It’s not often that the country's armed force members are profiled on camera with adoration and admiration. A photographer wants to change this.
The National Security Guard (NSG) personnel in a mock drill at the Taj Mahal Palace, Colaba. The shot was part of the NSG calendar, which was unveiled to mark 10 years of the 26/11 terror attacks.
Over the past decade that photographer Pravin Talan has shot members of India’s security and defence agencies, he has rappelled down buildings, trudged knee deep in slush, taken chopper drops and dived underwater to put the spotlight on those who have our backs. It is a far cry from the glamorous pictures he had made a career shooting. Models were his subjects as photographer for FashionTV, an international lifestyle broadcasting television channel, founded in France in 1997. “I got drawn to it [photographing security agencies] organically. This is the era of psychological warfare. China floods the Internet with thousands of videos of their soldiers marching in unison. Similarly, our perception of United States’ Navy Seals is what it is because of the robust images they put out. It is power projection. But when it came to our security forces, we had very little to show.”
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A Mumbai Police QRT (Quick Response Team) commando in action. “Most of my pictures incorporate Mumbai’s heritage,” says Talan
Talan hopes he has helped change that. In the last 12 years, he has photographed almost all uniformed services, including the Indian Army, Navy, Border Security Force (BSF), the National Security Guard (NSG), the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF), Quick Reaction Teams (QRT) and the Mumbai Police. In fact, his 2021 calendar featuring the Mumbai Police was recently unveiled by Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray.
Black Sharks or NSG commandos in an underwater operation
Talan, who is originally from Agra, says he wants his art to serve a purpose. “In my pictures, I prefer to show not just the forces, but also the assets they protect. For instance, in the January shot for the Mumbai Police calendar, you’ll see the beautiful sea, boats and birds in the background. What I’m showing is the city through the eyes of these men and women in uniform. Last year, a very senior officer said that my pictures have done more for Indian tourism than the tourism board itself,” he laughs. His work has taken him across the country, negotiating treacherous terrain, as he experienced extreme weather conditions. “With the BSF, I travelled to every border that they guard, right from Sunderbans to Jaisalmer. Funnily, they didn’t care about whether I’ve shot Amitabh Bachchan or top international models. I’m just a photographer for them. It’s only when they see the pictures I’ve taken of them that they get excited, because nobody has shot them like this before. I want to inspire them, and the inspiration needs to come from within.”
A woman officer from Bihar Police at a training centre
Talan has a reservoir of stories, both heartwarming and saddening. He tells us about a woman from the CRPF who never leaves home wearing the uniform, because her son is scared that she may not return home, just like his father. Then, there are motivational stories like Priyanka Kumari’s from Rajasthan, who transformed from a painfully shy girl into a commando in the BSF. His most popular calendar though was the one featuring the Railway Protection Force (RPF) that he shot four years ago. “The commissioner told me that every time they Google RPF, the search throws up little else but images of shrouded corpses on the tracks. People think the railway police does nothing. I researched their work: from protecting passengers and trains to conducting anti-sabotage checks. I shot them over 12 days.”
Pravin Talan
Talan says the photographs, although deeply satisfying, have come at a cost: his own health. “I’m not a commando, but when I’m shooting them, I need to match their rigour and it’s not easy. I have to understand their full potential; not only what they do, but what they can do. It is important that we go beyond mundane parade pictures.” While shooting in the Sunderbans, he was unwell for a month. He suffered a slip disc while rappelling with the Mumbai Police. But the journey has been fulfilling. “I started my career as a wildlife photographer; I would end up with some morbid pictures of prey. My mother, a stitch artist, saw those and said, ‘if at all you want to use your art, use it to show the beauty of the world. Let people feel inspired, instead of scaring them.’ I am trying to do that now.”
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