If it hadn’t been for her courage and resilience, we might not have seen some of the most memorable moments of the Independence era. India’s first photo woman journalist Homai Vyarawalla reminisces about the days when
photojournalism was all about passion, will and energy. Simple sari-clad Homai had never aspired to be a photographer. In fact she took to photography after she got married when her husband introduced her to the art and skill.
Homai recalls, “I found the camera highly intriguing and interesting. And it seemed all the more exciting when I held it and started experimenting with it,” she says. Homai elaborates that she took to photography as a hobby more than anything else. “I didn’t know any technique or didn’t have pre-requisite knowledge. I was studying at the J.J. School of Art at that point of time and started experimenting in the college,” she says.
She says that she took photography, also because it paid well than commercial art. “I wanted a profession that could pay me well. There wasn’t much scope for artists except for painting posters, so the other option was photography. Moreover, I enjoyed it immensely, so I took it up. I would often keep in mind the composition, the texture, the hues without having studied the theoretical aspects of it. I see that missing in pictures nowadays,” Homai says.
The modern age and technology has definitely ushered in a lot of interesting techniques and effects, which makes it easier for photography, but also lacks a certain depth, she believes. “I marvel at the technology but I’m not sure about the quality of photographers we have today. Some of them are really good, but the excitement about a picture is missing. As a photojournalist one just has to focus on getting a good picture. And how you do that, depends on you,” she says.
A large part of her life was also spent in Delhi in the post Independence days. One of her most memorable pictures is of Pandit Jawaharalal Nehru while unfurling the Indian flag at Red Fort during the Independence days. She has photographed him extensively and there are some priceless moments of his that she captured on her lens. “We would often shoot a lot of these legendary personalities but would never talk to them. A photographer’s job was to click good pictures and then take on another assignment. The process can be mechanical, but everything else is forgotten in the world while clicking that one picture,” explains Homai.
“In those days I would travel on my bicycle in a saree and run from one place to another. I’ve also fallen down, slipped my foot into a drain, done
everything possible to get a good picture. It is a part of your job and I didn’t treat it differently. All I kept in mind was to keep my dignity intact and not cause harm to anyone,” says Homai.