When I dance, I sometimes do glance at the audience. And when I see Avinash Pasricha there with his camera, I know that I have to perform my best. Little escapes his eyes…and his lens will never lie. I know that he will weave his magic, and those images will live for a lifetime. You feel a thrill when you see an Avinash Pasricha still photograph’.
The classical dancer performs on stage, her feet moving to the rhythm of the musical beats, and her expression changing ever so often. Among the audience is the ‘Trinetra’, the powerful third eye that captures the divine images, clicked to perfection at the right moment..at perhaps one-hundredth of a second. These images have often become a window of recognition, the identity of a dancer, or a poster for posterity. In India this third eye has been perfected by Avinash Pasricha, arguably one of the greatest dance photographers. The magical fingers of this grand seventy-eight year old legend have churned out more dance images than any other photographer. Pasricha has photographed, catalogued and collected more than 300,000 dance and music photographs, in a picture perfect career of 50 years. Pasricha has photographed the who’s who of Indian Classical dance and music. He has a genial, down-to-earth personality, and is ever willing to help out budding dancers. Many careers have indeed been made – and are still being made – with the help of his magnificent images.
Pasricha belongs to an age when photo-shopping, computer-based photo editing and technology photography did not exist. Each image had to be painstakingly captured to perfection. He started his career at his father’s photo studio at Janpath in Connaught Place, not very far from where he still lives, and then moved on to USIS, Embassy of United States in India, as a photo lab assistant, to learn the nuances of ‘dark room’ work. Pasricha spent 37 years with the well-known magazine SPAN. Though famous for his dance photography, Pasricha has also photographed architecture, fashion, advertising, portraits and natural surroundings. Whether shooting for the ace danseuse Madhavi Mudgal and the Gandharva Maha Vidyalaya in the 1960s or at the Asia Exhibition of 1972, Pasricha always excelled. He paid particularly close attention to Indian Classical dance photography, which was most demanding – due to to the intricate facial expressions and body movements, ornate jewellery and elaborate costumes. Each of these aspects had to be ideally reflected as an unforgettable image. The knowledge of his craft, the understanding of the dancer’s expressions, and the essence of what to capture (and what not to), made Pasricha the doyen of dance and music photography. Pasricha’s research and homework before and after a dance recital have always been immaculate and flawless. The dance fraternity knows that his pictures will tell the truth. The physical features, emotions and performances of the dancers will be captured with integrity. Birju Maharaj, Sonal Mansingh, Swapnasundari, Vempati Chinna Satyam, Madhavi Mudgal and scores of other distinguished artistes feature in Pasricha’s inexhaustible collection of photographs. It would not be an exaggeration to state that every established classical dancer has been photographed on multiple occasions by Pasricha. The record player generation is witness to Pasricha’s photographs on the 33 1/3 rpm vinyl records of the recordings of many musical legends. However, Pasricha has also stayed in close contact with the latest technology. Even today he stands out miles ahead of many of the ‘modern’ photographers, bringing out the perfect still pictures in black and white and colour - just as he has been doing for more than five decades. If you ever spot a man with a pair of gleaming eyes and a camera in hand during a dance recital in any auditoria in Delhi, you will know that you are in the presence of a legendary artiste.
Pasricha has also photographed, co-authored and collaborated on many books with eminent dance critics and scholars - like Dr. Sunil Kothari, Leela Venkataraman and his own illustrious son Amit. Notable among these books are: ‘A Dome over India’ (Rashtrapati Bhavan) and ‘A Scottish Castle in Kumaon Highlands’ (Raj Bhavan, Nainital). Pasricha has been honoured with Lifetime Achievement Awards in 1998 and 2004, by two reputed organisations. Pasricha has this to say of himself, “My journey in the field of dance photography has been quite an enjoyable, fruitful and fulfilling experience. Now the dance/music association continues almost every evening, as both my wife and I love going to concerts. We feel blessed.” Bless you, Sir!
The Writer is a renowned Kuchipudi Danseuse and Choreographer
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