Fashion through Rid’s lens
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Rid Burman : A sharp focus
Spectacular fashion shows are just the tip of the CFW iceberg. Ultimately intending to build a fashion-friendly ecosystem, photography workshops for aspiring photographers have been a part of the programme for a few years and this time around, celebrity photographer Rid Burman was invited to impart his expertise.
Based in India, Elle, Vogue, Filmfare, Sony, Maybelline, GQ and MarieClaire are just a few names on his client list. Daunting though the prospect of working with top models and designers may seem, Rid, a product of the Brooks Institute of Photography, is the first to admit, “I’m not the easiest photographer to work with- it has to be done my way.”
His confidence stems from a firm foundation of doing “lots and lots and lots and lots of homework.” When working on a commissioned job shooting an advertising campaign, he takes pains to find out elements like the brand’s language, the age-group they cater to, so the idea behind the product is always “behind my head.”
Strangely he almost became a business lawyer. Setting out to get his law education, “I didn’t like it,” he shares. Photography was a long-time interest, since one day when in the 10th standard, with his Nikon fm-10 in hand, he accompanied his father who decided he needed to take pictures for inspiration. “My folks are painters,” he says. On foot from morning till dusk, father and son walked through Simla. “We shot about 20 reels of film.” Developing his own work at a lab in Delhi, the excitement of seeing “what you envisioned” come alive on print led him to take keen interest in the work of leading photographers in India.
Living in New York, his return to India wasn’t planned. “In 2008 my grandfather fell ill, and I came back to take care of him.” By this time he notes, there was an abundance of mature photographers back home, who produced cover and well stories, but had no time for the “front and back of the book.” Standing-in at these shoots, his pictures caught the public eye. The glamorous side of photography wasn’t his career destination, (we still get the idea that it rarely matters to Rid who or what is at the other end of his lens) but he looks to innovate.
Travel has helped greatly with broadening his approach and keeping his focus fresh. To gain a strong foresight of trend culture, “It’s important to have young friends.” He doesn’t mean patronisingly sparing an exchange with youngsters, “but genuine friendships.”
A growing awareness of style, is fuelling the regional fashion scene he feels, particularly in the menswear market. Indian and Sri Lankan men are exposed to much more with travel being more accessible where they observe the way people in Europe dress. For this reason, he feels it’s a prudent move on CFW’s part to focus on menswear. V.P.