Inside the factory of an industrial photographer

It is a subsection of photography that is barely known, even among those associated with it and among those dabbling in it; seldom does one get to hear about a woman. But for Miriam Sushmita, the challenge of poring through musty and dusty factories to capture gargantuan machinery in action or steps in production and capturing the essence, playing with lights and shadows is more alluring.

Holding a post graduate diploma in Professional Photography, an alumnus of Light & Life Academy in Ooty, Sushmita, who started out in the field more than three years ago, has worked on projects with the Chennai Port, Thoothukudi Port, apart from Saint Gobain Pvt Ltd, Kaynes Technology Pvt Ltd In Mysore, Carr Taylor Wines and Yogurt Production Units in the United Kingdom. With projects for Aavin, Poompuhar, and the Tamil Nadu Infrastructure Fund Management Corporation buying a couple of her pictures to be displayed on their new office premises, she is slowly but steadily arriving in the scene, in a space that is still finding a way to carve an exclusive identity.

She says, “The problem is not many in the industrial or the manufacturing side know about the need to hire someone who specialises in the branch of photography. They think someone doing interior or architecture can do it and the ultimate challenge lies in convincing why they must avail the services of someone like me. I have to show them the difference I can make —like when movement of a crane or gathering of dust can bring a whole new dimension to an otherwisestationary shot.”

After all, why would anyone dabble in a place that is barely glamourous and can also be smelly and dark? Sushmita admits that she discovered the magic lights and shadows could conjure up in the decrepit corners of industries, by chance. “I was one of the few who took it up in my course and that too the only woman among my batchmates opting for it, as most went in for fashion. My mentor Iqbal Mohammad sir, an industrial photographer himself, took the classes and explained how the play of light can make these photographs dramatic and interesting,” she recounts. Even as a fresher in the field, she found a project with Saint Gobain by herself, when she convinced them to give her a chance. “The credit I received was them using the picture on their site.”

However, the terrain has been rocky, she observes, and many a time, she has even repented going for it. “But that was in the beginning when there seemed no prospects in the field. But Iqbal sir insisted that I kept the faith and had to try harder. I even wanted to move out of Chennai, but my mother explained that I must work towards finding my feet here.”

While she found assignments in various factories and industries through word of mouth and meetings, she has also kept herself busy with portraits and baby shoots, events and architecture photography. “There are a few women in this field in countries like the US. Here, they are unheard of, but that gives me more incentive to find a place for myself.” Sushmita feels that the growth in industries and the need for process documentation have kept the relevance and need for industrial photographers intact.

She sums it up, “While other photographers present or capture existing beauty, I dress up messy places to present them beautifully.”