Umesh Thakker is a self-taught freelance hobbyist photographer. He started a few years ago with portraiture and landscape photography and soon graduated in the art of editing. On occasions, he used to create greeting cards for his doctor-son but he wanted to create ‘something different’. One day, as he was watching the movie ‘Honey I Shrunk the Kids’, it struck him with an idea to create miniature representations of human fantasy and day-to-day situations that could be used as greeting cards or posters. His first attempts were well appreciated and lots of people asked him as to how he created the miniatures.
Umesh says “I believe every picture should tell a story. So after getting inspired with an idea, I try to visualise a story that would connect with the picture. I then draw a rough sketch keeping in mind the subject’s size and expression, the lighting and how the background should be. I take care that the background does not have any element that could take away the viewer’s attention from the main subject”.
The main ‘actor’ in Umesh’s pictures is usually his grandson Harill who is just 6 years old. “He understands what’s going on and after just a mini briefing, he comes up with perfect expressions. I rarely have to shoot twice” says Umesh.
After the shoot, Umesh takes great efforts to retouch any flaw or imperfection that could mar the picture. Attention is given to every little detail – lighting, shadows, tonality etc. Sometimes, it takes almost 3-4 days (remember, Umesh is a self-taught artist without any formal training) to make his ‘art’ look perfect. He is his own judge, the jury and the executioner! |SP
