‘Lord’ of the lens

Legendary British photographer Lord Snowdon, well-known for his portraits of celebrities, recently-launched his book India. 

He was in the country in 2004 to photograph a host of people from different fields and clicked photographs of politicians, film-makers, writers and other men and women who played a big role in shaping post-independent India. That assignment translated into his book. Here’s a look at three interesting photographs in it:

Businessman Anand Mahindra was photographed in the living room of his Mumbai home. Snowdon chose this Harvard Business School-educated man because he has taken the name ‘Mahindra’ to a global level.

In another portrait, former railway minister Laloo Prasad Yadav is seen milking a cow. He wanted to demonstrate that he could still milk a cow. Thus, he led Snowdon straight to the cow for this particular photograph.

Politician George Fernandes had just returned from a hectic election campaign and was tired. He showed Lord Snowdon around his house and they settled in the bedroom to make the portrait. The bed resembled a working space littered with books and objects, which Lord Snowdon wanted to use as the context for the portrait. While Lord Snowdon was setting up the camera and lights, George Fernandes fell asleep. Soon, his dog also fell asleep beside the bed. And that became the portrait.