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| Edited By: |Source: |Updated: Nov 19, 2013, 11:17 PM IST
Ramya Sarma on how Tasveer is promoting photographic art
Take two die-hard photography fans bonded by a common passion for promoting photography as an art form with a difference. And you see the realisation of a dream called Tasveer.
Tasveer is yet another photography agency with ambitions to make photography an art form that is recognised, appreciated and sold. Started by Ader Gandi and Matthieu Foss, it has spread its reach through four cities with representatiaves in New Delhi, Bangalore, Kolkata and Mumbai.
Tasveer enters into contracts with news, fashion, commercial or amateur photographers, and looks after everything from the exhibition, publicity and sales.
The first of its series of shows was launched recently in Mumbai, with the work of Shahid Datawala. “The reception has been wonderful,” both Gandi and Foss found, and the “media coverage was very good”. Photographs have sold in the city, as well as in Paris, where Foss took them. San Francisco is the next destination for Gandi’s and Datawala’s photographs. Some weeks from now, they look forward to showcasing the works of Raghu Rai. In the first season, stretching into July 2007, the work of Ryan Paul Lobo, Fawzan Husain, Saibal Das and Annu Matthew will also be featured.
The time has come for the acceptance of photography as a legitimate art, Gandi feels. According to Foss, “Some years ago, a photo could cost say Rs5,000. Today it could sell at, maybe, a couple of lakhs.” The market for Rai’s pictures, for instance, is amazing — currently, one of his photographs could be valued at Rs 2 lakhs, and the interest is growing.”
Comparisons of photography with art forms like painting cause Gandi to bristle, but he admits that it is a new market that is still finding its feet. And there are issues to be sorted out and strictly controlled. For instance, a negative could be used to produce multiple prints, which would reduce market value and dilute the exclusivity of the piece. “But we enter into a contract with the photographer,” Gandi explains, to ensure that a limited number of prints are made and displayed.
