to India on assignment was for the New Yorker to shoot some of our literary legends.

It was a fantastic experience. All of them are such incredible thinkers and I think it is one of India’s greatest assets. To have such a rich intellingensia is great. Meeting and shooting R K Narayan was special as I really enjoyed reading his Malgudi Days.

I remember just packing an Ambassador with bottles of beer and just driving off. In many ways it was a dream assignment for me. Though I am Indian, I have never lived here and so Indian culture is not in me and I don’t understand it, yet there is a part of me that is curious to find out what its all about.

It was also the time when I was between my fashion photography and journalism, this came as a dream assignment. Which is why I would like to come back and shoot and expose the new image of India to the world.

You have been very vocal on your thoughts about digital photography and giving technology too much importance at the cost of art.

Yes, I stick with film because I like to stick with my pictures. Technology is making everyone lazier. Digital gives instant spontaneity which is also easily replaceable. Though photography is definitely an expensive hobby, to which digital is an answer.

For me, film gives depth. When someone is paying you such huge sums, to carry out their vision, it must be like a piece of art. Besides, I don’t want to spend the rest of my life in front of a computer screen, its bad enough answering e-mails!

How was it to work for the New Yorker?

It was a very elite address to work for but it was Richard Avedon who made it an amazing experience for me. People dream of Richard Avedon, talk of him, revere him, yet, he never sat in front of a computer screen ever! People must go out and connect. Everyone is going too fast, someone needs to slow it down. Today the magazine is more writing and less images. Mobile photography? Great. You can do a whole story with it. Its called phonography now.

Source: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com

Posted on Mar 06, 05 | 6:10 am

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