Vogue India

Editor in Chief: Priya Tanna
Creative Director: Heidi Volpe
Beauty Director: Nidhi Sharma
Stylist: Priyanka Parkash
Assistant Photo Editor: Jay Modi
Photographer: Vikas Vasudev


Heidi: The assignment was to photograph this beauty project with a documentary approach, did you find that difficult?
Vikas: I agree that the documentary approach is something that lent itself naturally to this story, considering the faces we were photographing weren’t your typical fashion/beauty models. So no, it wasn’t difficult at all.

 

How did you combine your documentary work with your portraits previously? Were they lit or was it all natural light?
I think my documentary aesthetic is something that seeps into almost everything I photograph, whether its an editorial portrait, a fashion story or a commercial campaign, the hope always is to visually blur the lines between the two. When it comes to the lighting, I don’t usually follow a set technique, so some of my portraits are natural light and some artificially lit, depending on what the mood and space calls for. Although, over the years I’ve tried to simplify the technical and lighting part of it as much as possible so that I can concentrate on the person in front of me.

Was it difficult to get that feel in the studio, it’s a different energy.
Getting a documentary feel in the studio wasn’t difficult at all, as I just follow my instincts and react to the face in front of me.
Usually before a shoot I always have an elaborate plan of action, which more often than not goes out of the window once I walk onto the set and meet the model, because both the model and the space posses a certain energy that is always important to be receptive to and harness in order to create something that’s greater than the sum of its parts, but on off days when I don’t feel that energy, I always have my initial plan of action as a back up.

What did you enjoy the most about shooting this portrait project?
The most enjoyable thing about shooting this project were the models, to begin with, as each one had a unique face and was a unique character which made it extremely exciting, And also, of course, the team itself, everyone working in sync and motivated towards a collective vision, which is one of the most important things you need to create great images and to make shoots effortless.

 

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