An artist without boundaries, a soldier without uniform- photographer Pravin Talan
Pravin
Talan is an internationally acclaimed fashion and lifestyle photographer, who
has worked across Asia, Africa and Europe with diverse leadership brands like
Fashion TV, Vogue and the United Nations.
Talan is an artist of choice across various industries like Bollywood,
Sports, Fashion, Music, Politics, Spirituality or Corporates.
His
strength lies in capturing the soul of his subjects, innovative use of
lighting, ability to seamlessly blend Art, Fashion & Heritage. Widely
regarded as a soulful, inspiring, original and creative photographer his work
on Taj Mahal, Fashion and India’s Bordermen has been published worldwide.
His increasing popularity in international fashion circuit
brought him at cross roads-to shift base to Europe, which made commercial sense
or remain in India. Irked by International media as always projecting India as
a nation of snake charmers, slums and ‘sati’ he decided to use his art and
influence to project India in positive light to the world rather than seek glory
abroad.
At the peak of his professional career he took a break of
four years to capture the glory and capabilities of uniformed forces and focus
on projects on women empowerment, highlighting a modern progressive country
where women were equal partners. He has made significant contribution to
Central Armed Police Forces by creating large photo banks of over one-lac
photographs showcasing their mission and capabilities. He is perhaps the only
photographer in the country who has photographed almost all uniformed services
including Army, Navy, Coast Guard, Air Force, BSF, NSG, CISF, CRPF, SSB and
State Police.
Regardless of the many grave injures he suffered in the
process; he marches on with these scars as medals celebrating his grit and
passion. His mission is to create one thousand free downloadable wallpapers of
the heroes of the nation to inspire the youth and firmly state India as a
strong and capable nation on a global platform.
His firm belief has been that an empowered
woman empowers many others. Women are not weak, they never were. Period. This
was recognized recently, when the worlds leading fashion brand Vogue, chose to
do an exclusive photo-essay on his work on Women-in-Forces in its tenth
anniversary edition.
Taking
the Indian women in uniform on the international platform is his contribution
to making the world realize the true potential of the Indian woman and this
also is the theme for his upcoming exhibition.
Intrigued
by the dying crafts practiced in the city of Taj Mahal, in 2012-he set to
capture their essence through a dynamic collaboration between art, fashion and
history. Theme was to promote the Taj as not just about love, but
also architecture, design, engineering, craftsmanship.‘With
love from Taj’ got global appreciation with international coverage.
In
2013, the UN invited him to collaborate on a project titled ‘A day in the life
of a sex worker’ to highlight various human rights issues related to AIDS
affected sex workers. UNAIDS used photos internationally in various conferences
and Pravin Talan was commended for his sensitive and compassionate approach.
In
2009 he became the first Indian photographer to work with world’s top most
fashion and glamor content creator FTV and shoot various FTV productions
worldwide. He was chosen Photographer in Focus by Fashion TV (India) and
brought on board to conceive, create and execute new photography projects for
the channel.
In
2007, he joined hands with Anti-Corruption Bureau and made a short theatrical
film ‘Say No To Corruption’. It’s the only such film on Internet.
Deeply
influenced by The Geeta and teachings of Vivekananda, at 23, he formed
Sanchetna, an NGO dedicated to organizing blood donation camps, setting up
student library for underprivileged, giving scholarships, sponsoring critical
medicines and providing a national platform to talented youth.
Some
of the known names he has photographed include names like Raj Nath Singh, Nitin
Gadkari, Amitabh Bachchan, Raja Reddy, Priyanka Chopra, Jaqueline Fernandes,
Virat Kohli, Shikhar Dhawan, Brahmakumari Sister Shivani amongst many
others.I also want to capture the soul of Modi in photographs . I
am very intrigued by Narendra Modi's personality. He has many shades-
the aggression of a warrior and the calmness of a saint. He is inspiring
intimidating...yet affable. Spending a day documenting his lifestyle
and work would be amazing.
His journey of life has been inspirational and his work does
not speak of pain, sufferings and despair, but hope, inspiration and empowerment.
His persona can be summed up as an artist with out boundaries, a soldier
without uniform, a man with a big heart and a patriot to the core.
Remaining
in the shadows, he continues to be active in social work activities besides
having come to be known as one of the most iconic photographers of this
generation.








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