Hyderabad: Now is the time to look their best, always smiling, confident and ready to impress with looks. Politicians are all of a sudden searching for photographers, with the announcement of the GHMC elections meaning fresh photoshoots.
Many candidates are heading for photoshoots to get their best pose out for posters, banners, pamphlets and hoardings. With the campaign to be barely for two weeks, the importance of getting the message across to the voter depends a lot on campaign material, where the smiling photograph is of utmost importance.
“For the last few days, every contestant has been attending photoshoots to make an album containing at least 10 photographs to be printed on leaflets and posters to distribute among the voters during the campaign. Cutting across party lines, many contestants are waiting in studios to have their photographs clicked.
Half a dozen candidates from a Left party attended a photo session at a popular studio in Barkatpura on Wednesday, while some BJP leaders, including a former minister in erstwhile Andhra Pradesh, are getting photos clicked though they are not contesting. The Aruna Photo Studio in Barkatpura is one of the most sought after studios, where according to proprietor N Satish, more than 100 contestants from various political parties have already got their photos clicked.
“We are capturing images of every candidate in 10 different poses, right from a smiling face, another one with waving hands and also with the ‘Namaste’ pose,” he said, adding that the poses would also vary depending on the height and personality of the candidate.
“If a candidate is short, we have to focus on his or her smiling face with the chin tilting down slightly,” says Satish, who has been doing photoshoots of politicians since the early 90s. Low angles, side angles, full body frames and so on, the list is long and sometimes, the shoot is re-done to ensure satisfaction of the client.
An album of 20 photos costs at least Rs 10,000, says Satish, who has earlier clicked photographs of Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao, IT Minister KT Rama Rao and several other senior TRS leaders right from the early days of Telangana.
For several other photographers, the GHMC elections have come as a boon at a time when they were struggling to meet their shop expenses due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“We were not getting orders for birthday functions, engagements or marriages due to the pandemic since March. The elections have brought some relief as we can now earn something covering campaigns and rallies,” they say.
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