A Torchbearer For Art Lovers: Rohinton Mehta, Hon. FIP

"Great Masters"

A Torchbearer For Art Lovers : Rohinton Mehta, Hon. FIP

Friends,....
Rohinton Mehta, popularly known as "Uncle Ronnie", is the Technical Editor of Smart Photography, a prominent photographic magazine of India with a wide circulation. Rohinton has been in the field of photography for over 35 years. In this long eventful period, he has educated a number of photo-enthusiasts through his workshops and writings. Amongst his regular columns in Smart Photography, 'Ask Uncle Ronnie' and 'If I Were You' are extremely popular and informative. Rohinton’s passion for mentoring young artists can be enunciated from his writings in the 'Learning' section of the magazine.

Uncle Ronnie's penchant for photographic art began in his childhood when he used to fiddle with his father's box cameras. However, like the proverbial saying—“Behind every successful man, there is a lady”—actually, Rohinton's love for photography unfolds in a novel way. In fact, he was more inclined towards hunting and with his air-gun he used to shoot birds. In 1972, on a fateful day, at the insistence of his wife, he promised her that he would not use the gun henceforward. His wife motivated him to start shooting with a camera rather than the gun. So, he purchased his first Rangefinder camera from a roadside seller. Unfortunately, the camera had a defect in the exposure meter and the seller refused to take it back. Rohinton remembers his wife's criticizing words that echo in his ears even today, "How could you let a roadside seller fool you?”. The incident left an indelible mark in his heart and mind. Nonetheless, it became a turning point in his life. He decided to learn the photographic art and techniques so that no one can trick him again in future. “I worked hard and wanted to be a master like my guru (mentor) - the late Mitter Bedi, although I can never be as good as my guru” avers Uncle Ronnie. He admires Mitter Bedi’s method of teaching even today. He also thanks the roadside crook who fooled him by selling him a faulty camera!

Uncle Ronnie's emphasis on good equipment is justified in his works. He remarks that good equipment is equally important as much as the person behind the camera for crafting an extra-ordinary photograph. He further adds that “Without good knowledge of the basics of photography art and equipment, one cannot reach a level of excellence”. According to him, there are four vital components of a photograph: the content, composition, exposure and the presentation. As an educator, he is conversant with all genres of photography but his personal preference is nature photography which includes wildlife and landscape. His ideals are Mitter Bedi, Ansel Adams, John Saxton, John Shaw, Fred Picker, Bob Johnson, and the like.

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Uncle Ronnie has been in the juries of several National and International photo contests including the prestigious photo contest held at Colombo, Sri Lanka. One of his wishes is to conduct workshops on conventional as well as digital photography all over the world. According to him, unlike the other parts of world, where photography is gaining importance, in India it is lagging behind and a lot is to be done yet. “Photography should be taught at school level as a subject and should not merely be considered as a hobby. We do need our government's support and approval to make it flourish as it is in developed countries”, comments Rohinton.

Apart from photography, Rohinton Mehta loves reading books, listening to music and anything else that has something to do with the human mind and human psychology. He is very much interested in knowing how the human mind works and the science of hypnotism too......

....--Dr. Pankaj Sharma

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