Hari Adivarekar
Freeze-frame the tunes
“What I can’t write, I express through photography,” says 27-year-old Hari Adivarekar. One look at his portofolio of photographs and you know he means what he says. Adivarekar started his career as a journalist and moved to hosting a music show on radio. But, his calling came soon enough. He is now one of the few photographers specialising in music photography.

A tall, wiry-haired man with round glass frames, Adivarekar could pass off as a rock musician himself. As it happens with most talented artistes, Adiverkar too, “stumbled” on his love — photography. He took up photography while pursuing a course in communicative English, he says.

“I got into photography as I could not draw. Growing up with my father, who is an illustrator and artist, I wanted to express myself in some way. That’s how I got into shooting pictures,” he says. Armed with his experiences as a budding musician and a 1969 Minolta manual camera, he was instantly drawn to music photography.

“My unending love for music and musicians had me wielding this instrument. I somehow felt I was creating music in a visual sense. I never thought I would take up it up for a living,” he says.

How did photography as a hobby end up as a mainstay career? “My role as a web content manager for a radio station exposed me to many forms of music and culture. Part of my job was to take pictures, and I focused on taking live pictures of musicians and performers.” From Roger Waters to Iron Maiden to Ruhaaniyat to Montreaux Jazz festival to Thermal and a Quarter, Shakti or any local act spotted at an obscure place, Adivarekar tracks his performers with hawk-eye precision.

“I try to channelise my experience of watching a musician and anticipate his/her next move, not only musically, but visually as well,” he says. “Through my photographs if I can express what I experience, I would have succeeded.”

Catch Hari Adivarekar’s exhibition at Alliance Francaise from June 14-21. Visit http://adivarekar.in for more.