TN CM brings photographers in foucs

As photographers, our job is to observe and freeze the frames in the right moments.

Key points

• And in doing so, offered Chennai's photojournalists a story concerning themselves, rather than regarding him.
• There is talk now of a larger gathering once the Assembly session wraps, this time for the wider fraternity.
• The task of a photographer is often thankless, riddled with a mission to record.
• What they had not navigated before was being asked to stand in front of the camera rather than behind it.
• The events that followed was almost surreal like an impromptu film set.

As photographers, our job is to observe and freeze the frames in the right moments. But capturing these instances often comes with a great accord of hardwork – long hours of standing and waiting, shoving through a crowd holding on to our precious cameras, withstanding all the weather conditions, and so on. While capturing a political event, especially, such hardships come to the forefront. As in every aspect of life, there is a heirarchy here as well and hat becomes evident while photographing political leaders.

But on World Photography Day, on Wednesday, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay slightly extended an olive branch in breaking this power hierarchy, and participated in the act of photography. And in doing so, offered Chennai's photojournalists a story concerning themselves, rather than regarding him.

Notably, the task of a photographer is often thankless, riddled with a mission to record. The long hours and a byline that sometimes misses the person who created the picture feasible, adds to the torments of the job. So when an aide from the CM's office walked out to a group of photojournalists waiting at the Secretariat, not for an interview, but for what they assumed would be a routine courtesy call and confirmed that the CM intended to photograph them, the reaction was somewhere between disbelief and mild panic.

This didn't happen on an idle afternoon. As ever, oversubscribed, and simply securing a slot to meet him had involved the now-familiar bureaucracy of permissions and protocol that photojournalists navigate as a matter of routine, the Assembly was in session, the CM's calendar was. What they had not navigated before was being asked to stand in front of the camera rather than behind it.

Meanwhile, the events that followed was almost surreal like an impromptu film set. Vijay, with a camera in hand, moved between the assembled photographers who have spent years documenting floods, heatwaves, Assembly sessions, and a pandemic that put a number of of them in hospitals. He photographed them the way they have photographed him – unhurried, deliberate, and framing each one in turn.

In practice, the gesture was returned in kind. The photojournalists presented him with a sizeable photo frame that had a portrait of Vijay surrounded by dozens of hands holding cameras, and a visual footnote crediting the anonymous labour that keeps political photography running. He spent more than seven minutes with the group afterward, an eternity by the standards of a sitting CM's schedule. "This is called destiny, " a photojournalist offered. This person was genuinely astonished. In practice, the photojournalist continued, "All our lives we have been clicking pictures. Today, the Chief Minister clicked ours."

There is talk now of a larger gathering once the Assembly session wraps, this time for the wider fraternity. Whether or not it happens, the exchange has already created its point: for one afternoon in Chennai, the lens pointed the other way and the residents usually asked to disappear behind their equipment obtained to be, briefly, the subject of the frame.

In short, TN CM brings photographers in foucs is the central thread here, and readers can expect follow-up reporting as the picture becomes clearer.