Weekend conversations: Photography has been a madness - Navroze Dhondy

Table calendars and wall calendars were always seen as prestige communication tools for many corporates when it comes to engaging with their business partners and clients. But with the advent of digital many corporates are not making specially designed calendars any more. However, there are a few who still passionately and painstakingly design with a theme, print the calendars and send it to all their clients. Navroze Dhondy, Founder & Managing Director, Creatigies Communication, is one such person, who for the last over 5 years, has been ensuring that he creates a table calendar design and without fail sending to several clients. The idea of designing a calendar was suggested by one of his clients when he was sharing some of the  interesting  photographs clicked by him on various occasions be it during his travel or leisure.

As part of our Weekend Conversations, Adgully spent some time with Navroze Dhondy to know what inspired him to design the table calendar every year with new visuals and themes, as well as his passion for photography.

Table calendars were very prestigious for many MNC brands. But the advent of digital has phased out the table and wall calendars. So, what motivated and energised your company to keep coming out with this novel table calendar theme for the last 4 years?

Actually, the calendar was first created and published by us 5 years ago. It began during the discussion over a drink when some friends were browsing through the photographs I had taken on my mobile phone. One of them suggested I publish a book with my photographs, but I felt that was possibly a bit too presumptuous and that sparked off a thought of putting together a calendar with a selection of 12 selected images. You are right that a calendar was part and parcel of most brands communication package each year, but along the way digitalisation almost killed that concept.

Possibly I am a little old fashioned and that too may have contributed to this idea coming to life.

It is said that a picture speaks a thousand words. How do you decide on the theme and create arresting visuals for the calendar every year?

I am not much of a ‘theme’ person, and each year I just choose 12 random photos that I find appealing, at times trying to match the image with the mood of the month. This is the toughest challenge, as finalising the 12 photos is extremely difficult, and the debate keeps raging even after the calendar is printed. Only last year I chose a theme around ‘travel’ and put together some of the photographs that were clicked from aircraft windows, at airports, and on the tarmac. The most ironical thing was that the year went into lockdown, and travel became a distant memory!

When do you plan and start working on the calendar design? And what is a typical time and process you take out to finalise and execute it?

The shortlisting of photos starts around October of each year, and then the battle rages till nearly the beginning of December.

The specially crafted introduction and the captions of each photograph take a bit of time and then we go into print by mid-December, to have this out by the beginning of the New Year. This year, due to a number of reasons and some printing bloopers, we were pushed back by a month.

Right now, the calendar is helping you build a good brand image for your company. Have you ever thought of exploring the commercial angle on this and making it available on some of the e-commerce portals?

That’s a great thought. I must share a very recent aspect that happened recently. A few people to whom I had sent the calendar wanted to pay for it as they believed it would cost quite a bit due to the high quality of paper and printing. I refused to allow them to pay, then suddenly I thought that if people wanted to pay, they could donate the amount to an NGO – Agewell Foundation – that we at Creatigies have been supporting since 1999. I sent a message to many of my friends who got the calendar. And lo and behold, the donations started pouring in. I am glad the calendar is being put to good use and is able to generate some funds for a worthy cause.

You are fond of candid and professional photography and it runs in the family. When did the passion for photography start with you? Do you plan to take it to the next level by holding photographic exhibitions?

As you are aware, my Maternal Grandfather and Great Grandfather were both professional photographers, who had studios in Allahabad, Karachi and Nainital.

I grew up with Kodak and Fuji rolls strewn around, with large developing trays in dimly lit dark rooms, and painted backdrops for daylight studios.

I began clicking photos with a box camera from a very early age, and only after I joined advertising and while I was at Lintas Bombay that I bought my first SLR camera – the Asahi Pentax. I still have it with me!

Photography has been a madness and a passion, and the mobile phone fuelled it insanely. I am so glad that the quality of the cameras in these phones allows me to capture so much of daily life, as that is something I enjoy the most.

I have contributed to magazines on a regular basis and held my first photo exhibition on Cyprus in 1999, when I was invited by the government of Cyprus to traverse the length and breadth of that lovely tiny island and come back with stories, photographs and memories.