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Shobhan takes a closer look into the world of Vidura Jang
Bahadur, for whom photography is a medium of telling
intimate stories.
From ‘Tsampa on my
Shoulder’. Shot en route
to Kailash, Tibet in 2005
Vidura Jang Bahadur
• If not a photographer,
he would have been
running a small café as
he enjoys cooking. Else,
he would have been
working on a farm.
• He is currently based
in New Delhi and has
been a practitioner of
the medium for over a
decade now.
B e t t e r P h o t o g r a p h y june 2010
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H
is area of interest in school
was arts: he drew, painted and
sketched. Music, theatre and
literature excited him and
the experience of soaking it
all in was fascinating. He took photos in
school too. But he never imagined that
he would one day, be better known as
a photographer. He still does not really
know how photography “happened”. He
does not recall a specific moment or stage
when he realised that photography was
going to be an indispensable part of his
life. It is something that happened very
naturally, and he just went along with
the flow.
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individualistic style and find ways to create
images that tell enchanting stories.
Journeys Within and Outside
By the time Vidura finished his masters
course he had also gained a fair bit of
experience of working on films with
different production houses and also
with a number of cinematographers. He
evenworked on a short film and worked as
an assistant director on a Hindi feature-
film called Agnivarsha.
But somewhere, things had started
getting repetitive and a sense of stagnation
was setting in. On an impulse, Vidura
left for China to teach English and this is
where he says photography became a more
integral part of his life. It also gave him
the liberty to tell stories that touched him
deep within.
• Go out to shoot
with an empty
mind. Do not have
set ideas of what
you want in your
images even before
you begin shooting.
• Be open to
experience and
enjoy the process
of shooting.
Photography should
be a way for you to
relate to the world
around yourself.
Tips by Vidura
From ‘Meiyou
Wenti’. Shot in Weifang,
Shandong province
China, 2002
From ‘Meiyou Wenti’.
Shot in Zhenyuan,
Guizhou Province,
China 2002
Becoming a Photographer
Vidura Jang Bahadur recalls,
“Photography really took off when I went
to China in 2001, after doing my masters
degree in Mass Communication from
Jamia Milia University in Delhi. During
my undergraduate years, I was hugely
drawn to advertising and to cinema, too.
I worked on films in different capacities
and always remained close to the camera
crew”. He believes that the medium of
photography should be explored to
create an individual way of looking and
telling stories. He finds it disturbing
when images and image-making becomes
formulaic.
With this realisation and wisdom, Vidura
has been using the medium to develop an
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From ‘Meiyou Wenti’.
Shot in Hernan Province,
Luoyang, China in 2002
From ‘Tsampa on
my Shoulder’. Shot
in Qingdao, Shandong
province, China 2002
JUNE 2010

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• Vidura started out
with a Canonet
QL 19. He works
extensively with a
Fuji TX2, a Mamiya
6, a Canon EOS 1N
and occasionally
with the Holga.
• A camera that he
would like to own is
the Leica M mount
Konica Hexar RF.
Gadgets & Gear
“The commercial
assignments I
undertake are
an extension
of my personal
work—in
respect to
the way I see
things.”
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A Love Affair with China
China holds a special place in his life. So
much so, that he experienced a sense of
dislocation and displacement after he came
back from China. His affinity with the
place, the community and people explains
the work that he is doing on Chinese
communities, titled Home. He has been
working on this project for the past four
years and is still continuing.
Tsampa on my Shoulders is another of
Vidura’s projects—the result of a journey
that took him to Tibet. In a sort of
foreword to his work on Tibet, he writes,
“Travelling through Tibet four years
ago, I was overwhelmed by the sense
of history and the beauty of the stark
landscape. However, I was always aware
of an invisible line cutting across cities,
between communities and people. A line
no one dares to cross and often negotiated
by both sides, Tibetan and Chinese, in
order to survive ‘today’ in the hope of a
better future. There is a false sense of calm,
deceptive to the less discerning. It is not
easy to leave unaffected.”
Dabbling Between Personal and Commercial
Looking at Home and Tsampa on my Shoulder,
one may get the impression that Vidura
is using the medium purely to narrate
personal stories; but you need to take a
closer look to discern its universal connect.
What may be surprising however, is
the ease with which he dabbles in the
commercial genre as well. Ask him how
he differentiates between the two kinds
of work within the same art form, and he
elaborates. “I believe that the commercial
assignments I undertake are an extension
of my personal work—in respect to the
way I see things. Not anything else.
Photographically, I like to work with
ambient light and in natural surroundings.
And this is reflected in my commercial
work too.”
Drawing inspiration
A film enthusiast and a versatile
photographer, Vidura draws inspiration
not just from photographers but also
from many cinematographers. Henri
Cartier-Bresson, Paulo Nozolino, Alberto
Korda, Josef Koudelka are some of
the photographers whom he admires
immensely. “More than photographers
I think it is the cinematographers who
have influenced me. I really like the work
of famous cinematographer Christopher
Doyle, the way he uses colour and his
compositions. I find it very evocative. The
Swedish cinematographer Sven Nykvist
and Chinese cinematographer Gu Chang
Wei have been other great influences.”
Apart from being a talented
photographer, Vidura is an avid reader
and a writer too! This only serves to
highlight that the boy who dabbled in
art in school has kept alive his interest
in different forms of art—be it paintings,
music or theatre. “I enjoy reading, theatre,
travelling in the mountains (without my
camera) and most of all cinema. This,
I believe, enriches my life and somewhere
I do hope these experiences and
influences are visible in my work. One
has to experience life and only when your
experiences reflect in your work that it
can be better informed and personal too,”
says Vidura.
From ‘Home’.
Seen here are the
Kim brothers in New
Delhi 2005
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Part of a series on
Chinese community,
titled ‘Home’. Seen here
are Teresa Tan and Li
Ying Liang in Chennai
2005
From ‘Tsampa on
my shoulder’ Shot in
Tibet, 2005
Untitled, part of a
series that he is working
on his grandmother.
He has been shooting
intermittently for past
12 years and it is an
ongoing project.