"Submerged Nude"
Preparing this article Ashok did a wonderful work until to give me some words :
"Ashok had featured in UdA about five years ago with his images of nudes shot in India. We now bring an update to his portfolio in his own words." His interview by AlexB.There are really few artistic nude photographers in India, maybe two or three with him in the magazine. I learned that the Art Models doesn't want to show their face and you learn much more by reading him. Since 5 years, Ashok uses more layers and textures in his photographs what gives to his work a beautiful painting style rarely exhibited here.
I deeply thank you Ashok for your quick and so kind cooperation, for your passion and your confidence.
"Nude in Copper"
"Cast in Stone"
I have been into photography from the 70’s with interests in landscape, portraits, travel and art nudes. Using film I found that generally labs in India could not deliver the same quality as overseas which was a disappointment. Commitments to my work left little time to find a suitable model. All this changed when digital came along. My workhorse was the Nikon D100 6MP which was a superb machine that could deliver image quality.
When Chris very kindly agreed to publish an update on my work after so many years I told him that I now seem to have moved to using layers and textures in many of my images. Textures don’t always work. It depends on the image and the blending mode used. I find some days yield more nice images than others. U need to play around with it and see what results you get.
I collect textures of what I see such as a painted wall, oil stains, rusted metal, water drops on a window and so on.
I still like the traditional nudes especially in black & white with the long range of tones and light and shadow that emphasis the shapes and lines. That will always be my first love. I no longer shoot film as its hard to get and processing options limited and expensive. As a result my old Rolleiflex has gone into retirement.
"Reflections"
Being in India, its still difficult after so many years to find a model as art nudes is a little known and understood concept among models. Not many photographers shoot nudes.
My models are all non professional people who like my work and model on the condition they remain unknown. I am always looking for potential models from India or overseas. These days Indian photographic exhibitions are getting more images of nudes from overseas photographers which hopefully increases the awareness in India.
After about 35 years of using a Nikon I finally moved to a Fuji X Pro1 with Fuji glass 10~24mm, 18~55mm and the very lovely 50~140mm f2.8 Lens. My needs have changed and I am not getting any younger. The Fuji X Pro1 is a very retro looking camera and has all the adjustments I could want. I shoot RAW and jpg. The jpg from the camera is excellent needing little if any adjustment. The RAW files are processed in Affinity Photo a somewhat new software that does everything PS could do and for a very modest one time fee. Black & white conversion is using Silver Efex Pro which I highly recommend.
"Painted Nude"
Almost all my work is shot in available light from a window and a reflector for fill in the shadows. I do not feel the need for a strobe light. Apart from indoor nudes I would like to shoot nudes in the landscape although with India’s very large population its not easy to find a suitable location.
Some of the images have been exhibited in International Salons in India and overseas and won awards. Its very satisfying to have acceptances in International exhibitions where one is competing against the best.
UdA has always been a site that inspires me as some of the worlds best photographers have their work on display. It’s a great place to see different styles and learn for them.
Thank you Ashok, I blushed !
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