His pictures are a class apart. A subtle poetry, a fiery expression, an opulent frame or simply a fashionista’s dream; his pictures stop at nothing to amuse you, to tickle you, to mesmerise you and to leave you wanting for more!
I first came across Varun during a shoot that he did for a fashion magazine I was making back in the year 2009. It was his keen sense of detailing and the knack for experimenting that I realised he is an achiever. He made sure the shoot had all the right elements and surprisingly, had come for the shoot with some homework! The pictures came out brilliant and over the years I have observed how well Varun Chauhan, the nextgen fashion photographer of Delhi has bloomed.
But what makes him so unconventional and so modernistc? Read on to know what this guy thinks behind the camera…
The whole game of fashion…
I like to start my shoot from an idea that looks very interesting to me and my clients. We then plan our set designs, do the talent casting, selecting make-up artists & hairstylists. It takes days, even months while working on a single project. It is a lot of team work.
Getting the camera in my hands is the last thing I do right after my models are ready. It’s super exciting to me! I want my pictures to be unique as well as meaningful.
Not every model… [show_more more=”Read More” less=”Read Less” color=”#0066cc”] can fit into a photo-shoot that is why casting is done. It is not like we are always looking for good looking faces. It entirely depends on the campaign that we are working upon.
To be able to capture that one moment… to an extent, I won’t say that there is anything like capturing a moment when it comes to commercial work. To me it’s an experiment, between the subject & the photographer; it’s more like creating an image. When I take pictures, I am pretty concerned about final images, as I believe there is no limit to perfection or improvisation. We have limited time at a particular setup so, I have to comfort myself with just a little of someone’s expression or moment.
The challenge is not in… taking a picture, creating a ‘picture’ is a challenge of course. To me, it is very important to have lots of content in my pictures rather than just having a beautiful model wearing a beautiful dress. Production plays a very important role in my projects so, when it comes to set designing, we create everything from scratch to get that particular theme.
A perfect face, a perfect pose… do not exist. I don’t believe in any such perfect face and perfect pose. I have noticed that with time, the audience have started to accept very different looking models. The biggest example in front of us is Chantelle Brown, people would have never thought that she could be a model and today, she is endorsing some of the biggest brands in fashion.
The trick is to… leave myself free to experiment. The more freedom I have, the better results I give. Honestly speaking, I don’t consider my job restricted to any duties or responsibilities.
It’s not the camera… in my past I have used weirdest of the camera settings, breaking all the rules of photography. I am actually not obsessed with any style in particular. I don’t use a specific type of camera setting or lighting, I don’t use the same way of shooting all the time. When I take pictures, I am completely into it, no matter what.”
Credits
Designer Campaign for Natasha (Hong – Kong)
Photographed by Varun Chauhan
Models: Miriam & Kristi (6th Avenue)
Fashion Stylist: Vijay Roy
Set Design: Kinshuk & Vijay Roy
Make up artist: Sandy
Set & Production: Paper Plane Creatives.
Line Producer: Manoj Shah
Location: Indoor Studio (New Delhi)
Backstage stills: Vikki Varma
Backstage Dop: Nikhil Kler
[/show_more]
Varun Chauhan can be contacted at: studio@varunchauhan.in
