Sooni Taraporevala
For me, photographs are a way of freezing time and surviving death. My main inspiration to start photographing Parsis was my family. My most precious photographs are the ones I took of them, particularly the older generation who I grew up with and was very close to. The photo of my grandmother (above) was taken on our balcony in Bombay in 1980. She’s saying, I imagine, "Maaro photo soo lèch dressing gown ma (why take my photo in a dressing gown)?” This photo is very true to her beauty, black undyed hair till the end, graceful hands, and her always laughing spirit.
My grandfather Aderji (top) had the opposite personality. I went with him on his favorite expedition to Fort in 1985, a year before he passed away, to get his precious fountain pens repaired. It looks like he’s yelling at the shopkeeper but he was actually hard of hearing. He even left a tip. I've inherited his books with his comments and arguments scribbled in the margins. He and his brothers, fervent readers, traveled the world through books. And every evening they’d bring the world home to me on our Cozy Building balcony.
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