Ashish Shah on shooting for Alexander McQueen: “It's no more the time to just create beautiful images. I want to show nuances and symbolism in my work”

Ashish Shah wouldn’t really count as a recluse but he likes his privacy. He takes pride in his craft almost to the point of fault. “I prefer not to directly engage with my subjects, rather see them as an outsider would.” Even then he makes friends because it's hard not to feel a genuine connection with someone as sincere as he is. While having dinner one day he was surprised by an email—one from the team of Alexander McQueen requesting if it would be alright if they got in touch with him to discuss a project.

Before delving into the specifics of the shoot, Shah spoke to the team about his process as a photographer. “When you start out as a photographer each one has a different goal. Mine was to be known in a few years. Initially the focus was to be technically sound, but you grow out of it. It's no more the time to just create beautiful images. I want to show nuances and symbolism in my work,” he shares. As the conversations developed, it was decided that special project for the pre spring/summer 2021 would be shot in Shah’s hometown in Uttarakhand. Initially heritage site was chosen, but eventually the project was shot over a landscape that Shah had memories of growing up. “I shared references—some that were my favourites and others that would work for the brand. I am able to relate to the place so it gives me reassurance. Without being vocal I can see the details in my pictures. Otherwise what is the definition of good and bad?"

Shah like any other professional in fashion is drawn to Alexander McQueen’s work. The challenge at hand was to bring out India in the campaign and cross pollinate on the visual identities of both. The team at McQueen put their trust in Shah and let him take the lead. “The beauty was in the process. When that kind of commerce is involved and the level of confidence put in a creative—it’s crazy. There was so much respect on both ends,” he tells us. Shah didn’t hear from the brand even while shooting the campaign unless he reached out to them.

What is most satisfied with is the use of light in the imagery. “India has a light that’s not often seen in its true form, but Sarah [Burton] wanted that. Brown skin lights differently under this tonality and that is what I tried to highlight. So the whole concept of the story is acceptance of my landscape and light that we have,” Shah summarises. Models that the photographer met over the course of his career and some more known faces feature in the images. The imprint of checks drawn in a concrete step, the light hitting Elizabeth Mech’s face, the dry grass of a makeshift road—Shah succeeded in bringing India to the brand’s visual archive without having to resort to an iconography.

Also read:

Sabyasachi Mukherjee goes for round two at Bergdorf Goodman

Meet the young designers proving that, even in a pandemic, creativity prevails