Jayesh Vartak: 'After 34 Years, Photography Still Loves Me Back
Legendary photographer Jayesh Vartak reveals how he's stayed relevant for 34 years - from film rolls to AI tools, and why human emotion still beats algorithms.
The year was 1990. A teenage Jayesh Vartak saved for months to buy his first camera, carefully rationing each frame of precious film. Today, that same passion still fuels the man who's captured everyone from Pankaj Tripathi's intense silences to Johnny Lever's uproarious laughter. "Photography and I have been in a lifelong love affair," Vartak chuckles, "Except unlike most relationships, this one keeps getting more exciting with time."
In his Mumbai studio surrounded by vintage cameras and cutting-edge gear, Vartak embodies photography's fascinating duality - equally nostalgic about the past and enthusiastic about the future. "Social media turned photography into a global conversation," he reflects, scrolling through his phone where a recent candid of Sargun Mehta mid-laugh garnered thousands of organic likes. "But here's the secret - the best viral photos aren't planned. They're stolen moments where the subject forgets the camera exists."
The photographer dismisses AI doomsayers with the confidence of someone who's survived every industry upheaval. "AI is my new assistant - it handles tedious edits while I focus on what matters: that split-second when Ravi Dubey's eyes reveal a joke before his mouth does." His workflow blends old-school instincts with modern tools; he recently used AI to seamlessly remove a photobomber from a Rohit Shetty portrait, but the composition and connection? "100% human magic."
Vartak's observations about current trends read like a cultural manifesto: "We've come full circle - from stiff studio portraits to stiff studio portraits pretending to be candid, to now genuinely craving realness. When Kanchi Singh chooses natural tones over heavy filters three shoots in a row, you know the game has changed."
As he prepares for his next shoot, the veteran shares his simplest yet most profound tip: "Great photography still boils down to three things - make your subject comfortable, keep your eyes open, and remember: no algorithm can replicate the stories a human eye can frame." After three decades, his camera still winks back - proof that when it comes to true artistry, some loves only deepen with time.
