‘Trans’cending boundaries

KOCHI: Two years back, photographer G Venket Ram made headlines when he brought to life paintings by Raja Ravi Varma. His 2020 calendar featured 11 women. Actors and dancers turned into models and dressed up like the muses of Raja Ravi Varma’s artistic works. Now, Sharun S, a freelance photographer based in Kollam, has created a remarkable recreation of Ravi Varma’s paintings. This one was special — the models are trans women.

Sharun’s latest work conveys a strong message about the existing beauty standards and questions the stigma towards the transgender community. “Raja Ravi Varma is one of the greatest artists in Indian history. Many artists over the years have tried to replicate his works. Being a photographer, I always look for different ideas to make my works unique.

There are many photography works that were inspired by his paintings. However, the models always had fair complexion and slim bodies. I am not someone who likes to classify beauty in that manner. That prompted me to come up with a theme to demolish these age-old stereotypes,” he says. “Since the transgender community has always been marginalised, I thought of turning them models to break the gender stereotypes, another serious issue,” says the 26-year-old photographer.

Sharun was interested in photography since his childhood. After class 12 ,he got an opportunity to hone his passion. He completed a six-month diploma in photography from Nova Film Institute in Kochi about two years back. Later, he worked as a trainee photographer  with a private company and bought a semi-professional camera with his earnings.

Questioning stereotypes
Sharun recreated seven paintings of Ravi Varma with Sheethal Syam, Ain Honey Aarohi and Sandra Larwin. “I met Sheethal through one of my friends, Jamsheena. I told her the concept and she readily accepted. She introduced me to the other two models Ain Honey and Sandra,“ he says.
The shoot was held at the house of Purushan Eloor, a social activist. “Though I have done many outdoor works, this was the first time I was doing it in a space with limited lighting.

The costume had to be stitched and recreated according to the theme. It was very difficult to make sure everything turned out correct and perfect,” he says. He has also turned the paintings into digital artworks to give them a feel of the paintings.

Sheethal says she was interested and immediately agreed to do the photo shoot. “Many artists have recreated Ravi Varma paintings. But none of the works included trans women. Themes such as Shakuntala, Lady With The Lamp and others have been explored many times. These works also convey a strong message against the beauty standards set by society,“ shares Sheethal, who has also acted in several Malayalam movies.

Sharun took two days to finish the shoot. Artists Arathi and Asha  were in-charge of make up. The young photographer says he will continue to create such projects with messages in future.