Meet Waheeda Rehman In Her New Avatar: A Wildlife Photographer

In the old days when the world was black and white, a photograph used to go through a journey. First there was the 바카라�negative바카라�바카라�an image trapped in reverse luminosity, where the unlit portions looked the lightest and vice versa. Then the light and dark were made to swap places. It바카라�s a wonder when you see a similar graph plotted in people, especially those who waltzed across the luminous history of cinema. And who more luminous than Waheeda Rehman?

Yes, the one who shone like a lamp in the best backlit shots of Hindi cinema has now become one who captures light and movement from the other side of the camera. A wildlife photographer, no less. And the ochre-green images are a wonder to behold, even if she is gracefully modest. 바카라�There is nothing out of the world about my photography,바카라� she tells Outlook바카라�s Lachmi Deb Roy. 바카라�Bahut ­purani baat hai바카라�I had this burning ­interest in wildlife photography for a long time. When I see my guruji, Himan­shuu Chandrakant Sheth바카라�s photography, I realise I have a long way to go. But what I like most is to capture the moment.바카라�

That she had plenty occasion to do. 바카라�I바카라�d go on once-a-year safaris with a group of people interested in photography. Himanshuu teaches and takes us on brilliant wildlife trips.바카라� Thus came about that wildebeest flying across a hazy Serengeti in an impressionistic blur, ­almost recalling a Lascaux cave painting. Another fruit of those encounters with places, moments and lens-eyes: the exhibition Meraki, also curated by Himanshuu. 바카라�Meraki is a Greek word that signifies leaving a piece of yourself in your work,바카라� says Waheeda, who still calls her tryst with photography a hobby. 바카라�A real expensive hobby,바카라� she says, laughing. Within India too, wildlife zones beckoned바카라�Bandipur, Ranthambore, Mowgli바카라�s jungles.

All that at age 81. 바카라�In India, people have a habit of attaching an age-tag. 바카라�Why does she need to do all these things at this age?바카라� they바카라�ll ask. That mentality needs to change. If you have passion and an open mind, you can learn anything you want to do. There should be no age bar for passions!바카라� And as one grows old, it바카라�s all the more important 바카라�to have a pastime바카라�, she says. 바카라�Do it with love. It need not be expensive. My sister, who is 87, is fond of embroidery.바카라� But yes, Waheeda Rehman is 바카라�lucky to be blessed with good health바카라�. Touch wood. 바카라�I practise yoga regularly at home and that keeps me fit바카라�wildlife photography requires travelling and walking long distances.바카라�

More than that, she바카라�s blessed with a seeing eye. That old ethereal image we all have of her, that was not a 바카라�negative바카라�, of course. But her journey too entailed a reversal바카라�from being seen to seeing. 바카라�A woman is always accompanied, except when quite alone, and perhaps even then, by her own image of herself,바카라� art critic John Berger once wrote. That didn바카라�t mean pure self-reflection. That little halo, that thought balloon, was more in the nature of a mirror in which the woman constantly beheld herself바카라�as others would see her. 바카라�She existed to be looked at,바카라� in his words. It couldn바카라�t have been truer than for one seen as the paragon of beauty바카라�and hence, the marvel of her journey to the other side.